Last week I took the kids for a walk up the Bald River Falls trail in the Cherokee National Forest. The weather was warm and perfect for a day in the woods. Four years ago Rodrigo and my Dad got a contract with the forest service to build the steps along the cliff at the beginning of the trail. The kids are always thrilled to cross those steps, informing anyone nearby that their "Daddy built these steps" People are usually suitably impressed! ;-) The wildflowers are just hitting their peak around here and we had to stop every few feet to identify new (to us) varieties. Matthew spotted a water snake sunning on a rock, but when we tried to get a little closer for a better picture it slid off and disappeared between the rocks under the water. Violet got tired of walking a few miles in, so I used the sheet I had brought for our picnic blanket as a baby carrier, and tied her onto my back Guatemalan style for the trip back down the mountain. She rested and slept on my back for a bit over 2 hours. By the time we made it back to the car, everyone was ready for a nap! It was a very quiet trip home, as all of the kids fell asleep before we had even made it out of the park. I stopped as soon as we reached the first town for a cup of coffee and listened to an audio-book all the way home, without a single interruption! That's a rare thing in our home!!! After such a long wet winter it feels so good to be outside enjoying the warm sunshine and the beautiful green mountains!
Psalm 96:12
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.