Spring Break Trip Day One: Chimney Rock

We have been looking forward to Spring Break for quite some time.  Winter just kept holding on in Kentucky with some late snows and nasty weather.  This year we headed to North Carolina to do some hiking.  We set out to visit the waterfalls from the movie Last of the Mohicans.  We were blessed with some GREAT Spring weather and had a lot of family fun.  On to the pictures:

On day one of hiking we went to Chimney Rock State Park, home of Hickory Nut Falls and some spectacular views.

Chimney Rock from below

The Hickory Nut Falls Trail runs along below Chimney Rock to the base of the falls.

Hickory Nut Falls can be seen in the background of this scene from Last of the Mohicans.  Some of the movie's climactic fight scenes take place from the top of the falls, though that area is currently closed to hikers.

Approaching the falls

Hickory Nut Falls

The girls loved this "castle" viewing area.

Family selfie (minus the selfie stick, which got left in the hotel room)

Climbing the hundreds of stairs up to Chimney Rock

When you need a break because you're so out of shape, you can pretend to just be taking in the incredible views.

Athletic AJ goes on ahead and is first to arrive on the chimney.

The girls are always up for a photo on hiking trips.

Essie atop Chimney Rock

Dad and his girls

Mom and Dad

Family shot on Chimney Rock

Chloe

Essie enjoying the view

Chloe

View of Chimney Rock from above

The "Opera Box"

The "Devil's Head"

Essie

Devil's Head

View from Exclamation Point

It was EXTREMELY windy at Exclamation Point

Chloe enjoys the view from the top

After lunch we spent some time walking along the river that runs at the entrance to the park.  The kids loved climbing all over the rocks, and Mom was the only one to fall in.

  

 

 

Snowmaggedon 2

The day after I posted the last duck pond video, we woke up to this

Getting to the chickens in the greenhouse was a bit difficult but they were thankful to have a dry place to walk around in.

Duck house

Essie shoveling

On Friday, we headed to the kids elementary school hill with some friends for some sledding.

The Girls 6th Year Anniversary

So I'm totally behind on posts (what's new, right?).  We celebrated the girls 6th anniversary of joining our family on March 8th.

We had to have a purple icing.

and a purple cake too!

The girls have changed just a little bit in 6 years.

Chloe & Essie-Ethiopia 2009

Duck Pond?

The Ducks seem to be the only ones enjoying this miserable day!

Jump Rope Team

One of the big deals at our kids' school is the Jump Rope Club.  3rd-5th graders are eligible to participate, and then a Jump Rope Team is selected to learn routines and perform at the local elementary schools.  AJ has been on the team for four years now, and the girls have been waiting impatiently (and working on their skills to be ready) for their chance as 3rd graders.  This will be the only year that all three of our kids are on the team together.

On Monday, the team had a performance at their school, and we were able to go and watch.  One of our friends, a grandparent of another jumper, took this awesome video of the whole performance (AJ's solo performance is at the 16:00 mark):

Goofy pic

Birds in the Snow

The ladies decided they'd had enough of being cooped up in the greenhouse and needed to soak up some real sunshine.

The ducks left the greenhouse a few days ago and have been holding up in their house for the most part.
We are so hoping the ridiculously cold temps are about to be behind us.