Taking Advantage

We had a beautiful weekend forecasted and we took full advantage of it. As soon as we saw the news on Monday morning, we had our weekend mapped out. Its been a pretty cold winter so far and we've had far less nice days than normal, which brings out my winter blues and the kids get a serious case of cabin fever. It doesn't help that they could play outside, swing, and ride bikes in 12 degree weather and not even blink, so the "it's too cold" excuse doesn't really fly well with them. So, after a morning of catching up at work, we picked the kids up fresh from their nap and headed to the zoo. The new weatherwoman (meteorologist is a pretty strong statement here) on our local station predicted possibly a gray day, but a warm one, in the 50's with no rain. We drove the 40 minutes to the zoo under a gray sky, yes, in addition to some pretty serious sprinkles with the temps in the 40's. We kept on trucking though, determined to enjoy some fresh air.

Kendall met one of the few animals that we saw (probably because they were indoors) with a smile.

The only other animals we really saw that weren't birds or swimming were the zebras, the red pandas and the goats. Although I was fairly certain I didn't have anything in my pockets, I was pretty popular in the goat area .

Afterwards, we enjoyed a momentous occasion...the kids' first experience with Olive Garden breadsticks. YUM.

Our plan for Saturday was a hike. The kids really enjoy the mountains in any capacity...picnics, swimming, throwing rocks and even hiking. "Hiking" is a term we use loosely, as we have to scour the hiking guides for anything that says "the easiest of the easy." This is probably the part of the Smoky Mountains we enjoy the most with our kids. When Chip and I were dating, we spent what seemed like every weekend hiking. To raise our children doing the same is proving to be a wise decision. I would reveal where we went on Saturday, but we unknowingly did some pretty serious trespassing, so I'd have to kill you if I told you.

Little River Trail in Elkmont gets the thumbs up from Cooper (oops, did I just say that?)

Cooper's favorite mountain past-time, skipping rocks.

Later we drove home through Gatlinburg and enjoyed lunch and a photo opportunity in the big rocker. We also enjoyed telling Cooper "no, we are not going to the aquarium" about 872 times.

We hope you all had a great weekend, too. If you live in the East TN area, I hope you're on a first-name basis with Noah...you may need his services before the night is through.