The End of Another School Year

Our crew at Stone Mountain State Park located about 2 hours north of Charlotte.

We hiked to the summit and explored several granite mountain domes along the way.

The views were amazing!

Amanda and the big boys hiked down the front face of the mountain, not as steep as it looks but so high it made my legs shake.

The perfect location for a Mother's Day picture. My only gift request.

Here's a side view from another granite face.

After recharging with a picnic lunch, we hiked a shorter trail to Stone Mountain Falls. The kids had a blast playing in the pool at the bottom.

On our way home we stopped just outside the park for ice cream and snacks at an old fashioned general store.

My baby graduated from preschool, sniff, sniff.

He celebrated by spending the day with Mimi.

Aaron REALLY wanted me to come to field day so I followed his class around and watched the events. And got very sunburned!

Addy with some of her close friends eating lunch together.

At the end of the day sweet little Aaron thanked me for coming. So worth it!

Here's Addy and her good friend Keira at Springapolooza, the school's end of the year festival. The boys enjoyed running around with their friends too.

Last weekend we visited Landsford Canal State Park in South Carolina. It is the location of the largest known population of rocky shoal spider lilies in the US. And they were in bloom!

My pictures turned out terrible. Here's a professional one and more true to how it really looked.

We walked along the Catawba River to see the lilies and on the way back along the old canal.

Gatlinburg 2016

The first stop on our way into town.

They forbid you to take pictures inside the caverns so I had to sneak this one.

Next stop, the kids favorite gem store where they went mining for gems to add to their collections.

Around 4:00 we checked into the cabin and the kids went straight for the hot tub. They're not having any fun!

Saturday morning we convinced my brother to get up early with us to hike to Alum Cave in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.

The views along the trail were amazing.

There were tons of these type of bridge crossings. This one to Arch Rock about half way to the cave.

Jackson made it! Our longest hike at 2.7 miles one way.

Josh taking one last look at the view. He really wanted to continue on the trail to the Le Conte summit and lodge. Accessible only by foot. Someday...

Playing in the creek near the Greenbriar entrance to the national park, the locals entrance.

Just couldn't get enough of these beautiful mountain streams.

Josh and I on the hike to Rainbow Falls early Sunday morning.

We turned around at these no name falls and never reached the real waterfall.

Addy feeding a squirrel on our hike. Addy and Jackson came with us while the grandmas watched the little ones. The hike was 5.4 miles round trip, our longest yet.

The crew eating at the Mellow Mushroom. So happy we could all share this fun vacation.

The awesome view of Gatlinburg from the Skylift. We weren't going to ride it this time but the kids insisted.

Christmas picture front runner.

The most exciting part of the entire trip!!! Josh and I ran into this little guy on our evening hike to Rainbow Falls. I was determined to see the real falls this time. No kids were with us.

Josh behind Rainbow Falls, the tallest in the park at 80'. See him?

Evening hiking was the best! So much wildlife to see. Turns out everyone else got to see a huge bear back at the cabin while we were gone. We also saw a mom and 2 cubs climbing a tree from the road on our way home.

The view from the Roaring Fork Motor Trail Monday morning before heading home.

The boys love exploring and playing in the old cabins along the trail.

Wow! Gatlinburg we LOVE you and will be back.

April Adventures

We spent most weekends with the newest members of our family, Amanda and Zachery. Amanda serves with me at church and we just recently started hanging out. We made a trip to Rock Hill, SC to explore the area.

First we visited the Museum of York County. They had an awesome collection of bones and other specimens. Jackson was in heaven.

There was a planetarium show that taught us about the current NC stars and planets. We were able to test our skills later in the evening.

We had a picnic lunch and hiked the trails behind the museum. Such posers!

Then we visited the Glencairn Gardens where the kids ran free. The boys get along great and like the same kind of fun. They especially love trading Pokemon cards, along with Addy too.

Zachery took this nearly professional picture of us with Amanda's fancy camera.

A big hit for the kids was feeding the goldfish in the pond. Luckily, we brought bread.

Got home just in time for a dinner of hotdogs and smores on the campfire.

Another Saturday morning, Amanda and I joined this fun crew from church for a free workout at Carolina Sweat. I was sore for days! Our pastor is the guy in the grey sweatshirt.

Here we are together again while celebrating a friend's birthday at Old Mecklenburg Brewery.

And more posing with this girl. We sure enjoy each others company. She and Zachery came over another weekend for a pizza dinner and campfire. Later in the evening, the kids ran around having a blast in the dark.

I also got to go to my friend Tricia's baby shower, she's the one in the striped dress next to me. We serve as check in partners at church. The other ladies are also church friends.

Josh and I enjoyed our first Charlotte Hornets game thanks to our friends Pat and Allison from small group.

Here's a goofy selfie of us.

Adorable little people! We babysat Audrey one Friday and Benny loved having a friend. I need to have this girl over more often to soften up my rough tough boy.