Stone Mountain ... in NC!

The morning started out like this... We slowly one by one rolled out of bed and came into the living room. We drank our coffee and milk, talked a bit and just hung out in the living room. Finally one of us said, "what are we doing today?" Hmmmm... A quick Google and Mapquest and the frenzy began. Lunches being packed, chores completed and then we were off. To the mountains!

Stone Mountain is somewhere we haven't explored yet. Let us say, we need to go back there again! After our drive we needed to eat so we hurried up and had our picnic right out on the grass.

We love having Jon at home with us. He brightens our day and makes life so much easier! Plus, he always has us laughing.

We headed out on a trail that the guide told us to take. It was supposed to be 3 miles and go around the mountain and we would be able to see a waterfall or two. We knew we would be racing the weather so we wanted to keep up a decent pace. Of course the pace was thwarted by a few posed pictures...

Jake started slacking a bit so Kylie swooped him up and attempted to carry his 30lb body. Needless to say, she didn't carry him far!

So he ended up on Jon's shoulders!

As the hike continued, the kids found walking sticks so of course Jake had to find one of his own. 

Sharing a heart to heart...

After walking, and walking we came up on this. None of us expected to come up on this view.

Wish I had another lens other than my zoom because the panoramic view of the summit was awe inspiring! The forest seemed to go on forever!

The rocks were amazing as well. 

Through the woods we came up on this fireplace. I couldn't imagine living in this beauty and seclusion. Ahhh...

The rain started falling and there was a bit or two of thunder and we started wondering if we were lost. There was such a great expanse of rock on the summit it was easy to get lost. So it was fun to find the red blazes spraypainted on the rock so the kids had fun finding them on the rocks. 

We finally found our way back and came upon this sign. Love it when we find the danger signs after we have made it back!

Next time we will have to spend some extra time at the homestead. The rain started pouring and we all wanted to get warm. 

Jake and his tractor.

Jon being the hero by running down and getting the van - letting us all stay nice and dry at the homestead.

Jake of course wasn't bothered by the rain and he spotted a caterpillar. This boy LOVES caterpillars! He quietly allows them to crawl up his hand and then he explains "tickle! tickle!!"

Stone Mountain is such a fun place so I hope we can come back soon. Looks like it would be a great camping spot. 

But back on the homefront, I had to share these pictures. Our front porch usually has kids on it during any given day. Lately, there has been a bit of a Nintendo DS craze were the kids verse each other. So this captures a bit of their enthusiasm as they were playing against each other. 

taken before poor Hayley broke her arm... sniff sniff...

They got a star!!!

Oh no she didn't!

Yay! We got a star!!!

Cracked all of the adults up because seriously, if you were in a mile radius of our house, you would hear the cheers and screaming of their play. Love our neighbors!!