Saturday BBQ - Upper 40s is warm enough for us

 

Big showing on Saturday. The Dads stayed outside and fed but otherwise neglected the children. The Moms stayed inside and gave the kids slices of chocolate pie and otherwise ignored them. Nobody lost a finger so we call this a success.

Several kids followed Elliot's lead on burned marshmallow s'mores. Not a wise choice.

Cal joins the Blue Demons

 

And another hat trick for EBD.

Blue demons fans - Mom is back.

Easter

 

Easter was pretty low key this year. We were still recovering from Spring Break. 

Nata was a little disappointed to find that the Easter Bunny hid no eggs in the front garden. Elliot with a cascarone in his hands has a particular look of malice in his eyes.

Yearbook collage page

The boy in the striped shirt is one of Elliot's best school buddies. His name is Xhemka. Having a name that starts with an X makes him way cool in the parental books. Their photo direction at this point was to appear to have it all figured out. 

Video of photoshoot for Elliot's class yearbook collage page

Julie, Grandma Sue and Natalie took pictures of Elliot's class for their yearbook. Elliot's group appears around 1min30seconds. You can get glimpses of Grandma Sue going in and out the door.

Blue demons fan

 

The trees smelled like garbage.

Girls night out at prasino

Happy homeowner.

Spring snooper

My Spring Break by Elliot

Smoky #5 - Clingman's Dome

 

Our last day in the park started with an awesome hike to the top of Clingman's dome (the highest point in the park) where we met two young Germans hiking the Appalachian Trail. The kids gave them a peanut butter and chocolate egg as a treat. Then we took a spectacular long cut back to the car on the AT.

Smoky #4 - River rats

There was a creek right behind our site. Elliot met a couple of boys who he said had English accents and played with them in the creek. He caught water bugs and threw rocks and sticks. Nata got in the drink too and played with the sand. Jules broke out her new mini guitar and Dad cranked up an extra fresh summery dinner.

Smoky Mountains #3 - Laurel Falls

The next day was glorious. Dry and warm. We hiked up to Laurel Falls and then went on into the woods. As always, once we got past the main tourist destination, the crowds disappeared almost completely. Nata cranked out close to 6 miles that day almost totally on her own.

We found some fallen "Squirrel Corn" and Nata and Elliot invented the game Squirrel Corn City to keep themselves busy as we hiked. Acorn tops are their hats AND their IDs which they must have with them at all times. Later, baby pine cones were integrated into the game.

Elkmont Campground, the Little River and deluge #2

We headed into the heart of the park for a couple of nights. The first day we took a rainy hike up the Little River. It was glorious. About half way up, it started raining. Luckily, it was warm and we were able to find a troll cave to hide out in during the worst of it. We even saw a little hail mixed in from the comfort of our rock overhang. This was about a 5 mile round trip and Nata hiked nearly all of it.

After we got back, we ended up sitting in the car for a good hour reading and waiting for the rain to break. It did but dumped again overnight. Luckily, we'd gotten a new 6 person tent for the trip so (1) we didn't kill each other (2) we stayed dry.

Smoky Mountains #1 - Around Cosby Campground

We stayed in Cosby Campground the first two nights. The hike to Hen Wallow Falls was our biggest one in this part of the Park. We brought along Grandpa Buck's wildflowers book and saw and identified some amazing stuff. There were also big millipedes and SALAMANDERS (Elliot's new favorite creature) under the rocks at the falls.

Dancing to the finale of Fantastic Mr. Fox

Host at bob evans said to elliot

"That hat is pimping!"

First breakfast

Had to flee the rain in the hills. Bob evans by the freeway has coffee. Yum.