Our mountain adventure

Summer has officially begun and in usual Callender style we started the last week of school. No need to put things off and slowly ease into the traveling huh?

We headed to North Carolina - more specifically it was a valley in the middle of the Smokey Mountains. The cutest little town called Hot Springs. This was for that wedding of my cousins, you know the one where Nate bought a new suit (blog post earlier) (oh check out the suit in the above picture). It was a great few days of doing absolutely nothing - and I mean nothing. I think the first day we sat around outside the motel rooms and walked down the street (everything in the town was walking distance). We saw family that we hadn't seen in 11 years, since my wedding.

The second day we actually drove up into one of the mountains where there was a bald patch but we drove into a rain cloud so the boys all thought that was the coolest. They got to run around in the cloud and get wet but see nothing. Later on that day or the next, it all ran together, they took a hike with the two dad's while the ladies took a break from watching hyper boys (cousin Will included in the 'boys').


The highlight - the poisonous snake that Eli almost stepped on! So glad I wasn't on that little walk!



So us girls helped put together bouquets of wildflowers for the wedding. Saturday the weather was beautiful and the wedding was so lovely outside under a 130? year old tree. There was a great dinner after appetizers and drinks and then lots of dancing. The kids just ran themselves ragged until the late late night when we finally took them off to bed. Check out Nate carrying Ian down the street. Elizabeth? She was a superstar...smiling at every stranger there and even putting her arms out for anyone willing to hold her. She never cried and took a great nap in the stroller after dinner until the bride's dog licked her foot! Eli did have a spontaneous puking moment by the swing but recovered like a champ and Ian played so hard on his knees that I'm on round 3 of oxycleaning his nice pants!!! That boy!!!!


Home on Sunday only to get back in the car and go to meetings for VBS and Cub scout day camp - Monday started the week off running with Eli at Cub scout camp - didn't cry thank God and only had a few negative words to say about it. Tuesday was better b/c they shot bb guns!

I attempted and succeeded at taking both Ian and Elizabeth to the MTSU pool today (Tuesday) by myself with help of many friends there! She did great - stayed three hours and took a nap in the stroller. Not too fond of floating or cold water but somehow I made it. Definitely not what it was last year...laying out the whole time and talking to friends. But I figure I'm out of the house getting vitamin D (hee hee) and the boys are having a ball and I am visiting in intervals with friends that are there. It's all good - tis the season I'm in right? I knew it was coming and I know it will pass and I sure love this stage of her life so I won't rush it just b/c I can't sit with the moms laying out anymore! I'll be back...in say two maybe three more years!!! =)