trip to the mountains

Neil and I just got back from our family trip to the Smoky Mountains on Sunday, and I'm already getting nostalgic over it. Our whole family was there - my parents and two sisters Rhi and Ashley and their families (my dad's cousin and his family made an appearance too) - and even with a big crowd, it still managed to be super relaxed and easy. It was similar to a trip we took to the Smokies four years ago to celebrate my dad's 50th birthday, but this time it was to celebrate Ashley's 30th. It's funny how much has happened since then (like two weddings and a college graduation and moving and four years of growing up), but so much still feels the same.

Even with sleeping in and taking it easy, we managed to get in an afternoon of antique shopping (flea market shopping in Sevierville highly recommended) and a day of hiking/driving along Cade's Cove, which hands down was the highlight of the trip for me. We all made it a goal to see a black bear at some point during the day, and our little niece Stella made us keep tabs of how many animals we saw along the trip. At one point, a driver had stopped on the trail ahead of us and announced that there was a bear in a field nearby. We parked and took a million photos of this blurry dark mass until my brother in law Danny told us it was just a turkey.

Check out Rhiannon and Drew's pictures of our trip here.

Adjusting back to productivity now, responding belatedly to emails and cleaning a house that's been empty for the last couple of weeks. And watching Rick Steves episodes on the couch with Neil and Bloom. It feels good to be home.

Boston trip photos coming soon!