Cades Cove 2021

 Every year we make at least one or two trips to Cades Cove in Townsend, TN. We try to go in the Spring and Fall. 

We went through North Carolina to get there to try and see the Elk. Me and Maddy have yet to see the Elk!

This was just beautiful in my opinion. I love our adventures and traditions. It helps to keep me going when life feels too hard. 

My mom shared her pictures with us. I think these are her pictures. We all agreed we wanted to ride this train in the fall. 

After we go through Cades Cove we go eat at The Apple Barn. They have the best apple butter, apple fritters, and chicken. My usual order is chicken tenders. After we eat, we go to the Christmas Place. 

We usually see bear every time we visit Cades Cove. This trip was no exception. We saw a mama bear and her three cubs in a tree. Maddy and I are still waiting to see the elk. What are some of your traditions outside of Christmas?

Halloween 2021

 Maddy decided she no longer wanted to trick-or-treat, but she did want to dress up. After church we went on a Halloween hike at Cravens House on Lookout Mountain. The views were pretty spectacular.

The plan was to hike a little and then Maddy would change into her costume, and we would walk at the park. Once we got home Maddy changed her mind about walking at the park in her costume. We decided to have a mini photo shoot at home instead. In case you can't tell, she was Black Widow, but she looked more like Yelena. That was such a good movie by the way!

We had a great day!

Pumpkin Patch 2021

 One of our traditions every since Maddy was young is going to the pumpkin patch. We go to the same patch every year, Mayfield's Pumpkin Patch. 2021 was no different.

When Maddy was younger we would typically spend the first part of the day going from activity to activity. We would then take a food break and end with the corn maze. As she got older, we cut out all the activities and went straight for the food line, then the corn maze, and end the day with the pumpkin patch.

We always look forward to going to the pumpkin patch. This was the last year we went. We are looking for a new fall tradition to take its place.

Lost in the Woods

 We decided to go on an adventure. We found a hiking trail last year called Cravens House Trail. While we were there, I noticed there was another trail that led to Point Park. Point Park overlooks the Lookout Mountain Battlefield and city of Chattanooga. 

Our goal was to hike to Point Park. We started out just fine, but somewhere along the way we got lost. The sign said it was one and a half miles to Point Park. The longer we kept walking the more I began to question if we were on the right trail. We came to another trail and realized we were not on the right trail. I pulled up the map on my phone and Siri tried taking us back to the same trail we walked. We decided we would ignore Siri and walk the direction we thought we should go. After a while my gut told me we should listen to Siri. I pulled up the trail we were on and found we were on a 13.9-mile trail. It was at that point we decided to listen to Siri.

We found our mistake, but we were too tired to walk. The trail split off and we were too distracted to notice. We walked back to the car and drove to Point Park.

Point Park was breathtaking. We were both in awe. Maddy loves anything military related, so she enjoyed reading the signs throughout the park. There was a trail inside the park we would like to go back and hike. 

We ended up on the Rifle Pits trail, which led to the Guild Trail. It's obvious we are not true hikers!

We joked about being lost in the woods after I made this clip. We then realized we were actually lost and decided we better not joke like that again. 

I didn't do my research before we went to Point Park, but there is a small fee to get in. Kids under fifteen are free, so it really is a good deal. We had an amazing day and made many memories that will last a lifetime.

2020

If you told me we would be in a pandemic in 2020, I would have thought you were crazy. If you told me schools and businesses would shut down in 2020, I would have said impossible. If you told me we would be under a mask mandate for almost a year, I would have said no way! It is so crazy how we went from freedom in 2019 to lockdowns in 2020. I had no idea our weekend trip to visit the ark would have been our last hoorah for a little while. 

Our town entered into a stay-at-home order on April 3 or 4 2020. Thank goodness it only lasted a month, but the mask mandate lasted much longer than I expected. Maddy and I were NOT a fan of the masks. Our park playground had caution tape around it with a sign that said it was closed. I never knew a playground could even close. I don't think I will ever forget 2020. I thought I'd share the pictures I have from then. 

2020 looked a lot like this lol

This was the last day of quarantine. We were all so excited to be able to get out.

My niece graduated high school. Graduation was so different. They had a senior parade to celebrate the occasion.

We took lots of little hikes.

Maddy turned 11! 

The pictures do not quite show just how odd of a year 2020 was, but it was extremely odd. We even had an Easter tornado. I was so thankful for 2021 to get here.