a mountain for an apple

before i get to the details of our absolutely fabulous weekend in the mountains, i want to ask a question- do you have a house keeper? i am beginning to think the husband and i are the only ones in the world without one. man how nice it would be to every other week have someone come over to sweep, mop, vacuum, dust, clean toilets, sinks & tubs, windows, etc. all of the things that never happen at our house since the current house keeper we use, me, is quite slack!

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so we had the chance to go with 3 other couples, who all have kids, to the mountains of north georgia this past weekend. it was seriously a perfect weekend with the most amazing weather. one of the couple's parents owns a house up there that is already toddler proofed, so it made it so easy to have a relaxing weekend at someone elses place. (thank you so much beth!!!) the other couples we were with all had children as well. sweet cheeks included, there were 6 kids up there. i know sweet cheeks absolutely loved having friends to play with nonstop. she isn't perfect and had a few moments here and there when she just didn't want to share, but for the most part, i was quite happy with her behavior.

the house we stayed at was so beautiful. the porch on the house completely wraps around it and the gates remained locked so no one could escape. so the kids could all just play outside, while the parents remained worry free. it was a big track for them to ride around on bikes, etc. they were quite fast!

just a sample of what they did around the porch track-



a cute pic of all of the kiddos together-



we also went to the apple festival on saturday. due to several issues in a row, we were not able to catch the parade. it was quite the let down since i know all of the kids were really looking forward to it. i think the bouncy houses & face painting semi- made up for the missed parade though! we even got sweet cheeks several pieces of crap that she didn't need like a yoyo balloon (lame water balloon with a rubber band tied to it for $2. she does still use it though) and an umbrella with her name on it! festivals always have the most interesting finds, don't they.

sweet cheeks and her friend-



sweet cheeks was a bit apprehensive at first to get her face painted but in the end, decided to go with a small butterfly on her forehead.



to get to the festival, we parked and rode a school bus down to it. i think the kids really enjoyed the bus ride the most. it was a real highlight for all of them. i love that they can still be so easily amused.

sweet cheeks and her daddy on the bus-