Wordless Wednesday!

Sunday Afternoon Drive

Last Sunday after church we hopped in the van and just drove.  We ended up on the Cherokee Foothills Highway.  It was beautiful! 
Our first stop was Table Rock Park.  It is most famous for it’s Table Rock Mountain, but we are looking forward to enjoying the many hiking trails scattered throughout the park.  We hope to get back to sample a few of them soon and enjoy some of the many waterfalls to be found.
You can see Table Rock Mountain behind the boys.  It was a beautiful place.  A serene lake, full lush forest, a nice open field right by the lake.  You could almost imagine a Cherokee village being where we stood. 
The lake was so beautiful.  Tim said he could almost imagine what it would be like canoeing around the lake.  It was so peaceful.
Jameson is a tree hugger!
We continued driving and enjoying.  After missing a few turns we ended up in Transylvania, North Carolina.  Tim then fired me as the map handler and I took over driving.  After all the twisting mountain roads I was thankful to be driving as I was getting car sick.
We ended our adventure by driving up Sassafras Mountain.  We drove straight up to the end of the road which landed us at the highest point (3507 fr) in South Carolina.   The sun was just starting to set so the temperature was dropping rapidly so we didn’t hang long.  Since the day was so clear we were able  to see Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee from where we stood.  We also had enough time to run around like crazy chickens all over the top of the summit checking out a few trail heads, before scrambling back into our car and blasting the heat! 
It took a little bravado for the boys to sit here after we saw a Bobcat run off into the woods upon seeing us. 
Jameson loved this grouping of trees.  They had grown into a perfect little house.  I could imagine hours of play in this home grown fort!
The boys were so happy when I finally finished taking pictures. You can read the joy on Johnston’s face when I announced this would be the final one….until the next great photo opportunity came along which didn’t take long.
We were so happy to be able to visit Sassafras Mountain on such a clear day. The view was so breathtaking!  I don’t know if we will make it back up there since there is just so much to see and so little time, but it was well worth the frozen noses, fingers and toes!

Boys and their treasures!

Boys are a breed of their own aren’t they?  Worms, nails, cars, marbles, measuring tapes, chalk, the list goes on and on.  These are things a mommy can expect to find in the pocket of her sweet boys.  I am one of those fortunate mom’s and I’m so happy to see what treasures they find. (Free tip: Worms do not survive a trip in the washing machine!)   Unfortunately some treasure Johnston finds he can’t fit in his pocket.

"Mommy I caught something!"  These words always send a little shiver down my spine.  Are there going to be spines, hairy legs, scales, warts or worse on said "caught something"?  With a smile I always check what creature we are welcoming to our family, since each find is a treasure that can hardly be left to fend for themselves once rescued from their hard life in the wild. 
Thursday Johnston caught something from the wild and for once I could truly smile because it was cute, cuddly, soft and furry.  When it wasn’t scratching and trying to get free that is!
A wild kitten!  This sweetie has been seen around our house since she was born in June.  Her parents are wild strays and she was the only kitten from their litter to survive.  The boys have tried to catch her many times, but she was to quick.  Thursday Johnston put  food in the garage and when she went in to eat it he quickly shut the door.  This narrowed his chase down to the shelves, bikes, tools and such garage dwellers.  As you can see he was very successful. 
Here she is on day two enjoying the bed the boys made for her in their room.  Cats are so easy to train with a litter box.  It took all of five minutes!  I wish dogs were so easy.  She is still a little hand shy sometimes, but is very loving and enjoys to be held. 
Johnston  knows we can’t keep the sweet thing.  With our upcoming move and all things that are part of said move, we just don’t have room in our family for another pet at this time.  I told the boys that their job is to spend time with her, love on her and get her ready for a wonderful new family.  They are doing a great job loving on her poor thing.  We sure will miss her when she goes!

Where have all the merry-go-rounds gone?

I can’t even remember how long it has been since I’ve seen a merry-go-round at a park.  They are a thing of the past  that is sadly becoming extinct.  Tim and I long to have our boys experience the wonderful experiences of our childhood.  Rollerskating, midnight sledding, sailing, dirt biking, the list is very long.  One of these experiences from my list is riding on a merry-go-round.  A simple thing I know, but how much fun is the thrill of a marry-go-round spinning so fast you can’t stand up.  Laying on your back and watching the sky swirl around.  Giggling as your little body is pulled outward by centrifugal force.  Hanging on as if your life depends on it.

Today Tim decided to take us to a park for a picnic.  We decided to try a park in a neighboring town for something new.  Look what we found!
Johnston just couldn’t get the right speed up, but he sure was trying. 
Daddy took over….
….then jumped on for a ride!
Daddies can get a merry-go-round spinning nice and fast.
The boys thought the merry-go-round was great fun and I am so glad they experienced this simple childhood pleasure.

Careful where you walk....

or you might step on one of these beauties!

We found this built into the side of a hill.
We took a few pictures and left them in peace.

Grandma turned 90!

It was wonderful celebrating grandma’s 90th birthday this past Friday.  She was  so happy to have all five of her children there to be with her on such a  special day.  Actually with our two boys in the group there were four generations at our party.  It was a wonderful weekend and we are so happy to have been able to be a part of it.

Grandma turned 90!

It was wonderful celebrating grandma’s 90th birthday this past Friday.  She was  so happy to have all five of her children there to be with her on such a  special day.  Actually with our two boys in the group there were four generations at our party.  It was a wonderful weekend and we are so happy to have been able to be a part of it.

