Tennessee

This was our first family vacation - Uber and I have spent every other vacation visiting family- not that that is a bad thing our family happens to live in some awesome places. This trip is the farthest I've ever visited into the 'middle' of the states, I've been all over the coasts but the furthest inland before this was Atlanta.... which isn't saying much! 

It was very pretty - and we saw a LOT of it! We logged a little over 1800 miles this trip and Micah was awesome about it. 

The first full day we were there was raining so we got to know the area we were staying in. Which just happened to be where the largest tree house is... I think it was somewhere over 6000 sq ft... and creepy as all get out. 

 This is the less creepy side of the monstrosity. It's being built by a priest and the place could totally have a horror movie filmed in it

 Group shot at the top - to the left you can just make out the end of Jesus mowed into the lawn with a huge cross

 In addition to a church/cathedral-ish area there were a good 20 of these carved people hanging out. It definitely made you a little worried in a few place whether you would make it out again. 

 I am not sure I would say I recommend it but if it is raining and you have nothing better to do it's definitely special!

 We spent a day hiking (2.5-3 miles) in Fall Creek Falls. Very pretty.

 It claimed to have the highest fall east of the Rocky Mountains. I am sure in the spring these falls are a bit more treacherous but we had a blast climbing all over them  

Here we are at the 'biggest' fall

 Millikan's Overlook- reminded me of a mini Yosemite 

 Great Smokey Mountains (hills) National Park this was a nice relaxing day.  We spent most of the day driving Cades Cove Loop- the scenery was gorgeous. And just did a small 2 mile hike which I wont bother you with pictures of. 

 We did the loop because I was told we would see bears- and we did! We saw the bottom right one first he was a cub! I totally wanted to pet him! (haha) we drove right under him- which is why its a terrible pic but he was only 10-15 feet above us. Then the top right was next I would say he was a teenager and a good 35-45 ft up a tree. We were exiting the loop when the guy on the left decided to walk by. He was big! 

 The last hike we did was 5.5 miles (it totally did us in) we went all the way up almost into Kentucky to Big South Fork National Park they have twin stone arches- here is Micah and me under the larger of the two

 Micah waiving to the horses. It's the first time he took notice of a larger animal... this is the distance at which he decided he wanted to be friends with them.

 This is how Micah hiked. 

 This is me at mile 4 of the never ending hike... it was serious... we were climbing up and over boulders, we could barely move the next day!

Ok well this wraps up our vacation- not sure everyone would see this as a vacation- but we had a blast. I am almost done catching up- sorry these posts have been more to catch our family up then anything else!

Atlanta

We went on a 'little' road trip a few weeks ago and our first stop was Atlanta to see some of Ubers family 

 Micah met his cousin G-Rex for the first time - he's 3 months younger 

 Apparently I seriously need to work on my picture taking skills because out of a hundred or so pictures I think I took one that wasn't blurry.... 

 We had so much fun visiting. Hopefully the boys will get to see a lot of each other. 

Next up is Tennessee. 

I know I promised b-day pics but we are currently missing the memory card that has them on it .... soooo.... hopefully we will find it soon.... send good thoughts our way on that!

Napa

So for the last little bit of our mini trip we drove through Napa on our way back to Sacramento. It was a lot to pack in but I am glad we did it and really want to go back to this area again... I wish I realized how close all of this was to me when I lived there... hmmm...  

 First we stopped at the Oakville Grocery for brunch- this place is a must it's right on the St Helena Highway, the food is fast and ridiculously delicious. They have picnic tables in the back next to a vineyard or you can have picnic baskets packed and take them with you.... to where ever... Plus they have a coffee bar which was very very necessary to keep our energy up!!

 I really wanted to tour a winery while we were there- but not a kitschy tourist trap kind- so on a recommendation from my aunt we went to Domaine Carneros which was seriously beautiful. And I would totally recommend. It's owned by the Taittinger's (a French wine family famous for their champagne) and is a certified organic winery specializing in sparkling wine and Pinot Noir.

 It was really neat to learn about the process of making sparkling wine. Next trip I will need recommendations for a traditional winery. The only bummer is I didn't get to bring home a wine barrel... yes I was really planning on it...

 Here's the monkey looking all cute. We found a grassy area for him to run around in before the tour.

 This picture KILLS me what is up with that face?

Micah thoroughly enjoyed the vacation. He's been a bit bummed about not having someone play with him constantly since we've been home.

Fort Bragg and Mendocino

We drug Ubers parents on a quick 3 day mini vacation out to the coast. I really wanted to get Micah to the water... not that he will remember or anything but we took a ton of pictures... I tried to narrow it down but this is a picture heavy post. 

 The first day we headed out to Fort Bragg it was a gorgeous clear warm day- totally not what we packed for it should have been cold.

 We went to two beaches the first was Glass Beach - it used to be a dump but it has been cleaned out and now there is massive quantities of super small glass pebbles. I spent at little time searching out blues and even found a red one- I could spend hours doing this, I try to get glass at every beach I go to ... it's Ubers favorite thing! If you ever get the chance this beach though small was a lot of fun.

 I loved this plant it was growing everywhere, it's vivid colors are beautiful. my dad informed me it's ice plant.

 Mum says it looks like I Photoshoped us into this picture...

 You really can't beat the beauty of Northern California's Coast

 Can anyone tell me what is wrong with this picture?? (Hint: one of these things is not like the others)

 Why didn't I climb up there? Oh that's right I was to busy looking for glass...

The following pictures are at MacKerricher's State Park where we went to play in the tide pools... because everyone knows I love to pet small defenseless animals...

 Here's Micah dipping his feet in the chilly (ridiculously cold) water... he didn't seem to mind a bit (of course he didn't try to lunge into the water like normal either)

 This is the tide in the first day we were there

 The next morning we were out at 10am for low tide Uber and I took Micah out to see what we could find

 We saw quite a few star fish but this was the only one I was fast enough to get

 Sea Anemone

 Almost got this guy he managed to get two fingers stuck at the tips...

 My favorite find was this sea urchin. It's so weird how they dry out! It's currently on the back porch ... I can't wait until it stops smelling!

 SEA SLUG! Seriously how gross is this?

 This is how Micah traveled through the tide pools

 It was only a little nerve racking...

 What's up with this face?!

 This is the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse, absolutely gorgeous. You can even rent the light keepers cottage as a vacation home.

 Micah enjoyed popping all of the daisy heads off the flowers.

 Well I guess this is the only Mendocino picture we really took. It looks gorgeous (and it was) but there was dense fog so if you looked out to the headlands and ocean you could see nothing but directly across the street from the bluff was beautiful... I guess we will just have to go back again because the area is beautiful and I would love to see it on a clear day!

One more post and I will wrap up the trip... then crafting I promise!