This will be the wrap up of our week in Blue Ridge.....the "doings"! We stayed at the cabin for the most part....visiting, exploring our surroundings, and letting the kids play and be free but a few times throughout our week we did venture out!

My uncle treated everyone (excluding the fisherman!) to a train ride one afternoon and you can only imagine that this was a highlight to a certain girls week (if you know Emery Hughes!)

we got lucky and were able to ride in an open car so it was a relaxing trip with a beautiful view and the kids LOVED it

the conductor came by and even punched our tickets which the kids were quite please about

we ended up in a small town in Georgia.......or TN depending on which side of the line you were standing for a 2 hour break

we stopped long enough to eat a picnic lunch

and a quick stop in a 50's diner for milk shakes and juke box tunes

and then hopped back on the train for the 1 hour ride back home......it was soooo relaxing some of the gang fell asleep

another day we visited a fish hatchery.....they raise fish and once they are big enough they are transferred via tanks to various rivers

that same day we hiked

down to a swinging bridge which is also part of the Appalachian Trail

we got in the water a bit and played as it was a HOT day.......both of my girls ended up "accidentally" getting soaked and Emery hiked out pantless!

one afternoon we (just the 4 of us) drove to a river to play on the banks

make pine cone people

and houses for them to abide

practice some fly fishing

only 1 fish was caught.....a tiny one at that! BUT Kayden was excited none the less

one evening we were delighted to find these signs hanging around the house and tickets being sold for a "show".........it was the BEST! To see 4 girls work together to bring an actual "show" together was great! VERY creative and funny......lets just say these girls have some MAD hoola hooping skills!

AND on our departure day we stopped by a store to let the girls do some mining for gems

It was an ENJOYABLE trip.....definitely to be repeated! It helps when you have GREAT company, GREAT cooks, GREAT weather, a GREAT cabin to stay in, and NATURE!!!