Nantahala

We just got back from a very quick trip to Nantahala, N.C., to visit Shelley and her family, who were spending a week with Shelley's extended family in the mountains. They graciously allowed us to cram into the cabin with them and add to the chaos.

We took the kids on a hike yesterday in the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. Josh walked Zoe, the Cullums' lab, and amazingly there was no complaining this time. I'm afraid we're going to have to get our own dog soon!

Molly, Josh and Alex before the hike

Josh, who loves to be in charge, became sort of a nature guide on our hike, stopping to loudly point out things like "green leaves" and a "big rock." Maggie was very tolerant of his continuous stream of pointing out the obvious, only occasionally turning around to roll her eyes.

We had a picnic after our hike, and then our outing abruptly ended when Josh walked over to the creek to throw some rocks and fell in. The next thing I knew, he was walking around in his underwear and shirt. We quickly loaded the cars up and left!

We had a major first at the cabin when Josh and Molly decided they wanted to sleep on the same pull-out couch. It was cute when they fell asleep curled up together, but unfortunately that happened hours after we turned out the lights and it meant they were right there to wake each other up at 6:15 the next morning.