I'm sure you can see how beautiful it is! From our room on the 3rd floor, you can lie in bed and look out at the mountains. The kids have camp during the day and we go to hear different speakers. It was a wonderful time of spiritual growth.
Here are some pictures of the girls playing in the creek that runs through the area:
Patrick was so much more independent this year, plus he had a friend w/ him from church w/ him (a girl - friend....not a girlfriend), so we didn't see him much at all!
After leaving Montreat, we drove to Tennessee and stayed in a house my in-laws had rented just outside the entrance to the Smoky Mountain National Park. The house was on a hill overlooking the mountains. The kids picked blackberries right outside our door. We spent 2 days in the park. The kids love playing in the creek/river, so they did that for several hours one day. Rachel is way too big of a daredevil! There was one time that we caught her attempting to cross an area of the river that would've swept her right away. Yikes!! Here are pics from "rock hopping":
We spent the next afternoon tubing on the river. We had a blast!! Alison was pretty nervous at the beginning of it, because she was afraid of flipping out of her tube, but once she went over the first few rapids (w/ Thornton hooked to her tube), she was hooked and loved it. We took a ton of pictures w/ a disposable waterproof camera, but I haven't had them developed yet. After 2 runs down the river, the girls were tired and cold (the water was freezing), so Thornton stayed w/ them while Patrick and I did another run (approximately 1/2 hour per run). Somehow, I slipped off my tube on some rapids and my tube went floating downstream. I was stuck on the slippery rocks w/ no tube. It really was kind of scary. I finally got over to the shore, and Patrick caught my tube. Thankfully the rest of the run went well. At the end of the run there's a rock that overhangs the river, about 10-15 feet up. There's a big drop off, so the water is really deep there. I was amazed, but all 3 of the kids jumped! I was so proud of them. Hopefully the pictures of that turned out.
Friday, we all drove home. My in law's were with us, so there were 7 of us in the van for 10 hours. But, really, it went quite well. Minimal whining (even by me!), so that's great!
Now we're back to summer at home. Patrick's baseball team starts play in the State Tournament tomorrow. If they win, they'll move on to play in Minnesota. Our cat, Ozzie, is so in love w/ Patrick. Here's a picture of them sleeping together when we got home:
Today I had the kids all working on different chores around the house. Alison does not really like to clean ( not that any of them *like* to clean, but she's quite resistant). Finally she said, "Mommy, I'm just not a working girl". HA!....I should hope not! Needless to say, she finally, after much prodding, finished cleaning the bathroom.
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