Here's me and my little cabbages.... :)
Once we got into the "nursery," the girls were really mesmerized. Some of the antique-dolls were on sale for $15,000 (who would buy that?.....seriously?)
Here's what we say to the $15,000-dolls!!
Still, the nursery was super-swell!! Nora and Ella really loved the "teacher." They liked that she was "so big."
Even Claira loved all of the dolls!! :)
Nora and Ella spotted a doll that looked just like them with blonde curls...
.....and Clairy loved that dolly, too!! :)
Then, we entered the "patch," which was, by far, the girls' favorite spot. :)
Before long, the "doctor" announced that mother-cabbage was about to give birth!!!
Daddy had to pick up Ella so they could get a good view of the "show." (Don't let Josh fool you....he was pretty intrigued!!) ;) Don't you love how Ella and Daddy have identical faces here???? ;)
The doctor explained the entire process, and WA-LA - out popped a little girl cabbage-patch with red hair!! She was named Emmaline Rose. :)
The girls watched intently as the doctor took Emmaline to the main hospital room to weigh her and get her "checked out" to make sure she was healthy. (Side note - they do have "preemies" born at the patch....they are very small and have no ears). ;)
Once Emmaline got a clean bill of health, the girls got to hold the newborn cabbage patch. :)
Before leaving, we browsed the store and let the girls pick out their own cabbage patch dolls (we avoided the $15,000 section) :)
Ella picked out a blonde-curly girl whose name turned out to be "Ariel Leo." Clairy-Berry was extra fond of her....
Claira's newest trick is hitting people in their faces. Can you tell???
Nora picked out a brown-headed doll (because "she resembled Lilah") whose name turned out to be Kayla Autumn. Of course, we could not get out the door without the girls having a hissy to open their dolls. So Daddy got out his pocket-knife....
And as always, sweet Ella wanted to share with her baby sister.
Before leaving, we snapped a few pictures and ran around a bit with our new dollies. BabyLand General is actually a beautiful place!!
Afterwards, we rode over to Dahlonega to eat at the Smith House for lunch. If you've never eaten there, GO!! It's a slice of southern-cooking HEAVEN!!
And yes, the cabbage-patch dolls had to eat lunch with us. Ella wouldn't even let her's go to butter her roll....
Now that Claira is 9 months old, she gets to eat a lot of "big people food." She LOVED the sweet potatoes and corn!! I posted this picture on purpose of Josh feeding her. Please note his mouth....every time he puts the spoon to her mouth, he reflexively opens his OWN mouth. He has done this with all 3 girls....any other Daddies do that?!?! :)
Since the Smith House is all-you-can-eat southern goodness....we were all on FOOD-OVERLOAD.
Sooooooo......to walk off some of that yummy-ness, we went downtown to the square to see what we could get into.
We shopped for a bit and found some rather "interesting" finds.....these include a Booger Box, a Georgia stool-sample, canned Georgia opossum, and my favorite poster ever. Josh found his "spot" on the "husband bench." :)
The Dahlonega General Store had a "magical piano" that played all by itself.....Ella was amazed!!
The store also had scented necklaces that the girls just HAD to have. Nora chose vanilla, and Ella chose watermelon. (I also bought a nail-puzzle like the one my granddaddy bought me when I was little, and I bought my mama a slinky.....long story). :) Here's Daddy putting on the necklaces.....he's a Daddy of many talents. :)
I also had to do some shopping of my own in Dahlonega's infamous fudge shops. Sweet Lawd, it's my WEAKNESS!!!!!!!!
After walking around for a while, the girls started to get a little tired...
But nothing perks them up like ICE CREAM!!! Even Clairy-Berry got her first taste!!
Finally, after striking a couple of poses.....
....and tipping the local banjo player....
....we were off to mine for some GOLD!!!!! :)
While we didn't strike it rich in the gold, we did very well mining for gems!! We found so many pretty ones, especially this turquoise kind that Josh mistakenly kept calling "Ape Tit" :/
All the girls loved their bag of gems!! Even Clairy. :)
We ended our mining excursion with a wagon ride.
It was neato!! It took us around to see some animals....
(this pig had the right idea!)
.....and we also got to see some old farming and mining equipment, like this righteous manure-spreader (I bet that was a fun job!):
Ella realllllllly loved the wagon ride. Sweet baby.
Claira really loved it, too.....
....but at times, it made her feel a little intoxicated.
So, she would just suck her thumb to make herself feel better. :)
After the wagon-ride, Nora and Ella thanked us repeatedly for the "fun day." Ella kept saying, "This was the best day EVER!!" Of course, that makes it ALLLLLL worth it......all the money we spent on scented necklaces, all the times we had to listen to the talking cabbage-patch dolls in the van OvEr and oVeR and OvEr and oVer and OvEr and oVeR, all the times we had to pause to change Claira's sweet-potato-poopie diapers, all the times Josh and I just wanted to sit down because we can get so tired.....but it's ALLLLLLL worth it!! I thank God daily for these sweet, appreciative, and precious girls that make life indescribably FUN!!
I will leave you with this: On the way home, we had dinner at "Big D's Barbecue" in Dawsonville ("Big D" could be my nickname!!!). Anyhoo, Josh went to the restroom, and texted me this picture (yes, from the restroom!!). This was apparently hanging in the men's room, and he sent it with the caption that stated, "Look, Drew, it's me and you!!"
What's hilarious is.....HE'S RIGHT!!! That's so us!! And I wouldn't trade my little piggy for anyone on the face of the planet!!
Fat and happy!!
(and blessed and grateful!)
Cheers to booger-boxes, Georgia opossums, and "ape tits!!"
