Bracelets and Bunnies

Amma Sue made these cute bracelets for Linc and Beks! Bekah has taken to wearing both of them these days however! But here they are for you Amma to see and thanks for making them!


Here are the bunnies that like to come up and eat around dusk in our yard. Aren't they so cute?!

Camping

We went this past weekend to Montgomery Bell State Park for some camping fun! We rode the boats again while Daddy caught some fish. We did some swimming and some hiking and some good eating and roasting of marshmallows! The kids had a lot of fun and Bekah walked away with three ticks! They really seemed to like her as no one else had any!

I love this picture of Linc just hanging out in his chair.

The weather was really hot and really humid though not quite as bad as Florida. Luckily it cooled down around midnight so sleeping was tolerable.
Bekah loved all the rocks and dirt to play with!


Linc loved the flashlights!!


Bekah found this cool Gandalf-like stick that she carried around all weekend hitting us in the face when she walked past!

Looks like she is going to cast a spell on us!



Linc and his Curious George fruit snacks or beans as he likes to call them.
Daddy caught a ton of fish while we were on the boat!
This one was very pretty.

Linc wanted me to take a picture of his fish that he caught! An imaginary fish anyway.

Bekah fell asleep in the chair waiting for dinner to cook. She was so exhausted after a full day of playing and swimming!

We also did a little hiking.


And that ends our fun camping trip in Tennessee!

Jenn

Montgomery Bell State Park

So this last weekend, Seth found a great state park to go too just outside of Nashville! They had playgrounds, camping, and a beautiful lake that you can rent boats for cheap! They also had a swimming area in the lake but we didn't bring the swimsuits. Next time. The kids loved the boat and the hiking we did after. The forests were like a fairytale. We had a great time and will go back again soon!

Her first boat ride! Doesn't she look happy.
Linc is doing his Alex the lion impression from the movie Madagascar. He pulls his hand down his face and he gets a frown, then he pulls his hand up his face and he is smiling again! He likes to do that for the camera now!

There is the smiley face.

Bekah (new spelling so I don't confuse the poor girl when she really tries to spell her name!) loved to trail her little fishing pole in the water. I thought for sure she would drop it in but no, she didn't, Lincoln did!! Needless to say it didn't float!



The kids had fun actually watching daddy fish.

After the boat ride, we explored the rest of the park and ran into this beautiful church. It is the first Cumberland Presbyterian church. It was formed from dissident Presbyterian ministers in 1810 when they met and held the first Synod of the new church. Pretty cool history. Very beautiful church. A family was inside cleaning it for a wedding that night.

There is nothing like historical monuments to play on. So fun.


The house of Samuel McAdow, which is the actual birthplace of the Cumberland Presbyterian church until they built the other chapel.


And here are those fairytale like woods I was talking about. Of course the camera can never do it the full justice it deserves.
Lots of gorgeous little waterfalls. Apparently the park contained a rich area for iron and you can still see the huge ore pits the early settlers dug. We didn't walk that far.
Yes I know, you are probably thinking, wow it looks like Linc is going to throw that huge rock right at Bekah's head! Well he didn't. Thank goodness.

It was a great Saturday and such a fun park to visit. We are thinking of going camping there this weekend! This time we will bring some swimsuits.

Jenn

DSAMT

The Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee had their annual family picnic at the park. We went and the kids played for hours on the playground and ate good food for lunch.



All Becca needs is some sand.

Lincoln taking a breather.

Sidewalk chalk is always a hit.



It was a fun Saturday for the kids. Playing at the park is always a good day for them!


Jenn

Mammoth Caves

Last saturday we decided to head up to Kentucky to go see Mammoth Caves. It is the longest cave system in the world with 365 miles of caves that have been explored and many more that have yet to be explored and discovered. How could we not go! Lincoln didn't want to go saying that he was scared and telling Seth that Randall from Monsters lived there! But by the end of our walk through, he wanted to keep going and when we got home, he said he was ready to go see more caves.

This is the entrance to the main cave. We didn't take that tour but went down to see the opening anyway.

Getting themselves ready to go into a cave.

Our hike to the River Styx while waiting for our tour to begin. Linc and Becca like to play with the rocks so it took a little longer to get down to the river.

The River Styx, a subterranean river that comes out of the cave.


Our tour started a little bus ride away. It is also a man-made opening so we had to go through this door 26 at a time, all snug together until the door shut behind us and then we could open the other door to get in the cave. Helped with the natural airflow apparently.
I know its a little blurry but I still love this picture of my boys!
This is called the Frozen Niagara.


Becca camera shy? Unbelievable.

So going down into the caves we had to hold the kids because the stairs were very steep and very small. Some of the places we even had to duck down to get through, like here below. But once at the bottom, the way back was nice and wide and easy going.

The kids didn't want to sit for a picture, they wanted to find some rocks or just keep on walking through the cave. They loved it!
Here you can see why they were called Mammoth caves. Nice and big.
That was our fun weekend last Saturday! Its not everyday that you live so close to such a natural wonder. Have to take advantage of going when we can!

--Jenn