Yellow Branch Falls

We took a drive to South Carolina today and hiked to an amazing waterfall called Yellow Branch. We had such a fun time!  The kids walked the whole way (1.5 miles one way, moderate trail) and there were no complaints!  Once we got to the falls, we spent some time relaxing on the rocks, finding some newts hiding in the water, throwing rocks (of course), and having a picnic lunch together.  I even managed to get a family shot with the tripod too. The way back felt MUCH longer since everyone was tired, and I carried a 40lb little boy in the carrier on my back the whole way!! WOW!  What a workout! :)  AND what a super hike!  Spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the hammock, reading, playing catch, and playing Rummy and Go Fish with my son and husband while my younger son napped.  Finally, we topped off the day with another incredible sunset!!  I wish vacation could last forever.....

Just another beautiful sunset...

We enjoyed another amazing sunset tonight.... what a great way to end an awesome day of hiking, walking under waterfalls, swinging and reading books in the hammock, playing cards, and building a lean-to in the woods! To top it off, my oldest son told me he loves me more than anyone in the whole world tonight.  That was almost as good as waking up this morning to feel his little hand grab my hand in the dark (his bed is next to ours in our room)... Life is sooooo good. :)

Our view from the cabin

We arrived in this paradise early this morning, exhausted.  We spent most of the day unpacking and getting settled in.  Then, after we got the kids to sleep, Erich and I made hot tea and sat in the rocking chairs on the deck.  I took this timed self portrait of us to prove how phenomenal the cabin's view is.  Jealous?  ;-)  I still can't get over it everytime we visit..... I always find myself saying "Are you seeing this?!!".  There is NOTHING better than sitting together, relaxing, and watching the most spectacular sunset over the Smoky Mountains in chilly 45 degree weather after a long day.  Happy Spring Break! :) 

Fun in a tree

We had a 5 hour pit stop today at Nani and Papi's house before going on to the Smoky Mountains in NC tonight.  The boys were VERY happy to get out of the car, and so were we! Here is our oldest, crazy little "monkey" in the tree and swinging from a very strong strangler fig vine in the front yard.

My new orchid

My husband bought me this orchid yesterday for NO reason!  He said he knew I'd been very overwhelmed and busy/stressed lately and thought he'd cheer me up.  Seriously?  How lucky am I?!

Baseball

Today at baseball practice, after playing catch with my younger son for awhile, I wanted to take pictures of the team practicing, so we went into the dugout, and I had him play with his cars while I shot some photos.  Here he is sitting in the clay with his cars.   

My older son had a great practice today.  It is so fun to watch him getting better and better.  He just loves baseball.  He is growing up right before my eyes....   He fielded a few ground balls and got his teammates out and was beaming with pride!  It made me almost cry with happiness.  When we got in the car to leave he said "Did you see me catch, Mom?".   He also did a lot of running today.  Here he is doing his thing: hustling.

Lignumvitae Flowers

Our Lignumvitae tree ("Tree of Life") is exploding with beautiful purple/blue flowers right now! It is so awesome! It is my favorite tree in our yard!  It is very slow growing.  We planted it when we first moved into the house.  It has a very unique trunk that is "bonsai-like" in the way that it grows into crooked, neat shapes.  The Lignumvitae tree has extremely hard, heavy wood that is said to be the second heaviest in the world! The wood won't float - sinking quickly in water - and I've read that it is impossible to drive a nail through it!  The wood used to be harvested to make bearings for submarines in WW2 and is still valued for ship propeller shaft bearings, bowling balls, pulleys, neck bearings, and machine parts because it has such a great high content (30%), non-contaminated, self lubricating resin.  The resin is also useful for treating arthritis! Cool, right?  Unfortunately that's why this amazing tree is an endangered species... I had to take a close-up picture of one of the many beautiful, star-like flowers on this fabulous tree.