Coooowaaaa (a.k.a. Toccoa)

Before we got in our car on Friday, Spencer informed Ella Ann that we were going to Toccoa again for the weekend so the entire ride she kept repeating "Cooowaaa!!!!" The three of us packed it up and made ourselves at home, once again, in Toccoa, Georgia for the weekend so that Spencer could work at the hospital. We stopped at the fantastic farmer's market again on our way and picked out some pumpkins for the house. Ella Ann loved picking out all 3 of her mini pumpkins and would drop them about every 2 minutes so we had to keep replacing them! We got lots of yummy veggies and I think Spencer was actually impressed with the "awesomeness" of the whole thing! :) He found some homemade apple butter and some strawberry preserves. I couldn't believe he had actually wanted to buy something! hahahaa! They also had a corn maze and festive barn decked out for the fall, but we didn't have time to venture around the entire farm.

We went to dinner at a great Mexican restaurant that evening and got settled in our hotel room, it's actually called a traveler's rest! ha! It is super nice, though, and we really enjoy our stays there. It's very homey! Spencer and I could barely keep out eyes open for the 2 hour premiere of "Las Vegas", but we were determined to watch the whole thing because we have been looking forward to it all summer! Good thing it did not disappoint! :)

While Spencer worked on Saturday morning/early afternoon, Ella Ann and I did some more exploring around town, again with a pit stop to the fabulous cafe so I could get my cappuccino! I took her to Toccoa Falls, which is a neat waterfall, obviously, that is on Toccoa College campus, yes they have a college so it's not too too small of a town. We had to pay a whopping $1 to get to the falls and spent about 20 minutes walking around the falls. Ella Ann kept saying "wat-tur waaallsss!!" The falls were very pretty, as you can see below. Next the 2 of us went on another tour of downtown and did some more browsing.

Spencer was able to stick around for the afternoon so we went to a park and did an early dinner because he had to go back to the hospital. Spencer swore to me that the night we had Saturday night was "an excellent night" on call, but I greatly beg to differ! He was able to sleep at the hotel with us, but got paged 4 times and went in once!! I was ready to chuck that stupid siren-like pager out the window at about 5 a.m.! Ohhh well, Ella Ann and I got up early anyway and hit the road in a hurry so we could get back to our church's early service at 9:15. Spencer had to stay and finish the weekend at the hospital, but at least we got to spend a few hours together on Saturday and both Friday and Saturday night!

Obviously this picture is not from this weekend, but I had to post it because it is so funny! Ella Ann got a felt board with all these felt people and things to make a beach scene on from her Mimi and Grandpa that she plays with every single day. She often carries around the felt boy and girl and gives them hugs and kisses! Last week, Spencer took this picture because she had propped up her felt boy on the chair beside her to chat with Daddy at the computer!

I bought some crayons and a coloring book before we left to keep her somewhat entertained while in the room. She thought either me coloring for her or her coloring on herself was more fun than the actual coloring book! Good thing they are washable!

Walking up to Toccoa Falls.

She was way more interested in the gravel than the Falls!

She was a little scared of all the big rocks so we couldn't stay too long.

Ella Ann fell on Thursday and scrapped her knees so I bought her "Dora the Explorer" band aids and she is EXTREMELY fond of them, which is what she is playing with in this picture! Dora must be on her boo boo or else a meltdown ensues!

She has no interest whatsoever in having her picture made lately and refuses with a big "NOO!" when I whip out the camera, so I had asked her where mommy's nose was in this picture so I could at least get her to look at me, which is why she is pointing.

One last picture before we left.

Ella Ann is starting to do some pretend play and yesterday she had put her animals in her high chair and started feeding them. Note the bib on the horse!!!!

Next she grabbed all her books and propped them up on the tray for her animals to read! The "Tails" book is her favorite because of the fluffy tail on the cover that she holds on to and sucks her thumb with (every single time) she is holding the book!

She refused to get out of the dolphin swing while at the playground and threw a big tantrum when I had to eventually yank her out because I was tired of being told to "push nose, push nose!!!!" Up until about 2 weeks ago Ella Ann refused to go near a swing, now it's all she wants to do!