Last Tuesday afternoon I drove the dogs to stay with Nana and Babu while we were gone. Other than two puppies puking the whole trip, they did well and were so excited to be out of the car when we arrived in Perry.
RA and I picked the boys up from school early Friday and we set out on our 3 hour drive to Bryson City, NC.
Packed in and ready to go with plenty of books, snacks, water bottles, and pillows...
Getting a little reading time in on the drive...
Our route took us through Athens, so we drove by the house RA and I lived in while we were in graduate school...the boys weren't too impressed, but it was nice to check in on the house that we loved so much.
Our navigation decided to take us on a very windy mountain back road in to Bryson City. So to keep mama and Ellis from getting too car sick we stopped for a little bit to enjoy the view.
MOUNTAINS, mama!
Ellis wasn't feeling too well - he gets carsick like his mama...
We caught a lady bug!
Selfie in the mountains...
A selfie with this one, too...
First look at the Great Smoky Mountains...
Mr. Ellis has taken it upon himself to take photos just like his big brother does. So, this is what I have a great number of photos of from him...the ground.
Our cabin for the weekend...
Living area with an old picnic table...
Couch/futon (bringing back the college memories...)
Kitchen - we were able to cook breakfast and lunch each day which was really nice...
Bedroom...
Bedroom...
Exploring the bathroom...
Dinner at The Iron Skillet...it was so yummy!
How you entertain two hungry kids while waiting on your food to arrive at your table...
Ellis decided he wanted to count/organize the sugar packets...
RF enjoyed playing/stacking the creamers...
The boys loved seeing the train car...
Photo op of my three boys...
Cabin games for Ellis included putting rocks, pegs, and marbles into and out of this little dish ALL MORNING LONG...
RF decided to play, too...
Breakfast! Cooking toast on a gas stove (because I couldn't figure out how to light the gas oven...)
YUMMY!
After breakfast we set out to explore the cabin grounds and it was a little chilly...
But, there were tractors, so RF was in heaven...
View of the mountains from the cabin property...
And there were goats to feed...
The boys loved petting them and carrying on conversations with them...
A little morning playground time...
And a fort, which RF referred to as his fire station...
Ellis found the swings...
After we ate and explored the cabin grounds, we set out to take the boys into the park at the Deep Creek entrance (about a mile from our cabin).
Boys enjoying their walk along the trail...
We have another photographer on our hands!
Happy as a clam!
Early morning fall colors on the trail...
Father-son time...
Waterfall!
Waterfall selfie with RF. Ellis was being grumpy and when I tried to take a selfie with him he said, "No, mama. Ellis no picture. No mama." Well, ok then...
But he did want to hold my hand, that made it all better...
My boys enjoying the view and a father-son conversation...
A mountain river!
Daddy taking his boys down to the river's edge...
Another photo of the ground/Ellis's feet...
After we wandered the trail for a while, we headed back to the cabin to have lunch before we made our way in to downtown Bryson City to board the Pumpkin Patch Express (Great Smoky Mountain Railroad)!
RF was so excited to ride the diesel train to the pumpkin patch!
Our train car --- the Whittier.
Ellis may need therapy. He HATED the loud train whistle and cried/covered his ears for the first 20 minutes or so. He eventually perked up a bit, but he definitely wasn't a fan of the loud noise...
Mountain view from the open-air train car.
SO EXCITED!
Nope. Still doesn't like it.
Hands off his ears, but he kept them close by in case it got loud again. He wasn't the happiest passenger.
We made it to the Pumpkin Patch!
RF spent some time in the bouncy-house...
While Ellis enjoyed a sucker (trying to perk him up a bit from the chaos that was the trip to the Pumpkin Patch)...
Daredevil Robert enjoying the large inflatable slide!
The engine of our train!
The pumpkin patch had the cutest "Trick or Treat Street" set up. It was inside a large tent and there were different doors that the kids could knock on. Inside each "house" was someone to give the kids a few pieces of candy. Once I showed RF how to knock politely and say, "Trick or Treat" he did well. This was his first experience trick or treating, so he started out banging on the door and saying "Got any candy?", but by the third door or so, he had it down pat and trick or treated for both himself and his brother (who was attached to my hip and refused to get down)...
Checking out their loot...
Charlie Brown and Lucy! RF was so excited to meet them and started out by shaking their hands and introducing himself - "I'm Robert Franklin Hawk. Nice to meet you Charlie Brown and Lucy."
