At the beginning of the summer, Emily & Christof reached out to us about trying to road trip & meet partway if we could coordinate our very different summer schedules. We were able to find a time that worked & an AirBnB in the Great Smoky Mountains. We drove down from the beach and then the kids discovered that the house had 2 different video game consoles & a foosball table. They were enraptured by the golf arcade game.
Waiting expectantly on Aunt Laura & Uncle Nathan who were going to join us for a couple of nights.
Uncle Nathan got in on the golf and foosball action with the kids.
Naomi, Zoe, & Elijah arrived late Saturday night; the next morning, the kids were excited to get to know each other over Pacman & golf.
Our first day hiking on a nature trail to a waterfall
Then Patrick thought we might get to another great view, so we forded the water & continued up the mountain.
Playing in a mini-waterfall
Walking back down the mountain
Matching the molds of different animal prints & scat with each other.
When a geocache is behind a wall of bushes, we make our own bridge to get there.
Although we had only stopped at the geocache because it was on our way home, we discovered it near a little playground and the most excellent creek for wading in. So much fun.
She was so worried about her shorts, but apparently she wasn't worried about her underwear.
Hot tub time when we returned home.
The beginning of many games played
Dinner al fresco. Aunt Laura & Uncle Nathan's dinner was a huge hit.
A little foosball before bed
And again before breakfast
Monday's hike was another simple one, specifically chosen for creek-wading access. There was rain predicted all day, so we decided to risk getting wet by choosing to get wet.
Pretending to already be tired
And the promised creek was found!
Drying off while picnicking
It started drizzling/raining consistently at the end of our lunch. We decided to hike Clingman's dome in the drizzle.
They made it to the top!
Emily & I took our time up the ascent; when we reached the rest of our crew, Patrick asked me if I wanted to see the buddy that Naomi had asked him to keep dry and safe. We had a good giggle over it.
The big kids were SO excited to learn how to play Lost Cities. There was a lot of rotating through it along with other games for the remainder of our trip.
Our last day of hiking started with all of us together on the Roaring Fork Motor Trail. We stopped and explored various ruins along the hike.
More creek wading, of course!
After our morning hike, we had planned to hike to Grotto Falls together, but the parking situation was crazy. We ended up eating our lunch on Emily & Christof's tailgate. Then we split up - some chose to hike up to the waterfall and some chose to finish our scenic drive, explore more ruins, & wade in creeks.
Those who hiked to the waterfall:
.jpg)
Those who explored and meandered:
Ending at the creek near the house that we visited the previous day. Then the other crew met us there.
Bedtime stories
As we were cleaning out the kitchen on our last morning, we had an unusual amount of ice cream leftover (everyone had brought ice cream!). So there was ice cream for everyone just before we left.
A few photos together before we said goodbye.
There was this amazing bug that wanted to come along home with us from TN. The crazy thing is that it was still on our minivan when we made a stop for gas many hours later.
What a sweet, heart-filling time! We love how the kids got along and mixed it up throughout the entire trip and shared a love for games and books. Wading in the Smokies' creeks is the best. We would do it again!
