The Smokies!

Grandpa and I have had to cancel two trips to take Aiden and Court to the Smoky Mountains this year. Well, third time is the charm! Finally, we went this past weekend which turned out to be peak leaf weekend and it was just magnificent. As the Grinch says, my heart grew two sizes…this trip. There is not much better than hiking in those fall colors with my family. It was a quick trip and there was a lot of driving (and traffic with all those leaf lookers) but we had a grand ole National Park time. We saw a total of 5 weddings happening outside – that’s how gorgeous this weekend was! Not pictured below is the boys’ 3rd favorite part of the trip – the cabin we rented complete with a hot tub and arcade games!

Hiking the Appalachian Trail to Max Patch. I have always wanted to hike a portion of the Appalachian Trail – bucket list item checked and I didn’t even know it was coming!

This Grandpa is just the best. I can’t say enough…

At the summit

The next day, we got to hike a teeny tiny portion of the trail again on the way to Clingman’s Dome.

This flying saucer looking guy is the lookout at Clingman’s Dome.

At the top, it would be clear for about 10 seconds.

And then the clouds would roll right in.

At a gorgeous spot on the Blue Ridge Parkway on the way home.

Last quick hike!

I cannot say thank you to Grandpa enough – really for EVERYTHING these days as he is truly holding this family together in more ways than he will ever know – but also because he persevered on this trip with us. The 30 minute wait in the Wendy’s drive-through line at 830pm on Friday night was a low point but he stuck through it with me and directed us the whole way. Thanks a million Grandpa. And thanks to Grandma for letting us steal him away for the weekend too! Love you guys!