West Virginia, Days 2 & 3

The first night in a new place is always rough, so everyone was up early on Saturday morning. We had breakfast together, packed a picnic lunch and headed out to hike some waterfalls. It was amazing! The hike took us past three waterfalls. I can't remember how big the largest one was, but I do remember that we had to walk down (and, then up of course) 380 stairs. The kids loved walking in the streams and Luke probably threw about 100 rocks in the water. It was seriously all he wanted to do. He was annoyed when we left each area and just wanted to get to the next place where he could throw. To his credit, he walked most of the way on his own and was in a great mood.

Anna was always willing to humor me and pose for a picture.

Luke wasn't the only one who liked throwing rocks.

The biggest of the waterfalls in the background.

Luke climbed every one of those stairs (and many, many more)

In fact, all of the kids were great. They enjoyed being outside, got along well, and didn't complain. As is our custom, we promised them ice cream if they could do the hike without complaint, so I am sure that helped.

We had our picnic lunch and then headed back to town for ice cream. There isn't much to the town and the floods last year have made things even worse, however, there was a cute little place that had amazing ice cream. I had banana split flavored and it definitely ranked among the best ice cream I've ever had.

We got "home" and played lots of fun lawn games while the kids just ran around. They did not miss technology at all. Luke occasionally asked for his Kindle (which he had played in the car during the drive up), but the others never even mentioned t.v or Kindles. They just played outside from morning until night.

Trevor grilled hamburgers for dinner and I believe we had the kids in bed a bit earlier, but it was still close to 10. It was another nice day. I was exhausted and went to bed right after the kids.

Everyone slept a bit later the next day. We had a relaxed morning with more outdoor games. We played a kickball game that got a little heated thanks to a few people being poor sports (all of whom had the last name Wilson, one of whom may or may not be writing this blog...). It was still fun. Kayce and I played several rounds of bocce ball, which I had never played before, but really enjoyed. At one point, Trevor got out his guitar and we sang Wagon Wheel and Country Roads. I felt like I was living in an old storybook, it was all so picture perfect!

"War" was a weekend favorite.

Checkers was a close second.

After the littlest ones napped (or in Luke's case, attempted to nap), we went swimming in the Cranberry River. The only rivers I have swum in have been murky and mildly unpleasant. Not this one! The water was astonishingly clear. There was a slight current that let the kids "slide" down the tiny hills and a rock that you could jump from. Jack, Anna, Thomas, Kayce and Trevor all jumped. I didn't want to, but I kind of wish I had. We climbed around the rocks (which were really slippery!) and had a great time. It was very beautiful.

Hanging out in the shallow area

Once again, Luke was happiest when we allowed him to just throw rocks.

This was another of my favorites. I love the stairstep legs and the beautiful backdrop.

We made campfires for dinner, roasted more s'smores, and let the kids finish off the sparklers. We put the kids in bed around 9:30 and the adults stayed up chatting for a while after that. It was the perfect ending to another fabulous day!

The days up in the mountains were long. This one was probably taken around 8:30. It didn't get really dark until 10 and the sun was up around 5:30.