Adventures with the Molskness

1st event of the summer, hiking at the Latta Plantation, close to home.

We were so lucky to go during raspberry season so the kids stayed busy picking tons of them!

Jackson made this awesome bowl out of our map to carry them. But later we had to upgrade to a plastic grocery bag.

Wooded trail section. Addy was holding Lainey's hand. So Sweet!! The girls ended up finding a baby turtle on the trail.

Next short trail to the lake. What's everyone looking at?

UNC Botanical Gardens. The kids posed, on their own! Addy's friend Keira joined us for the day.

Favorite flower. It was in the greenhouse area. A rainbow.

Taking a break. Segregated boys and girls. Just like school!

Winston Salem Kaleidoscope Museum. This time Zachary joined us. FREE with passes! After Kristie and I convinced the grumpy lady at the desk we lived more than 90 miles away. Ugh!

The kids are looking at the animals. Addy actually checked into how much it would cost after falling in love with the quails. Ha!!

We took this group shot for Josh.

Hopefully one of them will be a dentist one day.

Girls working together to build a block structure. I love how they always stick together.

Zachary's creation. He's so funny. Always willing to pose for a picture.

Lame planetarium show. Kristie looks pretty though.

Playing with the big ball outside just before a downpour. We barely made it inside dry then the power went out. It was quite the memorable adventure.

Jarin's birthday pool party at the Morrison YMCA. Our 1st time there and as guests instead of members.

Jarin's birthday party part 2, so the dad's and older sisters could be included.

A visit to the NC Zoo! FREE with passes!!

Gathering around the cool air vent in the aviary. It was a 90 degree day but still better than cold snow.

The babies of the families checking out an otter.

My very favorite picture of the day. The elephants were so neat. They were drinking water with the trunks and spraying themselves to cool off.

Weekend with Friends

This sweet crew has been hanging out so much this summer. They spent many hours in the woods creating Beaver Bay, their fort in the creek. Thankfully they all get along so great. We LOVE Chloe!!

Last weekend we drove to Steph's cabin in Bryson City, NC. Chloe came with us.

Everyone fished but no one caught anything! The fish just swam by and they were big.

The water was a unique green color.

We did some boating and explored Lake Fontana.

The lake borders the Great Smokey Mountains on one side and the Natahala Forest on the other, so no houses.

The kids got to take a swim off the boat. Benny's jumps are always best!

Evening boat ride.

Khan and eventually Josh jumping off a really high cliff in the distance. Yikes!! They are still both bruised.

On big happy family at the Great Smokey Mountain National Park doing some hiking on the deep creek trail.

The Smokey's have the best creeks.

And waterfalls...

We had been on this same hike 5 years ago. Then...

Now...

Then...

Now...

After hiking we explored this neat bamboo forest on our way out of Cherokee.

The kids doing their very favorite thing, playing in the creek.

Thanks for having us Steph!!!

Grandpa & Grandma Neville's Visit

Our summer started with welcome visitors, my dad and stepmom came from Colorado to see us. 1st stop for my dad was our back woods. He loves the greenery and hardwood forests here.

The kids showed off their latest fort called Beaver Bay.

Next event, Charlotte Knights baseball game! Because I know my dad loves baseball.

The kids favorite part is always the food. And I love the view of the city, especially at night.

Benny caught a ball! Thrown to him by the 3rd base coach.

We tried hard to avoid rain all weekend and barely fit in a visit to the Congaree National Park near Columbia, SC. We'd been wanting to check this place out for awhile.

The spikes on the ground are called knees, they're a sort of above ground root system that hold up the trees in the floodplain. I loved the colorful trunks of the bald cypress, left behind by previous high waters.

The old growth forest areas had some pretty tall ones.

There was also a lake but we didn't see any alligators, only snakes. Yuck!

Another highlight of the Neville's visit was playing mini golf in a goldmine, going out to eat, and playing TONS of fun games in the evenings. My dad made us all laugh with his gaming skills! Good sport.

Thanks for visiting G&G Neville. Come back soon! We had a blast and summer is off to a great start.