The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Aside from seeing GrandDad and NanaB, the Smoky Mountains was the highlight of the trip.  This park is gorgeous!  Niki and I are sure that we will be spending much more time in this park in the years to come.

Charlie and Peter explore the Chimneys picnic area.

Tall trees.

In Cades Cove.  This is why they call it the Smoky Mountains.

Foundation of stone.

A mill and mill chase in Cades Cove.  This mill still runs - they were grinding wheat when we were there.

See the black dot back by the woods?  That's a bear.  Yeah, it's far away, but how close have YOU gotten to a bear in the wild?  (Click on the photo to make it larger.)

Ready for the hike up to Laurel Falls!

Um, it turns out they weren't kidding.  Even though the trail was paved, it did have steep drop-offs.  We watched the kids like a hawk.

The laurel giving Laurel Falls its name.

Peter  explains it.

At the top - Laurel Falls!

CJ and PJ at the top.

Wow.  Look at that drop-off.  Like I said, we kept a hand on the kids.

Grandkids and Grandparents.

The view from the trail.

GrandDad on the way down.  He's got a hiking backpack, an adventure hat, and a pink sippy cup.  That's  just how he rolls.

You can reach the Appalachian Trail off the trail up to Clingman's Dome.

Dad and the observation deck at Clingman's Dome - the highest point in Tennessee.

Dad and me at the top.

A portrait of Grandma JoJo

Charlotte drew this lovely picture of her Grandma JoJo the other day.  I'm not sure why JoJo has all the pink spots on her, but otherwise it's a pretty accurate likeness, right?

More fun from Gatlinburg

Here are some photos Corey didn't post from our trip to Gatlinburg with NanaB & GrandDad.

The swing at our resort was a big hit with everyone.

But Charlie Jo liked the slide better.

They look so small in front of all those huge boulders up in the national park!

What a landscape!

Peter's new favorite game is for Daddy and GrandDad to bounce a beach ball off of his head while he floats in the pool.  No, really.

Charlotte loves to jump "into the water", which really means being safely in Daddy's arms by the time much of her actually gets wet.

Charlotte was telling NanaB and Daddy something very dramatic.

Our little mountain resort suited us perfectly!  There was a cool creek that ran through it which gave us an interesting outside diversion in case we had to split the group to do something like, oh, take three of us to the doctor to check for pinkeye.

Charlotte liked throwing rocks into the creek.

More later!

Peter and Charlotte

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

This week, Niki, Peter, Charlotte, and I went to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with NanaB and GrandDad.We saw black bears (both in a wildlife exhibit and in real life)!

We toured tacky downtown Gatlinburg . . .

We danced to bluegrass music after dinner (the band is behind the bush) . . .

We sat on rocks in the river . . .

We walked around Cades Cove . . .

We drove and hiked to the highest point in Tennessee - Clingman's Dome . . .

We saw sharks!

We rode around beautiful Park roads in Big Red Van . . .

We went swimming . . .

We looked at fish at the Aquarium . . .

We visited Cooter's Dukes of Hazzard museum and gift shop.

We visited the Methodist Church in Cades Cove.

We sat around and chatted . . .

And had a ball! More later . . .

Riding in style in the Mustang!

Corey had to borrow the minivan so he could fit more than one other adult on an outing with clients, so the kids and I squeezed into the Mustang.  I have a new appreciation for people with 2-door cars and multiple children.  It felt like the kids were breathing down my neck, but it sure was easy to hand them things in the back seat!  The kids loved it.  They could hold hands (at least until Peter decided he was done and shrieked until Charlotte let go) and giggled when the engine roared.  Fun stuff!

More new words

Petey usually can't get a word in edgewise when his chatty sister is around, but he does have a few new words that we can identify in between Charlotte's monologues.  He definitely says "mama" now -- usually 100 times in a row.  He also consistently says "Doh-wa"whenever he sees the TV character "Dora the Explorer".  Such Dora sightings are almost always accompanied by a little dance and raised eyebrows in hope that Mommy or Charlotte will sing the Dora theme song.

I'm about 90% sure that he says "fan" whenever he sees a ceiling fan (especially if it is running).  He's working on saying "doggie", but it usually comes out sounding a lot like "daddy".  Corey tries not to take offense.  We suspected Petey was trying to say "GrandDad" when we were in Michigan a couple of weeks ago, so we will investigate this further when we reunite with NanaB and GrandDad in the mountains of East Tennessee on Friday!

Happy Mother's Day to Niki

Happy Mother's Day to Niki!

Words cannot express how wonderful Niki is . . .

We love you, Mom!

Love,

Charlotte, Peter, and Dad

CURSES! Foiled again!

WHY do I never have my good camera around for sweet moments like this?  My cell phone camera is the bane of my existence.  Just a second before, Petey was grinning like a fool (he was the one who initiated the hug), but the delay on the camera missed it.  Plus, it's so blurry you can barely even tell that Charlie Jo was playing "night-night" using the blanket I crocheted for Corey over a decade ago when we were just dating and moments like these were barely imaginable...

(Please ignore the large pile of towels and sheets waiting to be crammed into our inadequate linen closet in the background.  Just focus on the cutie pies in the foreground and make a wish upon the first star you see tonight that the aforementioned linen closet spontaneously quintuples in size.  Thank you.)

My new favorite photo of my youngest goofball child

And here is my giggly, wacky, cuddly little guy.  He may be going through a new stage of separation anxiety and be unable to be awake for more than 10 minutes in the morning before being fed breakfast (or else my ears suffer the consequences), but you would be hard-pressed to find someone who can rock the shirtless redneck look like my Petey can.

My new favorite photo of my eldest goofball child

She continues to frustrate me on a daily basis, but her enthusiasm, curiosity, and creativity just shines through here.  Charlie Jo, you are my sunshine.