The Bear Hike

The next day we decided to do a big hike, so we had a good breakfast and did a little art before heading out the door.

On our way to the hike, we stopped to admire the view of the Smoky Mountains

The hike I chose was Laurel Falls. It's an almost three mile hike (round trip) that culminates in a beautiful waterfall. It was supposed to be paved so that way we could bring Charlotte in the stroller and not have to carry her. It was for the most part, but there were some spots the pavement had fallen apart and we had to hoist her and in others the path became very, very narrow. We were also warned by a ranger at the head of the trail that a bear had been spotted there two hours before, so we were on high alert the entire trek. Sadly, no bears made any appearances.

While Nick was assigned to stroller duty, Kurt and Noah were designated hiking pals, which meant Wyatt and I were the last pair.

It was a glorious sight when we finally reached the falls.

Kurt decided he had to climb down to the bottom (see him in the blue shirt on that rock). And somehow, Nick convinced me to let him take the boys down.

It was hard to watch, so Charlotte and I hung out around the top. I tried to get a picture of her sitting next to the falls, but she was not having any of that.

After a short lunch break, we ventured out to do a little mini-golfing.

Charlotte did very well for her first time.

We had planned to sneak a little nap in afterward, but the kids decided they wanted to swim at our condominium pool instead. Noah enjoyed showing us all of his swim lesson skills.

Later that evening, we stopped at a go-kart track to take the boys for a spin. They really enjoyed that, especially since they had their own steering wheel.

A little froyo at Sweet Frog's completed the night.