wild + wonderful

i know. it's been a while. let's just get that out of the way now. forgive me? yes? good.

we spent our spring break in the West Virginia mountains & i took too many pictures but the lighting was too perfect & the memories were too good. we stayed in a quaint cabin at the blackwater falls state park with my husband's parents. all eight of us. 

no television. 

no wifi. 

lots of card games. 

lots of yahtzee. 

lots of conversations around the fire. 

it was just what we needed. 

early mornings were for animal watching, then outdoor exploring. a couple woodpecker pals woke us every morning. friendly deer wandered nearby. the kids used their junior ranger skills for being bear aware. hikes were taken. snakes were found. teepees were built. 

our yard was a carpet of moss. 

the firewood shed was topped with moss. 

everything covered in moss. 

hubs did his breakfast thing. eggs cooked to order. sausage burnt to your liking. toast & fresh fruit.

the perfect weather for eating al fresco. 

evenings were spent inside around the fire. when you have kids, you automatically have entertainment. we learned new games, trashed talked a bit, laughed at the baby's antics & shared stories. we ate until we couldn't eat anymore & celebrated two girls' birthdays while we were at it.

our first day of exploring was spent wandering around blackwater falls. hubs & i had been here before when emma was just a little thing. we felt instantly sick when we realized it was more than a decade ago. 

when it was time to go, i slowly & i mean, SLOWLY, made my way back up to where the cars were parked. our sweet emma was kind enough to stay behind with me. (let's be real, she uses me for my camera skillz.) we (i) saw what i thought was a gentler, easier path for us (me) to take. turns out it was a restricted path. with lots of "not for public use" signs along the way. where we saw -0- people. which took us a little further than what we were shooting for. leaving us a bit aggravated, somewhat worried, but mostly exhausted. when we finally emerged, we were at a road. like the main road. at one point i recall thumbing for a ride back. i had one small water bottle & it was empty. emma & i had some deliriously fun conversations regarding child birth & the role she may have to take in her brothers. but hey, we saw some really beautiful sights & took some really great pictures. aw, memories. 

side note: i'm starting a support group for mom's without a sense of direction. if anyone is interested, head south then east. 

"no one i'd rather adventure through this life with." 

otherwise captioned: "those who flannel together, stay together."

our final day was a bit of a mystery to most of us & yes, very much an adventure. i rarely know much of what we have planned during these little trips of ours. hubs is the travel guru. he plans everything out for us. itineraries, weather reports, expense budgets, directions, maps, location details. you name it. i'm basically along for the ride. maybe that's bad. but that's me. so when he told us that he wanted to take us to dolly sods, we didn't ask questions.

maybe we should have asked more questions.

dolly sods. 

where you drive to the middle of nowhere; turn down a gravel path; drive 8 miles up & across a mountain range with no guard rails, lines, signs of civilization or even another driving lane; & just when you think you must have missed it or must be lost, you must. keep. driving. at the exact moment you've lost all hope for ever finding this rumored breathtaking spectacle of a place, the trees open up, the sky appears before you, you have arrived. 

and it did not disappoint. totally worth the fear of losing my life on the drive there. totally worth peeing in the middle of the road & accidentally on my shoes. hi, i'm very pregnant.

 (if you're interested in history at all, HERE is some really cool information about the history of this amazing place regarding world war ii & current live land mines. yes, you read that right. adventure!) 

finally, after adventuring around the mountaintop, we drove back down the mountain, to the valley & stopped at seneca rock. at this point, my eight month pregnant body was DONE. i waddled my way around the grounds, back to the car & settled in for a nap.

it was this picture that had me realizing how old our babes are getting. i know everyone says that all the time, but it's continually something that blows our minds as parents. maybe we'll keep having babies after all. ;)

(all grandma's please relax. i kid. i kid.)




i leave you with...

...when you finally get home from vacation & it's got you like...