The Porter Crew

     One of my favorite things we were able to do with our kids in the Smokies was hiking. We went on 3 trails -- one very easy, short trek to a tiny trickle of a waterfall where the kids were able to wade in a stream; another fairly easy, albeit long, hike on a paved pathway that led to a nice size waterfall, Laurel Falls, where fifty+ other people were also enjoying the view; and a final 3.6 mile round-trip hike to Andrew's Bald  off of Clingman's Dome, the tallest mountain in the Smokies. The last hike was, by far, the most taxing since the journey back was mostly an uphill climb on a pretty rocky pathway. Meredith did great on the way down, but the return was not quite so joyful! We did make it though, and when we got back to the parking lot, Will still had enough energy to climb some interesting rocks before we headed back to the cabin. The 20-mile trip back to Pigeon Forge took over 2 hours! We had thought about playing putt-putt before going back to celebrate Maggie's birthday, but even the kids opted out after seeing how bad the traffic was. We have already promised them a game in Florida, Lord willing, next summer.

Cool resting place

And of course, Will has to get UP on the tree

Our first waterfall

Climbing carefully into her first wading stream

Our kids loved running along the first trail which was pretty flat

Just a sampling of some of the fall foliage we were able to see

Will was the photographer on this one

Meredith was my hiking companion, so we got to see some amazing views together going towards Laurel Falls

Will climbed on every possible rock he could get on!

Maggie climbed a bit too -- though she didn't ask to have her picture taken nearly as often as Will!

Notice where Meredith is

Finally, Laurel Falls! No one actually wanted to smile on this one -- just to be honest.

Clingman's Dome -- Maggie's birthday

Meredith's photography

Andrew's Bald with the Appalachians in the background

We made it, and everyone's smiling!

Meredith took this picture -- notice Ryan -- sadly he had cell service!

The way back -- no one was smiling!

Goofing off during our break

Will is at the top center

King of the Mountain

One final climb for everyone except Mama

   (Because of the volume of photos that I took over this past weekend, I will have to post several stages of our fall break trip.)
    For fall break, we were so blessed to be able to travel to the Smoky Mountains (along with several thousand other people) for some special family time. We woke up early Thursday morning and pulled out, making a stop in Sevierville to take the kids to the Forbidden Caverns before heading to our cabin. All three kids protested when we told them where we were stopping, but once we were there, they LOVED it.  I don't think they realized the uniqueness and beauty of the caverns ahead of time. It was well worth the stop! Twice during the tour, the lights were turned out so that you could experience what caves would be like in their natural state. Darkness took on a whole new meaning, and Meredith was petrified. I was holding her, and she has never clutched so tightly to me before. Even as I whispered reassurances in her ear about God being there with her deep in the darkness, I was kind of worried she might pass out. Overall, she enjoyed all the amazing formations and the little bats hanging from the ceiling. Maggie was also fascinated by all the different stalactites and stalagmites, and Will was happy to be able walk and move around.  Below are some pictures of the first stage of our trip.

Our official stopping place for having breakfast whenever traveling on I-40 East -- the Casey Jones exit -- we've stopped there so many times!!

The one thing I wasn't crazy about with the pictures was some of the lighting.

Stalactites with water drops

This little guy was just inches from my head as we were walking through the cave. I happened to look up and see him.

Looking way up

Stream bed

Meredith in front of the corn cob stalagmite

Another view of the stream bed farther down

So Cool!!