Fall in the Smokies!

I miss fall!

I do, I really miss fall in the northwoods....it is just not the same down here!  I miss pumpkins and mums and Indian corn, and carmel apples, and all things fall harvest crafty and pumpkin patches and apple cider and hot cocoa and apple orchards and apple pie and the giant pumpkin fest and the beautiful colors and the crisp air (ok, maybe just a little;) and and and........ But, it's a good trade off for us, can't have it all:)  So, we try to do a fall camping trip every year, to get the flavor of fall (the colors weren't changing yet this year, but there were a few orange leaves on the ground...and that made me happy:)  And, so here is my little tour of Fall in the Smokies:

 




 

 




and since I now live in the south: "happy fall y'all!"
(this English Major literally just CRINGED typing that;)

the world's most PERFECT camping spot!

We began our (almost) annual trek to the Smokeys in 2009....the exception was in 2012 when we headed to Ohio to celebrate my father in law's 90th birthday, followed by a camping vacation in the Adirondacks and Vermont.  We have settled in on one particular campground in one particular quiet town....in the "quiet side" of the Smokeys....(we can always visit busy and loud;).  We love this area, not for the beauty and peacefulness, but also because we LOVE to camp right on the mountain river!   You see, our house backs up to a 100 acre thick, deciduous forest....and in our eyes, we LIVE in the most perfect camping spot....so, when we actually take our camper out, we have a lot of trouble just plopping our camper amidst other big rigs and RVs, with the constant up of air conditioners, etc....that's not a getaway, that's stressful for us......so we've had to up our game, and we now search for campgrounds where our campsite is right ON some body of water (we may be between other campers, but we back up to a body of water).  This campground is one we try to return to annually...and we are in search of others.....there is one about an hour from us, where we can camp RIGHT on the ocean....the beach is the campsite....that's our new version of camping...you get the picture:)

So, here is our home away from our camping home, in the mountains, all photos taken from our campsite:
 

 












you get the idea, we LOVE LOVE LOVE it here!  and we've been here enough, where we don't feel the desire to spend our whole vacation being too busy doing the tourist thingies (we do some...but don't fill in every moment being busy)...we are to a point where we can just relax and enjoy!  this truly is a little slice of heaven!

Fairy Girl is an eight girl now!

This post comes almost a week late, but I have a GREAT excuse!  We were camping in the Smokeys!  Due to Mother Nature altering our plans, we actually wound up spending most of her birthday traveling....but she was a good sport and we made the best of it.  We did start out her day with her most favorite food in the entire world.....pancakes....and she had her pancakes at Cracker Barrel.....and as an added bonus, they brought the birthday girl cake....for breakfast:)

 
she received her first birthday gift when we loaded up the Sienna....from Little Angel....and as an added bonus, Little Angel bought the pink one for herself (not to be left out of all the fun;)....but it actually worked out....they played the whole road trip there!

but alas, we eventually arrived, set up camp, and brought out the cake that was made the previous day by Little Angel...deeeeelish!

 
the pictures are a little dark, well, because yes, it was definitely getting dark by the time we got around to her birthday party

make a wish, sweet girl!  may ALL your dreams come true!

and no birthday is complete without presents! (we relocated into the camper for this;)
 

a special guest

this year she was BEYOND excited to receive cash and her very first Visa debit card!
Here is how she elected to spend her "credit card" (*these are only a FEW of the black bears....there were additionals purchased after this photo....the black bears are kind of a symbol of the Smokeys;)

All in all, I'd say, a GREAT birthday was had by all!
(p.s. stay tuned for the big surprise of the week!)

i've got sunshine!

naneee nanneeeeee booooo boooooo

creations from chaos

Every once in awhile I like to play with my disorganized bins of sparklies....fun creations are often born from sparkly chaos! 

 

wine bling revisited

 photo sent to me of four girl friends sporting their "Wine Bling" together this evening! I'm assuming there's some wine to go with all the fun:)

my essential oil necklace diffuser.....

I had to replace it once, because I put it on one of the girls to help calm her after she was stung by a jelly fish.  Said child had unscrewed it to take the cotton thingie out to look at it, and apparently didn't screw it on tightly, because I later noticed, that it was gone!  I thought I had heard something fall on my evening stroll, and went out with a flashlight, but never found it.....until the next morning, when I saw it smashed to smitherings in front of my neighbor's house, on the street.  Ironically, hubby is probably the one who ran it over :D  Given the incident, I decided to post a  link of where I purchased this, so I will never be without again!!!!!!  

Lavendar is my essential oil of choice 99.9% of the time ;)

my sweet girl is an EIGHT girl now!!!!

I can't believe Fairy Girl is eight?!!!  Where did all the time go?  when we moved to SC, she was still four....you know, meaning she was three the year before....which means she was still a toddler.  Yet, it feels like our move to SC was just yesterday, which means, just yesterday, she was still a toddler; right?!

Well, I'll get over it, I'm pretty nostalgic when it comes to my kiddos...and it goes way beyond the normal mom thing.  But it's all good:)

I'd love to wish a VERY Happy Birthday to my beautiful Fairy Girl!!!! I can't begin to tell you how much joy, love, and laughter this sweet little girl brings into the world.  She's sensitive, fun, caring, compassionate, energitic, creative, and down right funny!  I love you with all of my BEing, and want nothing but joy, love, and peace for you.  Always be true to your self, beautiful girl, and your dreams will all come true.  You bring so much Light to this world!

Please enjoy this little trip down Fairy Girl Lane:)  Pictures from her actual eight birthday will be posted at a later date:)