A Trip to the Mountains

I’m back! Last Wednesday, the kids and I went to Boone, NC to visit my sister, Amy, and her family. On Thursday we went to Linville Caverns. The kids absolutely loved this. Alyssa even asked the guides questions like, ‘How were these caves formed?’ They equally enjoyed visiting the gift shop afterward since they brought their own spending money with them!

When we left, we decided on a whim to hike the trail up to the Linville Falls Overlook. It was about 1 ½ miles round trip which may not sound like much, but it had lots of stairs, rocks, and tree obstacles, plus it was up hill…both ways! Felt like it anyway, Amy and I were questioning the wisdom of our whim, but decided it was worth it. The kids loved it. It really was awesome looking down at the falls from so far up. I happen to know how big the falls are, because I’ve been down at the bottom before, so seeing them from so high was incredible. On the way back to the van, I heard Kai comment to himself, "We have done SO many cool things today."

The kids enjoyed playing video games and swimming in the inflatable pool on Friday, then Saturday, Uncle Brad took Kai, Alyssa, and Canyon on a hike/picnic to the top of a mountain off the Blue Ridge Parkway. Amy and I took Aly and Canyon to a little creek and walked around. Roan took his shoes and socks off then crossed the creek leaving his shoes on the other side. Then in his bare feet he slipped on a slimy rock, so I didn’t make him go back to get them. Instead, I went. I slipped on the rock and fell in soaking myself AND my CAMERA! Technically it still takes pictures, but it’s definitely not acting right. Arrrgh! Still having fun though…..we went to Golden Corral for lunch and then to a playground.

Sunday morning we returned home and Amy and the kids came with us! Yay! They will be here until next Sunday, but more about that later!