Brevard

 Day 2 we had a plan.  We were driving to Brevard to go hiking up to see triple falls, looking glass falls, etc. then would spend the second half of the day at little sliding rock.

 All eight of the kids did AWESOME on the hike...which wasn't easy for them. Cailey was in awe when she saw the waterfalls...and the ROCKS from the mountains. Every time she'd see 'rock' mountains (vs. trees on top) she'd get so excited and point it out. LOVED that...I just can't say enough how neat it was to be 'seeing' things through her eyes for the first time.

 Of course there were lots of photo ops on the way up...which mama had to take advantage of:)

 We made it!

 This girl..."mommy! take a picture of just me in front of a waterfall!"

 On the way down to triple falls we found a great place to stop for a snack. Oh...the kids were super helpful with carrying the backpack and other things that needed to be carried. Strangely enough they saw it as a privilege to be carrying it...which Laura and I loved:).

 letting our children get swept away in the waterfall never to be seen again.....:)

 You can take the girl to the beach, or the mountains, or the mall....but the girl will not stop cartwheeling! It's her mode of transportation.  We saw this snake...AGH!!! on the way back down.  Thankfully it stayed on there.

 Ephram did a GREAT job on the hike...much better than I expected. At the end he used a phrase he coined the previous day and said "my legs ran out of gas". We were almost to the van so I knew he could make it but sweet Aunt Laura saved him and took him the rest of the way.

 We went to little sliding rock and were thrilled to see we were the only ones there...as others were packing up to leave. Laura was my hero and stayed in the COLD water to catch the kids. Someone had to take pictures!:) They were watching aunt Laura go down.

 All of the Welch kids loved it (as this was their second time visiting). I was pretty sure Ephram would want no part of the cold water but thought the other three would like it.
Sure enough Ephram went down once (screaming) and then mommy made him go down again at the end after sitting wrapped in a towel...and once again he screamed (mean mommy) but I had to get a picture!

 My Kinsey girl can go either way. I wasn't sure if this would be her thing and it wasn't. She went down 7 times (because mommy wanted her to try:) but was done after that. I'm not sure if it was the cold water or rock, or what...but she was not thrilled.

Braden and Cailey loved it...they even tried going down on their stomachs!

 They went down for almost two hours then we found the perfect log to sit and have a snack before walking back down.

 We found the perfect spot for wading, throwing rocks, and exploring!  We stayed at the 'swimming hole' and had a great time playing in it!  Even this mama got in and braved the cold...Laura was right, after your legs go numb it's really not that bad.

 this guy had the goal of getting all the way across on his own and succeeded!

We stayed until a tree top cracked and started falling (sounding like fireworks)...the kids were scared. While we were waiting for Laura and Isaac to come back from the bathroom it started to downpour. And thunder. And lightning. I took the kids under some trees to help keep us from getting all the towels and bags soaked. The storm was getting pretty bad while we just stood there but when they showed up we all took off. There was a GIANT crashed of thunder and lightning which started the big girls SCREAMING, CRYING, and RUNNING. I couldn't stop laughing...as in hysterically. The scene was so funny to me for some reason! Eight children running for the car, screaming, getting poured on, and Laura and I just laughed and laughed. good times:).  That water hole and the storm were memories I won't soon forget! Even as I write this I have to smile.

OH..and went Ephram went to get in the car he somehow smashed his tongue?? and was bleeding all over. and even WORSE...Laura couldn't find her chapstick..LOL! 

 Our original plan of going to get ice cream was out since we weren't dressed and were soaked so we stopped and I got the kids the candy of their choice.

 When we got back to the house Laura took care of bathing everyone (in cold water because we forgot to turn the hot water heater on..lol!) while I cooked dinner. When the kids had downtime they ALL had fun playing with the lincoln logs .  The big girls made covered wagons and played Little House.

 When the boys weren't building houses they loved having battles with the people.

 These were the perfect toys to have up in the mountains:)

at night we talked scripture and prayed. it helped us all be on the right page.  the kids each came up with verses that would be helpful during the day to make our trip super fun.

Some of their choices were:

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control

Philippians 2:14 Do everything without complaining and arguing

Ephesians 6:1 Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and mother.

Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

After our bible time the kids played with glow sticks!