Knoxville with the Birthday Boy

This lucky boy got to spend his birthday in Knoxville! Michael and his friend Ben from ISU were accepted to present at a conference there. Since it's only two hours from us (and thanks to the freedom of homeschooling!) we all decided to tag along. It was such a nice break!

For Orson's birthday we had a fancy breakfast of oatmeal packets in the hotel room before heading out to explore Knoxville. Michael was at his conference, but the kids and I were able to see a lot of fun things. First up was the riverfront and marina area...

This is Orson's new face for every picture...

Street Art - Can you find Eliza?

Trains for Grandpa!

Magnolia tree seeds! We had no idea how cool they were before this.

Next we headed to a free museam at the University of Tennessee and picnicked on campus. It is a beautiful campus! We headed back to the hotel for Conrad's nap and then swimming.

Orson chose pizza for his birthday dinner so we picked it up and met Michael at the World's Fair park to eat and see the famous Sun Sphere.

We finished off with "cake". Not your traditional birthday, but Orson loved it!

The next morning was Michael's presentation. Way to go Daddy!

Meanwhile the kids and I headed off to the Farmer's Market where I ate the best bagel of my life!

Next up was this beautiful wooden playground to burn off some energy before General Conference.

While we were downtown I sent the older girls up the street together to throw away some trash. They walked back hand in hand. It melts my mommy heart!

The kids and I headed to the local chapel to watch the first session of General Conference. It was so wonderful. I felt so thankful for the inspired directions of our prophet for the church and his challenges to help us improve as individuals and as families!

All too soon it was time to head home. We picked up Michael and started our drive. Of course we had to make a stop in Corbin to visit the original KFC! How was it? Pretty much like any other KFC to be honest. They did have a section of the original kitchen and such which was fun to see (but smelled like cats)

My kids went on and on about the food. I'm not sure they've ever had KFC before and they raved about the potatoes and gravy. Lenora took a bite of chicken and practically screamed, "Try the chicken! It's amazing!!!" I'm glad something so simple made them so happy.

I love this picture Michael caught of Eliza taking our picture with the Colonel! 

It was a nice little trip full of fun and memories. Thanks Michael for letting us tag along! Knoxville was beautiful and like so many of the places we've visited, we said we'd be willing to live there. Maybe we're just meant to be nomads our whole lives who move around from place to place and never really settle down for too long?

Camping in the Smokies!

We were able to spend a night camping in the Smoky Mountains. It was incredible! It was nearly dark when we arrived so we set up the tent in semi-darkness then ended up cooking/eating dinner in the dark. The kids loved that! The night sky was incredible. I've never see so many stars before! 

 Of course the kids were up before the sun and ready to explore. Their favorite thing was all the different mushrooms. I have about 100 pictures of mushrooms they took on my phone while we packed up our camp. Their favorites were one that looked just like a white, fluffy snowman, a green one that looked beaded, and the bright purple one. I loved this one that someone decorated with rocks.

 We spent the day exploring Cade's Cove which is a valley of sorts within the mountains. Settlers first started a community there in the early 1800s and some of the historical buildings (and replicas) still stand today. We hiked a bit, drove a scenic loop, drank water from a spring, and just enjoyed the fresh mountain air.

 We could have easily stayed a week, but sadly we only had the one night because we were headed to Knoxville the next day. I'm so glad we went to the extra effort to visit the Smokies though. It was worth it!