It was such a great time we had visiting with all those we love and miss.
We also got to have a few adventures along the way that filled our hearts with beautiful memories.
It all began when one day we just decided.... "Let's randomly choose a week in June to go take a trip"
Haha- I do not kid, we really did just randomly choose the week we left about a month before we took off. We already knew that we were going to try and make a trip up to Ohio, but we were not real sure when we would leave, as we were trying to figure out many of the logistics that would come with taking a trip. Especially for this family, as we don't tend to visit outside of the my uncles farm which is only an hour north of us. :)
So I did what would only make sense and wait till two days before we left to do laundry, packing, shopping, ect. As my brother-n-law would put it "that's the Sansom in you" :))
Just for good ole fashion fun I thought I would also wash all the bed sheets and blankets as if I didn't have enough laundry to hurry through. ;)
The boys were given the duty of helping me put all the clothes away, a big help they were too. :)
I may or may not have been slightly distracted and interrupted by this little guy! ;)
Finally the day arrived and we were off....yay! Mama had her coffee in hand, daddy had his Mountain Dew and the kids were loaded with paper, crayons, snacks, and movies for the player my sweet sister loaned to us for the trip.
I had put together a little state "passport" for the kids to fill out as we passed through each state and I had the brilliant idea that we should pull over at every state sign and get a picture. ;) After we pulled off to the side of the interstate to snap this picture of the older kids in from of the Alabama sign we realized that it was a little scary jumping out on a busy interstate with kids to snap a picture...haha
You can tell we don't get out often! ;)
So off we went. The kids did great! Our first stop for the night was the Smokey Mountains.
We did, of course, have to stop and stretch our legs, use the restroom and feed little Carson every few hours.
Rest stops were our great adventure for the first 8hours of travel.
Everyone waiting for daddy's "Ready-Set- Gooooooo"
It was super dark when we arrived the first night and we were all laughing and screaming in the van as daddy weaved his way up the dark mountain. With it's very narrow, windy roads. We were so happy once we finally arrived to the cabin! :)
*Imay have also text my mom telling her I wished she and my siblings with with me. :))
Here we are getting ready to hike up Laurel Falls. We started out looking so well put together..haha
It was so hot! I was carrying the bubs and Adam mostly carried Lexi as it was a bit steep and a little hard for her to keep up. It was quite crowded and many people who were passing us by coming down the mountain did not look nearly as hot and sweaty as Adam and I did. We were laughing at how terribly out of shape we must be. We realized later, as we were heading down, that gravity coming down off the mountain will keep you maintaining a slight jog, which in return gives a nice breeze. So coming down the mountain we were not as sweaty either. Possibly a bit more wide eyed as we were a bit more afraid we may trip and fall of the side of the mountain. Haha
*I may exaggerate a bit when I speak of any kind of cardiovascular activity in my life. :)
Adam took a few of the older children down into a creek below the falls. It was pretty steep, so the two younger ones and I stayed up where the water fall was. They played for a while in the water and skipped some rocks in the stream.
On our way back down the mountain we heard a man say to his wife while looking at Adam "that's the closest to a bear I've seen out here so far" It gave us a good laugh so I told Adam I needed to get a good picture of him hiding in the bushes looking like a bear.. :))
Visiting these beautiful mountains, even if for just one day, was a perfect way to begin the #WhiteHouseAdventures
