Samuel's Club (Ben has joined !): October 2007

Hi Ho, Hi Ho

....it's off to hike we go....on our annual LeConte hike.

The weather was sticky and "hot" (relatively speaking) and some of us ran out of water before we got to the top. Mark and Samuel got way ahead of Mom----that says a lot, doesn't it ! At least, she FINALLY got there !

Part of our group at the base of Rainbow Falls Trail

Samuel was a great little hiker (Mom would have been too if she could have traveled this way ;>)

Chillin' out at Rainbow Falls for lunch

Samuel and "Uncle Norm"

Samuel with "Aunt Renita & Uncle Norm"

Samuel even slept in the backpack!

The signs near the top always bring a sigh of relief !

Dinner never tasted so good !

Out at Cliff Tops for sunset; of course, it was so overcast (and cold !) there really wasn't much to see in the way of a sunset !

With one of our cabinmates, Chelsea

On our hike down Trillium Gap trail, we met the llamas who take the supplies to the top. They're very interesting to see; of course, they make you "watch your step" as you can find evidence of them all along the trail ;>)

With Mom at our lunch break

With Samuel's buddy, Mike

Still a happy hiker !

We're getting close to the bottom !

Under Grotto Falls

With Mom on the deck of our "real" cabin (the one with running water and electricity) !

Samuel enjoyed the rocking chairs on the deck (actually, we all did !)

We had our usual musical entertainment on Friday evening after the hike

Having fun with Sarah

Samuel with the bear Mom bought him when some of us went shopping and with the pig that Aunt Renita bought him (she does a mean pig imitation herself ;>)

Samuel with sweet Nancy

Samuel is reading Lauren's book to her ;>)

With Dad in Gatlinburg before we left the Smokies

And with Mom

Trick or Treat

We did a little Halloween photo shoot with Samuel in his pj's, since he won't be here for the trick or treaters. He definitely gave us a trick before we got to the treat part.....

We weren't sure we were going to get ANY good pictures. This was his reaction every time he was put down. We finally figured out he was scared of the pumpkin ! (We got great pictures with the pumpkin last Halloween, but this year it had to go....)

Starting to warm up....

A treat....

And another.....

And another.....too many to post them all, but we're glad we got past the scary part ! Maybe we can sneak the pumpkin back out next year !

Escape from it all....

We managed to get away for a much-needed, long weekend this past weekend. When we left, we had no specific idea where we were headed. Samuel, in the picture below, is our backseat driver, checking out maps for us.

He "directed us" toward Chattanooga, so we decided that would be a lovely drive for the foliage. Unfortunately, there was not a lot of autumn foliage on the drive, but it was still nice as usual. We wound up on Lookout Mountain and that was more colorful. We stopped at Point Park and Samuel enjoyed walking around......

......and around........

......and around.......He found this monument fascinating. He never got to where he was going......just round and round.

We left Chattanooga after a few hours and headed further up the road. We stopped for the night, and the next morning, headed for the Smokies. That was definitely a good idea ! It was much more crowded than when we went for our annual LeConte hike in September (those pictures still remain to be posted), but it was so amazingly beautiful, it was worth it. The pictures below still don't do it justice.

Since we were still worn out from our hike a month ago :>), we decided to forego anything strenuous. We just stopped occasionally and gave Samuel a break from his carseat (the only miserable part of the trip).

He loved tromping through the leaves.

He was very much Mr. Independent---didn't want his hand held at all, which resulted in the occasional "trip" over roots and rocks.

We saved Cades Cove for Sunday afternoon, hoping the crowds would lessen, and they did. It was also lovely and Samuel got to see some new things on that drive.....

....many deer, around turn after turn. Of course, to get him to look at them, since he was otherwise-occupied, we told him to look at the "big dogs". That seemed to work ! (We took a lot of video too and that's recorded on there, so years from now, we hope Samuel knows that his parents really knew those weren't dogs !)

....a big bear (that dark blob in the middle of the picture.....really ! ). We finally gave up on the camera and actually have better pictures of him on the video camera. He lumbered along through the woods for quite awhile and then crossed the road and left us.

......and best of all, Santa Claus ! When we pulled into this visitor's area, I pointed him out in the parking lot and said "look, Santa". While I was in the restroom, he came up to Samuel to talk and gave him a card with his picture that said "I met Santa". So, we had to take a picture, of course. All the little kids at the area got a big kick out of "Santa". As usual, Samuel warmed up to him AFTER I took the picture. (Doesn't Mark look much more excited about it than Samuel does ?! I guess Mark's been a good boy this year....)