He was pretty good at this game and actually was able to throw the ball into the pumpkins (that were moving on a conveyor belt) twice.
Ellis enjoying a cookie...
Then a marshmellow...
So. Much. Sugar.
RF then spotted Snoopy and said that he had to have his picture taken with him. Notice him shaking his hand...
Then a big bug...
For Charlie Brown, too...
Photo bombed by his little brother who decided he wanted to show Snoopy his candy...
Writing a letter to the Great Pumpkin...
And mailing the letter...
More slide time!
Boarded the train to head back to Bryson City with our pumpkin from the pumpkin patch...
The Pumpkin Patch team waving good-bye...
Over it. Done. Finished.Exhausted.
We walked through the train museum once we got off the train back in Bryson City...
Ice cream makes for a great afternoon!
Mama and daddy enjoying some time with their boys...
Hearing that there was ice cream available perked this little guy right up...
Feeding the goats...
Saturday night we ordered take-out from a local Italian restaurant and went to bed early (seriously, we were all asleep by 7pm - no naps for either boys + a full day for mama and daddy = exhaustion).
Sunday morning we woke up early and made breakfast in the cabin. Biscuits (in the gas oven, which we finally figured out), grits, and sausage. We then loaded up the boys and drove about 30 minutes from Bryson City to the big entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park to explore for a while.
Early morning sunrise over a train tressle...
ELK!
Early morning just inside the park...
My little photographer was so amazed by the elk!
Ellis had to get in on the action, too!
Wild turkeys!
Another chilly morning...
We found a little trail at one of our stops and the boys headed off to explore...
Daddy has an Appalachian walking stick, so RF wanted one too. And - those sunglasses! So stinkin' cute.
Mama (looking rough for sure) and her two little boys...
Having a BLAST!
He actually took the selfie with me this time...
This one will always take a selfie with me...
After some time wandering through the park, we then headed back to Bryson City to pack the car back at the cabin and begin the trip home to Covington.
One last stop at the Deep Creek entrance to admire the fall colors...
And run through the leaves...
And throw the leaves at brother...
And throw the leaves back at brother...
And make a leaf angel...
As we headed out of town we let the boys hang out on the train car one last time before saying "See ya later" to Bryson City...
Happy as can be!
One happy kid that we made it to Bryson City!
Cabin coffee...
After we ate and explored the cabin grounds, we set out to take the boys into the park at the Deep Creek entrance (about a mile from our cabin).
After we wandered the trail for a while, we headed back to the cabin to have lunch before we made our way in to downtown Bryson City to board the Pumpkin Patch Express (Great Smoky Mountain Railroad)!
So. Much. Sugar.
Saturday night we ordered take-out from a local Italian restaurant and went to bed early (seriously, we were all asleep by 7pm - no naps for either boys + a full day for mama and daddy = exhaustion).
Sunday morning we woke up early and made breakfast in the cabin. Biscuits (in the gas oven, which we finally figured out), grits, and sausage. We then loaded up the boys and drove about 30 minutes from Bryson City to the big entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park to explore for a while.
We stopped at a number of locations on our drive through the park. Such pretty views...
Exploring!
Melt. Down.
Headed down to get closer to the mountain stream...
FALL COLORS!
So pretty...
FALL in the mountains!
A fall leaf falling in our shot...
So amazing...
Just beautiful...
After some time wandering through the park, we then headed back to Bryson City to pack the car back at the cabin and begin the trip home to Covington.
On our way out of the mountains we stopped in Franklin, NC to have lunch and then settled in for the trek back to GA. Our trip home was pretty uneventful until the last hour when Mr. Ellis decided he was OVER being in his car seat and chose to cry/scream the rest of the way home. Mama ended up putting on an episode of Paw Patrol in the DVD player to catch his attention and give our ears some relief.
We had such a fun trip and are already looking at some spring dates to see when we can head back to Bryson City for another family weekend in the mountains!
With this trip behind us we have nothing major on our calendar until after the first of the year, so we are putting November and December on lock-down for our family so that we can enjoy some time together at home for the holidays. I do have a few fun things planned for the boys and I the week of Thanksgiving as we are all out of school for the whole week. We're planning a trip back to the Fernbank, the Children's Museum in ATL, and a day trip to the ATL Zoo.
