I’m baaaaccckkk! Did you all miss me? As much as I enjoyed unplugging over our Memorial Day Weekend trip to the mountains, I did miss being involved in the world of blogging. I feel so out of the loop! I’ll try to catch up with everyone as much as possible soon. I hate to think how much I’ll miss blogging when I am gone with no Internet access for 10 days! Please don’t leave me all of you fabulous readers! You really put a smile on a girl’s face…especially when she is still feeling sick as all get out 80% of the time. Yes, I still don’t feel so great. But I’m surviving and was still able to enjoy myself this weekend. Care to see what I did? I hope so because that is what this post is about. 😉

Friday

I spent the morning in the bathroom, the afternoon on the couch, and somehow managed to pack up for our trip and get a Flashback Friday post up showing my baby bump progression from my pregnancy with baby M. We left at around 6:30 to hit the road for the pretty easy drive to Ellijay in the North Georgia Mountains.

I was so happy when we finally made it to our cabin. It looks small but it had 6 bedrooms, a hot tub, a pool table, and plenty of room for the 8 adults and 4 kids in our clan. Friday night was all about getting unpacked and settled before relaxing with good conversation and company for the night.

Saturday

Saturday was a little more eventful. We searched the surrounding area for a hike to go on that would be suitable with little kiddos and had some pretty views. We found a good sounding one that had some waterfalls and was a short hike in.

We got M settled in the hiking pack and made our way up to the waterfalls.

The waterfall was smaller than we expected, but it was still nice because you were able to walk out to it easily. Makenzie even got the chance to touch it.

We then all packed back up to head back down and go to a little country restaurant we found for lunch.

It was along the river and had such a charming feel to it with all the country style decorations. Well, besides the stuffed animals all over the place. They could have done without that.

Continuing with my nothing-healthy-sounds-appetizing food aversions and first trimester eating habits, I ordered some chicken tenders, sweet potato fries, and coleslaw. It was delicious. Probably only because I was SO hungry after it took them an hour to get our food.

The remainder of the day consisted of naps and watching the kids use pool noodles for the best entertainment out of the many toys they had access to.

As well as cooking out and playing some games with Heather’s Insanity Bars to fuel us at night.

Sunday

Sunday was extremely low key. We took our time waking up and getting the day started. I even slept in until 9:00 which is unheard of for me. I honestly don’t remember how we filled our morning. After lunch, however, we headed to the pool and playground that was part of the cabin rental community. The girls all had a blast and Makenzie adored the pool.

Of course she loved the playground too. There was swinging involved and wooden bears she could high five, so how could she not love it?

The night was spent much the same as the previous one – eating and relaxing.

Monday

We did a mad dash of packing up the excess of stuff you bring on a vacation when you travel with 4 kids ages two and under to be able to make our 11:00 check out time. Then, headed home. I caught up on some emails and crashed on the couch out of exhaustion and the worst nausea so far. We still had to head over to Peter’s parents’ house to pick up our dog and also let them in on the pregnancy news. They were shocked and excited. I’m thankful it was a quick visit so we could get home and pop in a movie with some pizza. You would think I would be craving veggies after eating so little. Normally I would, but not when the sight of them make me want to dry heave. So, the lackluster in the nutrition department eats continue. I only have about 6 more weeks of this. Lucky me! 😀

• Tell me the best part of your weekend! I really want to know since I haven’t been able to catch up on blogs much yet.
• What is your favorite thing to do on a vacation? Do you like to be busy or just do nothing?

Something about yoga, rainy days, and finding caramel Oikos Greek yogurt on your grocery trip can make a day relaxing. That’s about all I have to say about my day so far, so I’ll focus on last night.

As you may remember, last night Peter & I hit up the annual food festival in a local town. We basically spent three hours straight eating. At least that’s what it felt like. I’m in no way complaining. It was a wonderful time. Veggies may have been lacking and there could have been more variety in the choices, but trying out delicious food from restaurants we haven’t been to before and on the cheap makes it all worthwhile. Let me share my food rendezvous with all of you.

We got to The Avenue, which is a quaint shopping area where the festival was held, at around 6:30. We parked and made the long trek to the entrance where we were greeted with large crowds.

We bought our sheet of tickets for $10 that fed the both of us (as well as miss M) for the night.

That’s right $10 for 2 people for the food you are about to witness. I’m glad it wasn’t much more than that. While all of the food we tried was delicious, they didn’t have much variety. There were about 20 food stands and the majority of them were either BBQ, Hibachi, Mexican, sandwiches, or a dessert. We decided to pretty much hit up one of each of those places.

The first place we came across was for a cafe called Nature’s Table that just opened in our area. I didn’t realize it is part of a franchise in Florida. I liked the information I received about it and I may have to visit there one day. Peter & I sampled a mini chicken salad wrap from their stand.

After that we made our way around some of the other stands. We eyed a cupcake we knew we would be coming back for later in the evening and found a balloon for Makenzie. She loves balloons and this helped keep her entertained through the night.

Then, we stood in line for awhile so I could get some sushi and Peter could get a hibachi sample plate. I was really drooling over the rainbow and tuna rolls they were featuring, but since the whole raw fish thing is a no-no for me right now I settled for a California Roll. It’s no high quality sashimi, but it satisfied.

To let that food settle for a bit, we meandered the festival a bit more. I checked out some artwork and Makenzie grooved to the live band that played some top notch tunes. You play some classic Bon Jovi without murdering it and you win my heart. That’s all there is to it.

Now that our tummies were ready for more food tasting, we hit up our last stop for our main course type dining. We opted for some BBQ to get a pulled pork taco with spicy slaw.

The cabbage from the slaw was my veggie for the evening. Sad, but true. Apparently broccoli and sweet potatoes aren’t big hits at food festivals. That’s what green monsters are for the day after. All about balance, right?

It was now time for the second stomachs to open. You do know the dessert stomach is a separate entity, right? It is for us. We picked up a cupcake and a gelato cone. The cupcake was a basic vanilla with buttercream frosting. The cake was moist and delicious.The icing was dense and creamy and even had sparkles!

We hit up the gelato line at the end of the night. The line was long and we worried we were going to miss out. We kept ourselves occupied with lots of pictures.

Finally we got our taste of the good stuff. Ice cream always makes me smile. This…it made me grin from ear to ear. I chose the lemon sample cone. Makenzie got a sample of vanilla as well. It’s amazing how much bigger things look in kid’s hands. I promise it was not some huge waffle cone.

The small cone was the perfect topping to the night. I left a little more full than I normally end meals, but not stuffed and happy with everything I tried. I would say it was a successful night. I look forward to going again next year to either this one or another local event that is very similar but with different restaurants.

I did notice something during our food tasting extravaganza. When tasting the foods, I would really take time to savor them and I ate slowly throughout the night. I was able to be more in tune with my hunger this way and fully enjoy the experience. I also tried everything that really appealed to me. I didn’t have guilt for choosing some fattier items (hello? pulled pork, cupcakes, and icecream??) and I didn’t just eat things because they were there. It just goes to show you can make progress in intuitive eating and honoring your body and your tastebuds. It takes time, but it is possible.

• When is the last time you had an “aha” moment from a dining experience and a way your eating habits have changed?
• What is your favorite flavor of icecream? Mine is normally choc chip cookie dough. I had never had lemon before but it was AWESOME!
• What are your weekend plans? We’re hanging out with friends tonight and tomorrow night.