Memorial Day Weekend + a WINNER!

We spent Memorial Day weekend outside in the beautiful weather. On Friday, Matt came and surprised me at school (my last day as a teacher for who knows how long!) when my kids were finishing up recess before dismissal. They spent the last 10 minutes hounding us about names and making all kinds of suggestions on what they thought it should be. ;) It was a really sweet way to end my time with them. Matt snapped some really cute pictures and took a video of them standing around me offering all of their suggestions- wish I could share them on here!

The next part to Matt's sweet surprise was that he took the afternoon off! So after my kids left, we grabbed a quick lunch and then took Tally to a new hiking spot that Matt found near our house. It was so pretty! I'm always amazed that places like this exist right around the city.

The next morning, we headed out to Raven Cliff's Falls, right outside of Helen, GA. Matt had researched the best hiking spots in Georgia, and this one came up as the best spot to hike with a dog, especially if the dog likes water. SWEET!

So we set off for the 1.5 hour drive, and made a quick stop about 2 minutes in when Matt's shoes flew off the roof and landed in the middle of Peachtree Road. Hahah! I reminded him before he got out that I would rather buy new shoes than have him die trying to get them, as Peachtree isn't exactly a quiet street. But he was determined, and got both shoes back, and off we went again.

This is how Tally rides- body in the back, head in the front. Sweet pup.

And this is when I knew we were out of the city- when I heard cows mooing while Matt was pumping gas. Tally and I couldn't figure out what the noise was until Matt told us to get out and see the two baby cows attached to a trailer on the car next to ours. HA!

Lunch stop at Chick-Fil-A

The hilarious thing is when we pulled into the entrance, we realized that this was definitely the exact same trail we attempted back in January when we stayed at the Dahlonega Spa Retreat. You may remember it as the one where we went on a 10ish mile hike to nowhere, BECAUSE WE WEREN'T ON THE PATH. You can read about that story here. Needless to say, we cracked up when we realized we were back in the same spot to try it again. This time with a LOT more people to follow. :)

Tal met a puppy friend along the way- Lily Bell. What a cutie!

After our hike, we stopped at Nacoochee Village Tavern & Pizzeria. Matt read that they had the best pizza in town, and it was GOOD!

Monday, we went to the dog park at Piedmont Park, went to Jeni's for icecream, and then headed over for a cookout with friends.

Tal met a mini version of himself at the park

And of course I forgot to get a picture of the cookout with friends- bummer!

Hope you guys had a great long weekend too!

And now for the winner of the Stella & Dot giveaway!!!

THE WINNER IS:

ELLE!

Congratulations, Elle! You will love these earrings!