The Smoky Mountains

We had an amazing time at Smoky Mountain National Park. It was so gorgeous that really none of the pictures I took really can do it justice. You just had to be there! Guy got to check off 2 more states that he has never been to on this trip- Tennessee and North Carolina. We camped with my family there and did lots of really fun stuff. We saw lots of deer and on our last day we even saw a black bear and her 2 cubs in the distance. So cool! We also saw a few snakes and tons of salamanders...we learned that the smoky mountains has the most species of salamanders living in it in the world. Now just warning you all that I took a bazillion pictures on this trip. What can I say, we had a great time and everything was just so pretty!! SO here is what we did...

Here's a pic of the camper! We were glad we were in it after it poured down rain the first night we were there! Our campsite was like a swamp but it dried out eventually!

We had the best campsite with this stream running right next to it. It was so soothing to listen to at night when we were going to sleep

Jason and Tyler
Here is the event planner hard at work. My dad picked out some really cool hikes and things for us to do

Kyle is obsessed with fires so he spent most of his time working on making them every night with bb by his side. Brayden loved looking for little sticks to throw in.

Ty loved having a bath in the sink of the camper. What a chub huh!
BB by the stream

Here are the boys sleeping in the camper...Guy and I discovered what crazy sleepers they are!

Here's a scenic shot (I took many, trust me!)

We spent our first day at a place called Cades Cove in the National Park. It's a place where you can drive through and walk up to a bunch of really old historical houses and buildings from settlers that lived here in the late 1800's and early 1900's before it became a National Park. They were really cool and I loved seeing the history

This is one of the old churches with a cemetery that was really neat to walk through

BB giving a sermon at an old church

And lounging with Guy on the church benches

We even found a Hill headstone in the cemetery

We'll have to check out if we are related to them...it would be so cool if we were!

BB hanging by his neck at one of the old barns

And riding on this thing...not sure what to call it

Spelling out O-H-I-O in an old barn

We spent the next day in a town called Gatlinburg that is just right outside of the National Park. It is a really cute and we had so much fun hanging out there for a day. Ok and this is seriously the best picture...They have this bank in Tennessee called BB&T and I just about died. SO I had to get a picture of my BB and T in front of one of their signs!

I love captain Jack Sparrow :)

We rode a tram up to the top of a mountain and rode the alpine slide down. Seriously so much fun! Here's my brothers on the way up!

And the 3 of us going up too. Tyler stayed down with Grandma and Grandpa at the bottom

Guy and BB in the sled before we went down. Brayden ended up riding with me instead...He knew I wouldn't be as crazy as his daddy would be! :)

BB driving a car...they had lots of little rides up there too that were fun

And my brothers and BB played a little mini golf too

Yes this is my father and my son! They crack me up!!Here is hike #1 that we went on. It was a couple mile hike up to an amazing lookout.

I'm sad Ty is missing from this shot but he was happily hanging out in his car seat at the time so we let him be!

We were so high up that it was really chilly so here's BB with my coat on. What a little munchkin!

They all started out this hike running

But ended up crawling after awhile!

BB got tired so Guy ended up pushing up both kids in the stroller for awhile. Hard to do uphill!!

Our view from the top... it was kinda overcast that evening so we couldn't see much at all. But it was still worth the climb! Everything looked smoky which is why they call these mountains the smoky mountains I guess! :)

This is what you climbed up at the top of the mountain to see the view

We passed by where the Appalachian trail crosses through

And Kyle and I pretended to run it!

And Ty just hung out in the stroller the whole hike and ate his blanket! I love this boy...he's truly an angel!

And I sure love this boy too! He was a good little hiker!

Another amazing view!

Hike #2 was a 4 miler to a waterfall. BB insists on being the leader when we hike and sings the song from peter pan "We're following the leader..." over and over!

Posing by the water

My dad and brothers

Stopping for a quick breather

Being silly boys

This picture cracks me up! Tyler was such a good hiker!

We found an old cemetery on the hike off the trail which was fun to walk through

Family members related to those buried here had brought lots of flowers

We got to cross a few really cool bridges on the hike-this is just a small one but their was a bigger one that was really cool.

Family pic at one of the old houses along the way

BB by the old barn... we didn't stay long cause we saw a snake in there and I hate snakes!!

And finally we made it to the water fall! Here's Guy and Kyle...

And BB hiked up to see it too

Another scenic shot...sorry

BB got really tired on the way back so my dad carried him

It was hilarious cause he kept falling asleep and starting to fall over off my dad's shoulders. We were all cracking up!
Growing up my sisters and I would always do the Junior Ranger programs at National Parks so I thought Brayden should do it too. You basically have to complete an activity booklet and do a bunch of other things to get a badge. Brayden had to pick up a bag of trash from the park and go on a guided hike with a Park Ranger so here he is on a discovery hike. My mom and I took him and Ty while all the boys went white water rafting!

They gave him a magnifying glass to use which he thought was pretty cool. He also liked the fact that we found real bear poop. haha. We learned that scientists at National Parks call it scat! I also learned that back in the day the settlers here would use the moss as bandaids and diapers because it absorbed really well. Ty should be glad he doesn't have to wear a moss diaper! :)My mom and BB on the way home from the hikeHere's BB with the park ranger showing him his book that he did and asking him questions. This Park Ranger was actually from Waco TX which isn't too far from us! He was just spending his summer in the Smokies which I don't blame him because Texas summers are the worst!!!
Brayden with the Park Ranger. He has his cool new badge!
Our little Junior Ranger! He was so proud! Hike #3 was about 2 miles to Laurel Falls Waterfall. We did it in the evening and like all the hikes in the smokies it seemed to be mostly uphill.

Just a quick family shot!

Laurel Falls

Kyle, Brayden, and Jason

The boys in the stroller on the way down

We went on one last hike before we left. It was 4 miles and seriously straight uphill. This was our toughest one yet! I carried Tyler up all by myself which almost killed me but we made it!

Guy and BB's huge walking stick! :)

This is what you had to climb up at the top to really see everything. I didn't do it cause it kind of freaked me out how steep it was.

But Guy made it to the top and said it was an amazing view!

After that we left for the long 14 hour drive back home. Both the boys traveled so well but we decided to drive through the night on the way back so we wouldn't have to stop as much. It was exhausting but worth it. We had such a great time camping in the smokies and I have to say another huge highlight for me was my dad bought me this deluxe passport national park book where you can collect stamps from each of the parks. It's really cool and I am already planning some more places we can go so I can start filling up my book! :) It's over 100 degrees in Texas right now...

I miss the Smoky Mountains!!!!