Our trip- Day one- The Ride

We made a our yearly pilgrimage to the Great Smoky National Forest. Along the way we had a few stops. For three years now we have taken photos at the very same spot, The Smoky Falls(to record our children's growth). We enjoyed a picnic lunch here and shot a few photos. We found two Salamanders under a log. Most people do not know that The Great Smoky Nat'l Park is the Salamander Capital of the World! More Salamanders live here than any where else!

Next we were off to Cherokee to check into our hotel (just a one night stay). In order to get to Cherokee you have to travel down a road that passes Santa Land Theme Park. You cannot miss it, the children see 20 or more billboards for miles before the actual park is near. All three children decided that they wanted to stop (not in our plans). We have visited this park twice before and each time the children always enjoy it. How could a child not enjoy a Christmas Themed Park! After 10 minutes of begging (I decided not to voice my opinion- I would let Dad be the bad guy this time), Steve pulled into the parking lot. At first I thought he was going to give them a beating for screaming and begging but he didn't. He smiled at the kids and said let's go! We spent ALL afternoon there. It would not be a visit to Santa Land without seeing Santa. Nolan was first and he told Santa that he wants Hot Wheel Cars. Santa said, "I bet you like Legos too." Nolan said, "Yes". Santa said "It is my job to know what boys your age want....".

Next was Logan. Today she was not shy. Days like this scare me (last time we were here she told Santa that his breath was bad). Santa asked her what she wants and she said, "Animals".

Santa said, "Stuffed animals?".

Logan said, "NO! I WANT REAL ANIMALS."

Santa took a deep breath and said, "Well, this is something that I have to talk to your mom and dad about, how about a stuffed animal too?"

Logan said, "NO".

Santa said, "I know, I bet you like nice clothes."

Logan says NO again.

Santa asked her if she likes jewelry.

Logan replies no again.

Santa says- candy?

NO, and Logan says for the last time, "I want a real bunny, squirrel, zebra, and flying pony." Santa said ok and looked at me for help.

Next comes Cody and Santa laughed (probably since Cody is almost 12 and sitting on his lap). Santa was impressed with Cody's list. After our lovely talk with Santa we enjoyed the rest of our visit at the park and left for our hotel.

Reed Gold Mine

Since school began we have been home long enough to get our school work done and then we are out the door. We have PE Class, Math, Science, Tennis Lessons, Guitar Lessons, Chess Club, Guitar Club, Art Club, Forensics Class, and Music Class. Oh and field trips! This week we went with the Bach Family, Katie and 5 of her children, to Midland, NC to The Reed Gold Mine.

We learned the art and technology of mining gold and the history behind the gold rush. We had a 30 minute lesson which was followed by an UNDERGROUND tour of the mine. We were able to go 50 feet underground in the old mining shafts and tunnels. After the program we had a picnic lunch and went panning in the river.

We had a lovely time and enjoyed spending the day with our friends.

Here we are getting ready to go into the Mine Shaft
This is in one of the tunnels (it is a constant 55 degrees! Buuurrrr)
The children are panning with Katie.
Oh and along the path we found this copperhead. This time of year be very cautious, copperheads are camouflaged in the leaves!

Supercalicamperlisticexpialidocious

Supercalicamperlisticexpialidocious

Here we go a campin.....We are off to see the world....

Seven years ago Steve and I packed up two large backpacking packs with food, tents, sleeping bags, water, energy bars, maps, cooking supplies, bug spray, water proof matches, raincoats, lint, and a first aid kit. We headed to the AT at Clingman's Dome in the Smoky Mountains. We began our journey of backpacking for 5 days. It only took an hour of hiking before there were no humans in sight. For the next 4 days we saw no one, only a few raccoons, a rattlesnake, deer, and one black bear. Total solitude, peace, raw nature. One of my favorite trips was being in the backcountry with monsoon rains and an engineer from Atlanta, and my brother-in-law and several other people. One can only imagine that an engineer would pull a wheelie cooler and Samsonite Luggage up a mountain! After the birth of our 2nd child we packed away our backpacking gear. Since then we have been on shorter day hikes with the kids, a little rock climbing for the oldest son, and bouldering. No camping, no backpacking. Now that the children are older the time has come to teach them about camping. A four and six year old are not quite old enough for a backpacking trip so that leads us to the Skamper.

This is me backpacking.

A friend called and said, "I know you love camping and my wife and I are selling our pop-up. We will give you a great deal on it". If you know me, I love deals, and a deal we got. We brought it home, set it up, and the kids climbed around inside it and talked about what they would do when we camping. Already dreaming about our first trip.

Why do we camp? Number one reason is camping with our children brings us back to the simplicity of nature. Camping increases our awareness of surroundings and refreshes the appreciation for the many things that so often go unnoticed. Patience is almost unavoidable, what greater lesson could we teach our children than patience. In nature there are so many amazing things to discover. Just think--the birds and animals, the plants and trees, the rocks, the streams and ponds, the insects, the sounds, the weather, the wildflowers, and the many activities that can provide so much excitement. The possibilities are endless!

There will be many more posts about our adventures. The first will come in one week as we are off to explore what Mother Nature has bestowed upon us.

Sleepy Kitty

Logan loves to baby her kitty. So when Maggie fell asleep in her dad's lap this is what she did. I think the kitty actually like it!

Rain...Rain...Rain

Well it is finally here....much needed rain. We love to go to the creek after it rains to see how much water is flowing. After 5-6 inches of rain in the past week this is what our creek looks like. Usually it only has a few inches, now it is at least 2-3 feet.

Geocachers

We found Geocaching.

We were watching our oldest son at ball practice one night a few weeks ago, our little ones were off looking for home run balls. We spot the two little ones running toward us with a box. They are both talking/squealing in high pitch voices, very excited about a "treasure" that they found. "What is this?", Steve asks. I told him, "Its a geocache".

What is geocaching? Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment. There are currently over 7oo,ooo people geocaching worldwide, and we just jumped on the bandwagon. The kids went home searched through their own treasures to find things that they could "trade". The next weekend we spent two days with the GPS, finding only about half of the caches we set out to find. It is very exciting when we find a cache, the kids really go wild. We cannot wait to geocache each weekend. We found out that there are 140+ caches within a 15 mile radius of our home!

There is a cache on the tank, after we searched for 45mins., we gave up. Later we found out that it is a micro-cache (size of a pill bottle) We were looking for something much bigger.

Outing to Martha Rivers Park

Decided to check out a new park today. We headed to Gastonia and found Martha Rivers Park. The kids loved it (so did I). The park has a castle theme and is even equipped with a misting spray to cool ya off in this heat! We will be visiting this park again!