The Smokey Mtns.

Our next door neighbor is an older couple that never had any kids (remember Bruce?). Well Ms. Kaye (his wife) has been begging and BEGGING us to come w/ her to her mtn. home. I couldn't help but be a TAD hesitant considering there are 9 of us and 1 of her and I didn't know how kid-proof the home was. We finally caved because she seriously wanted us to come and kept asking. (however we didn't spend the night like she wanted us to)

We drove up to the Smokey Mtns. on the South and North Carolina border and about 10 minutes from her house Brooks saw a turtle in the middle of the road. Of COURSE he stopped so the kids (meaning Camden) could get it.

I noticed it had a long tail so I jokingly said it was probably a snapping turtle....

(gosh my boys are handsome)

It looked a little too small to be a snapping turtle though, but guess what the dern thing did soon after he was in the Yeti.......SNAPPED away. That thing was FIE-STY!

So obviously we let him go. (the jagged turtle shell by his tail is a DEAD giveaway)

But when we GOT there the kids found PLENTY of snails.........

which is a little more my style.

Except I don't like how they feel. Ick.

The boys wanted a "boy picture"

CLEARLY, they are excited to be there.

Here is Aleeya in front of the home.

Why her body contorts into an "S" shape when I take a picture is beyond me.

 Here that cute girl is again, "S"-ing away.

(and we wear underwear under our swimsuits sometimes......it's how we roll)

The kids (eh-hem, that INCLUDES Brooks) really enjoyed just being at the river.

Brooks enjoyed it SO much that he didn't even notice Royce droppin his drawers and peeing in the river next to him.

(or maybe he's doing what I do sometimes and pretend I didn't see it and then turn around and act all surprised to save face..........nah, I don't think Brooks thought it through that much)

Here is Ms. Kaye and me. She followed the kids around taking pictures the whole time.

Behind us is her friend Suzanne (and Kellyn) who usually comes up to the home w/ Kaye. That was really the last we saw of Suzanne because after lunch she disappeared upstairs to nap and didn't come down because of a huge migraine. Kaye told me she gets them all the time.

I know what you're thinking and it did NOT have ANYTHING to do w/ Iris non-stop following her around and talking her ear off for minutes and minutes on end.........did I mention it never ends?

Then Ms. Kaye pulled out some intertubes! My kids have never been tubing!!! (what kind of MOM AM I?!?!?)

And check out that incredibly handsome smile. His smiling pictures (that usually happen w/ a caught animal or when he's outside in nature) don't come by too often. Of all my kids Camden gives the least amount of spontaneous smiles so I just love capturing these moments. Que guapo.

Tubing reminds me SO much of my childhood, so I just had to partake. And you would THINK it should've bothered me that it was very rocky and shallow at points and my intertube kept deflating.......but no, I'm a trooper.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand pretty sure my tailbone made a few too many friends w/ the rocks.

Tailbone meet rock. Rock meet tailbone.

I kept trying to get Aleeya to like it........and it didn't work (notice my face vs. her's)

So I ditched her and kept going so I could beat Camden to the smaller waterfall........but of course I needed to shave a few centimeters off my tailbone first.

I DID beat Camden to the waterfall, but I took a look at it and decided to let Camden go first. He went backwards and flipped over. hahaha. So learning from his mistakes I went down just fine. Sometimes I wonder if I'm mature enough to have children......

LOVE these next two pictures!.....the anticipation before some rapids.

BEST TUBING PICTURE. hahaha

Ms. Kaye brought some kitchen things out so Iris just hung out and "cooked" for......like.....um......ever. (probably because her buddy was upstairs laying down w/ a migraine)

My little chefs.

Then a man came w/ his wife to do some fishing. I ASSURED him we would get out of his way soon and he said not to bother. Good thing we aren't loud or don't get in anyone's space............sorta

But we were really fascinated by the fish he caught.

Well, mostly Brooks and Royce. Brooks just stayed by them and asked question after question in typical Brooks-style. (Kind of a genetic thing I guess that Bronson received the "Mustache" award at school because he always "must-ask" a question)

When she wasn't napping, Kellyn just hung out and enjoyed the show.....ya know, like she usually does.

 While Kaye and I made dinner the kids crashed and watched a movie.

I LOVE this picture of Kellyn. I know it looks like her head is really close to the edge, but trust me, she WILL NOT MOVE. At all. The secret?

Well, Brooks just has to rub/scratch her arms and legs and she turns into a stone statue.

What a fun day trip.

*Added bonus* Ms. Kaye is INSISTING we come back many times and next time spend the night. So hey, I guess us Smiths can be pretty fun to have around afterall........

unless you get migraines easy.