Spring in Birmingham

We decided to visit the Birmingham botanical gardens in between sessions of General Conference. The day was nice and cool, and the kids enjoyed walking outside. It was great to see all the spring flowers and blossoms in bloom.

New hats

C really likes hats. So after seeing a hat tutorial online, I decided to try and make a couple. They are supposed to be newsie hats, but I think they look more like train engineer hats. Anyway, they turned out to be easier to make than I thought, (always a good thing). I think they turned out pretty well, though I'm sure that anything looks great on such good looking models.

New Neighbors

When we moved into our apartment, we weren't sure what to do with V's old fish tank, so we just stuck it on a shelf on our back porch.


After our camping trip I noticed that a bird had made its home there, complete with eggs. A strange place for a nest, but I guess that it's well protected from the elements.



Unfortunately, I think the nest is abandoned as I have never seen a bird near it. Still, it's a neat bit of nature to show the boys.

The Great Smoky Mountains

Ryan had some time off for spring break, so we headed up to Great Smoky Mountain National Park.


It was beautiful there, we had perfect weather, and the boys enjoyed being outside.


Camping there is a bit different than camping out west. We were first tipped off when our camping site came with a tent pad. Yes, there was a square of ground leveled off and covered with a fine gravel. Then we went on a hike with the kids, which was entirely paved. People were pushing strollers all the way to the top.


Here we are at Laurel Falls. The trail goes right through the middle of the falls. This is the upper part of the falls. The other side of the trail dropped off into the lower falls. V said this was his favorite part of the hike, but he was disappointed that I didn't let him throw sticks into the waterfall. (It was a bit crowded for throwing things).


The hike was 2.6 miles round trip, and V managed to do it all by himself. By the end, he took the lead, wanting to hike all by himself.



C did a little hiking by himself too, though he was much more interested in holding as many rocks as he could. He got very frustrated when he couldn't pull rocks out of the asphalt.


Mmm...potato chips and mud. A winning combination.


We picnicked by a river, where V could finally through rocks into the water.


This was an old school house. Looks like the students are ready for class.







Here we are playing at the campground.


Here's Ryan teaching V the finer points of playing in the fire. "He's going to do it anyway, and I'd prefer that he learned it from me."


I know that I've given V smores before, but he had completely forgot about it. Imagine his surprise when I let him cook marshmallows in the fire and then eat it with graham crackers AND chocolate. It was the best day ever. C was a bit grabby so he ate his with chocolate in one hand and marshmallow/graham cracker in the other.


It was a bit chilly in the morning so I put socks on C's hands. He thought this was the greatest thing and walked around the campsite clapping. V quickly followed suit and asked for some fancy handwear of his own.



We went through Cades Cove on the way out where we were able to see a bunch of old cabins and churches.




We were able to see some wildlife on the way. This deer let us get right up to her and watch her eat. I guess she figured that the creek was a big enough barrier.



V found another river to throw rocks in.


This was V's favorite house. He said it was funny because the top was too big, and it was a triangle.


Ahh...finally asleep. I don't know why our kids have such a hard time falling asleep in the car. Time to go home and catch up on my own sleep. I spent the nights stuffing children back into their sleeping bags. Maybe if I velcroed them in...