Recently a couple asked John and me what was the surprisingly best thing about having children. What a great question, one that I'm still thinking about. One thing that came to mind (and that John and I talk about) is that our kids woke up this adventurous side in us. Side by side comparison, our life before kids probably looked more adventurous than after kids, but the motivation and drive is different now. Before children, we enjoyed our married life by having fun with friends. We hosted tons of meals, we went on group trips, we travelled to see people, etc. It was a fun time and that's how we lived. Now, we have this desire to explore and show the kids new and cool things in simple ways.
On our quest for new and inexpensive camping trips, we were recommended Cataloochee. It's a remote campground on the North Carolina side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park where they've reintroduced elk.
The temperatures up there were drastically cooler and crisper and required an extra layer in the morning and evenings, something unheard of in the south this time of year!
The campground is small and is nestled between a rushing creek and babbling brook, our slice of heaven. Past the campground and following the creek is a gravel out-n-back road where we could see elk and other wildlife. We saw so many animals! Elk, turkey, owls, snails, and butterflies. One trip we even saw a mama elk nursing her baby!
I purposefully scheduled the trip over my birthday weekend. On the morning of the14th, I drove through the fields and took some pictures. My only companions were coffee, Lark, and the peacefulness of the forrest morning.
Happy Birthday to me! What a treat!
Before lunch, we did a little hike through the woods to an old homestead.
It also followed the creek with several bridges that the kids said reminded them of Bridge to Terabithia. One of these bridges is where we had our first accident. Ridge slipped and fell about four feet off the bridge into the creek, landing flat on his back on a flat rock. Burl ran over to him faster than anyone, which was amazing to see. He was like superman! I got to Ridge and picked him up and gave him the look over. He cried and asked if he was bleeding. We couldn't find a scratch on him-and John and I were shocked and thankful. It could have been much worse!
We found the house which was open to exploration. The surrounding fields were covered with clusters of butterflies. When we walked to the second level, we were amazed to find a huge butterfly zipping from room to room over our heads. Then, being the not girl scout that I am, I realized that it was actually a bat and I screamed, grabbing Ridge and running down the stairs. Ridge was scarred by this (before the creek incident) and was hysterical! He never mentioned the huge fall he had, but he tells everyone about those bats! He wants to go back and see them.
When we got back to the campground and started making lunch, our guests of honor showed up. Daniel and Tahoma came and met us and stayed the night! Let the wild rumpus begin! During Lark's nap, Daniel and John took the big three to try trout fishing while I stayed back for a birthday nap. They didn't catch anything, and lost one of John's sandals!
Once Lark woke up, we tried another spot for fishing. We were really hoping to catch, gut, clean, and cook our own dinner. Unfortunately, we came up empty again. However, Daniel and I started catching crawfish. We used to do that with our dad on Sunday afternoons in a creek near my grandparents' house.
We took the few that we caught and cooked those as part of our dinner.
My birthday dinner was fried tilapia (backup fish that I brought), kale salad, grilled corn, roasted potatoes, crawfish, and brownies. That was one of the best meals that I had and eating in the woods made it spectacular!
After dinner, we took another ride through the cove. Riding without seat belts in the back of the van was definitely more exciting for the kids than seeing elk. John and I enjoyed hearing their shrills of delight from the front seat.
On my birthday evening, a lady walked by and stopped to talk to us. I need to write this to help me remember: she told us something similar to the last camping trip. It went something like this, "I've been watching yall and I think it's awesome that you bring four small children to camp in a tent! You're awesome to do this!" My brother laughed and said, "and today is her birthday" to which I replied, "thank you, you just gave me my best present." I'll take "you're awesome" from strangers any day.
Before Daniel and Tahoma left, we took our normal group picture. The kids and I have been looking through old pictures lately and we are really loving the memories. "Take lots of pictures!" my pediatrician told me at our last visit before he retired. The effort it takes to coordinate this can make my back sweat, but I've let go of "look at the camera and smile." The bunny ears and tongue sticks tell an important story too!
Before we left, we stopped to explore the school house. This was perfect for the kids because it helped them see what it was like for some of the characters in a few books that we've been reading from that time period (including John's grandmother who just passed away-she wrote about her sweet childhood!)
As a family, we had a great time exploring and trying new things together. Even though we failed in fishing for trout, we had a great time experiencing it all as a family. From elk to open door car rides, from bridge falls to lost shoes, from butterflies to bats, from trout to crawfish, these kids have gifted our family with childlike exploration that doesn't cost a lot of money or require too much show. Maybe one day we will take grand trips that will be amazing too, but we are loving these small trips with our small children too.
