Vacation!

okay here is a run down of our fabulous vacation to West Virginia...

Beautiful view while I did laundry. This is the drizzly weather and number of people we saw while at Canaan Valley Resort State Park. We practically had the place to ourselves. It was really amazing.
Here are Caleb, Dan, Alexa and Madi, and Uncle Mike. This hike was a real challenge for Caleb, but he made it to the top! Yahoo!

Here are all the girl cousins at the Top of Seneca Rocks.

Here is Dan at the top of Seneca Rocks. You can see why they built the overlook a little lower down!

Bet you didn't know there are lots of caves in West Virginia! Yep, I didn't either, until this trip.

Due to all the rain, we spent quite a bit of time at the indoor pool. Much to the dismay of the lady who was in charge of making sure the rules were obeyed. Oops. We also became regulars at Big Johnny's pizza place in town, where a good samaritan gave the kids all his tickets he didn't want a caused a rush on the prize counter.

Here are the Tyler grandparents with the Smith cousins and our kids. We loved the cabins and all the woods around them. It was a little cold and wet for too much exploration,but they got enough to feel like they had been in the woods. Especially tromping off trail while geocaching and building a big fort in the backyard woods--thanks to the muscle of Uncle Mike.

Then off to Knoxville Tennessee to see an old friend of ours Angelina Ribero. We met back up on facebook after about 15 years and had a chance on our trip to have our families meet and celebrate the 3rd of July (Thanks Bordens for rearranging the holiday for US!)

We had a fabulous party with super yummy BBQ, screamer balloons, slip and slide, fireworks, mafia, spoons, rootbeer floats, catching fireflies, and just overall great fun. Thanks to the Bordens for a very memorable 4th of July celebration. The fireworks were fun because I have never seen kids cheering like these guys did for these fireworks. So Fun!

We drove home via Smoky Mt. National Park--the most visited national park in the country--on the fourth of July, so you can imagine we contrasted the wildness of West Virginia with that circus. But we have decided we must go back for a week because the area is wonderful and there is SO MUCH to do! We had a lovely snack and climbed on the rocks in the river at Chimney Tops picnic area. A word of warning--If you ever want to do this, you must stake out your spot in the early morning (at least on the fourth). We had to park outside the picnic area and walk in.


All in All a FABULOUS vacation!