Quick camping trip!

Monday afternoon Tim decided we should go for a quick camping trip.  He didn’t have to ask us twice.  Three hours later we were on our way.  We hadn’t been able to go camping since Tim started school so we were very excited to get up to our special spot. 

With views like this who can resist camping here?

We arrived Monday night with just enough time to check out  our camp site and then get everything ready for the night.  Our idea of a quick camping trip is to skip the tent and lay all the seats in our van down and crash in the back.  This cuts hours of set up and prep time down to maybe 30 minutes. 
Tuesday we woke up very early….thank you boys…..built up our fire and enjoyed our traditional quick camping breakfast.  Fresh fruit, yogurt, bacon cooked over the fire, donuts and chocolate milk.  (Usually hot cocoa, but in our excitement we forgot our cooking ware)  Tim and I enjoyed the fire while the boys ran around exploring the area around out campsite.  We didn’t get much time to enjoy the fire as the boys were anxious to get the inner tubes in the water.
Johnston and Jameson checking things out.

Johnston getting his tube ready.

The water was freezing!  (It wasn’t even 10am!  Craziness!)

We couldn’t keep Coalette out of the water.  She was in doggie heaven!

Jameson did so well sitting on the side of the tube without falling off.

These guys are such awesome kids!

Johnston enjoyed the challenge of rock climbing up and down the creek bed.

This is the creek bed right beside our campsite.  Johnston and Tim climbed  up to the first waterfall and then came back a "safer" way for the rest of us to climb up.

Coalette swimming in the pool beside our campsite.

Thumbaleena had a blast camping with us for the first time.  She wasn’t the best at swimming, but she climbed the rocks and hills like a mountain goat. 

I ran out of battery power right before we hiked up to the set of falls that are beside our campsite.  It was beautiful up there.  The first falls we came to had a pool about 40 feet by 10 feet.  The water was about 4′ at the deepest part.  We had to slide down a rock face to the pool and crawl up carefully to get out.
The second part of the climb meant crossing the creek above the first falls, scaling a rock face with a rope and other adventurous things.  This was definitely something Jameson and I did not want to tackle so we stayed behind to play in the pool while our guys braved on.  Tim told me later that Johnston did great going up the rock face, but coming down was a little tricky.  I’m so proud of him for doing it though.  I look forward to the day that Jameson and I will be able to tackle the next stage of the creek hike.
We hiked, tubed, explored, and completely wore ourselves out.  We would love to get one more overnight trip in, but if we don’t we are so thankful to have gotten one fun filled, adventure packed camping trip in this summer.

Quick camping trip!

Monday afternoon Tim decided we should go for a quick camping trip.  He didn’t have to ask us twice.  Three hours later we were on our way.  We hadn’t been able to go camping since Tim started school so we were very excited to get up to our special spot. 

With views like this who can resist camping here?

We arrived Monday night with just enough time to check out  our camp site and then get everything ready for the night.  Our idea of a quick camping trip is to skip the tent and lay all the seats in our van down and crash in the back.  This cuts hours of set up and prep time down to maybe 30 minutes. 
Tuesday we woke up very early….thank you boys…..built up our fire and enjoyed our traditional quick camping breakfast.  Fresh fruit, yogurt, bacon cooked over the fire, donuts and chocolate milk.  (Usually hot cocoa, but in our excitement we forgot our cooking ware)  Tim and I enjoyed the fire while the boys ran around exploring the area around out campsite.  We didn’t get much time to enjoy the fire as the boys were anxious to get the inner tubes in the water.
Johnston and Jameson checking things out.

Johnston getting his tube ready.

The water was freezing!  (It wasn’t even 10am!  Craziness!)

We couldn’t keep Coalette out of the water.  She was in doggie heaven!

Jameson did so well sitting on the side of the tube without falling off.

These guys are such awesome kids!

Johnston enjoyed the challenge of rock climbing up and down the creek bed.

This is the creek bed right beside our campsite.  Johnston and Tim climbed  up to the first waterfall and then came back a "safer" way for the rest of us to climb up.

Coalette swimming in the pool beside our campsite.

Thumbaleena had a blast camping with us for the first time.  She wasn’t the best at swimming, but she climbed the rocks and hills like a mountain goat. 

I ran out of battery power right before we hiked up to the set of falls that are beside our campsite.  It was beautiful up there.  The first falls we came to had a pool about 40 feet by 10 feet.  The water was about 4′ at the deepest part.  We had to slide down a rock face to the pool and crawl up carefully to get out.
The second part of the climb meant crossing the creek above the first falls, scaling a rock face with a rope and other adventurous things.  This was definitely something Jameson and I did not want to tackle so we stayed behind to play in the pool while our guys braved on.  Tim told me later that Johnston did great going up the rock face, but coming down was a little tricky.  I’m so proud of him for doing it though.  I look forward to the day that Jameson and I will be able to tackle the next stage of the creek hike.
We hiked, tubed, explored, and completely wore ourselves out.  We would love to get one more overnight trip in, but if we don’t we are so thankful to have gotten one fun filled, adventure packed camping trip in this summer.

Wordless Wednesday!

My guys got haircuts!

All was going well…..

….until daddy decided to change "cheese" into all kinds of funny things!

Wordless Wednesday! - Almost

My guys got haircuts!

All was going well…..

….until daddy decided to change "cheese" into all kinds of funny things!