Road Trip Day #5 - Tennessee

Road Trip Day #4 - Tennessee

We enjoyed a fabulous 2 hour guided hike this morning.  The hike is designed for children and it turned out to be a private tour as no one else signed up for today.

At the onset of the hike, our guide Sam showed us stinging nettle and poison ivy.  She explained that Jewel Weed is a natural remedy to both.  All three plants can be seen above.

In addition to a three leaved plant, we learned that poison ivy can also present as a hairy-looking vine which wraps around a tree.  It turns out that poison ivy is mostly found in places frequented by humans. 

We played a tree identification game where you are blind folded and then walked over to a tree.  After touching and/or hugging your tree, the group spins you around and removes your blind fold. You then have to identify which tree was yours!

We crossed several small creeks

Anne was very excited to find millipededs

We saw found these buckeyes - never realized that the word buckeye actually refers to the eye of a deer!

Black bears mark their territory by rubbing their scent glands onto trees.  These claw marks were left when a bear was marking the tree with scent glands on its front paws. There are an estimated 1,500 black bears in the Smokies, that's two bears per square mile.  We learned all about bear safety and the importance of protecting bears from human food (which can dramatically decrease their life span). 

Miss Anne spent most of the hike on an ERGO carrier, she did enjoy some freedom at the hike's end.

We learned how to find salamanders!!

Road Trip Day #3 - Tennessee

Because we arrived so late last night, this morning was our first opportunity to check out the cabin's mountain views.  We ate breakfast "at home" and then went to visit Parrot Mountain.  The gardens were gorgeous and feeding the birds was quite a highlight.  We all rested during Anne's nap and then drove into the Smoky Mountain National Park for a picnic dinner! 

Our cabin is called A Heavenly View - hard to appreciate it in this photo but the view is quite spectacular.

The Eclectus Parrot was our favorite

The Lorikeets LOVED Elijah!

Anne received compliments on her shirt all day long!

Road Trip Day #2 - Kentucky-Tennessee

Day two started out with a delicious breakfast on the farm.  We enjoyed french toast with homemade butter and peach syrup.  There was also homemade yogurt, jams, fresh eggs and turkey bacon for Amiel.  After breakfast, we took a tour of the farm with farmer Roy.  Anne and I milked a goat and everyone helped collect eggs from the chicken coup. The chickens roam freely and we also found eggs in some unexpected places (like a flower pot)! We visited a giant mama pig with her two week old piglets, cows, a peacock, bunnies, ducks, geese and a pony too.  Farmer Roy gave us the eggs we collected and a jar of homemade jam for the road.

One of the farm cats

Breakfast!!

Enjoying the kittens.

Milking a goat!  Farmer Roy and his family make homemade goat milk soap which we enjoyed during our stay.

The main house was built prior to the Civil War

Hanging out

Yelp lead us to the town of Stanford (KY) for lunch at Bluebird.  What a treat. I had a fried green tomato sandwich with pesto on a homemade bun - yum.  The restaurant was adorned with beautiful artwork and service was super friendly. After lunch we visited a local ice cream shoppe for dessert, I had the homemade Bourbon Crunch - amazing.  We ate our ice cream on the front porch and friendly Amiel struck up a conversation with an elderly woman named Martha.  She told us about the reconstruction of Logan's Fort and brought us to check it out!

The rolling hills and horse farms of Kentucky made for a scenic ride to Tennessee!!

Road Trip Day #1 - Chicago-Indianna-Kentucky

First day of our road trip was a travel-day but still super fun!!  We left around 10:00am and made it to Kentucky without traffic.  The kids kept busy with books, art supplies, movies and the first half of the Boxcar Children on audio CD.  We visited an old Shaker Village for dinner and then spent the night on a farm in Danville, KY.  We arrived after nightfall and received a warm welcome from our host Jacob, two friendly dogs and several adorable kittens.  We quickly settled into our cottage and Anne was thrilled to sleep in a big girl bed for the first time.  

First stop on our road trip was to the Family Express Gas Station in northern Indiana.
We filled up the Subaru and did some nice stretching!

Much awaited brunch at The Waffle House

Shakertown Village in Harrodsburt, KY

Tomato-Celery Soup - A Shakertown Specialty

Morton Arboretum

Finally made it out to Morton Arboretum with the kids today!

Here they are playing in one of the many tree houses. 

Two year old logic

Miss Anne Meital negotiated with Amiel to bring her blanket and water bottle onto the potty tonight. When asked to put them down she stated "I can't put them on the floor because I have to rest and eat strawberries in the morning."
Love that kid.

Happy 2014

Happy 2014!!  Took these shots during a mini getaway two weeks ago.  Amiel has been eager to get Elijah on skis for a few years, so we decided to spend the night near the Illinois-Wisconsin border and then hop up to Wilmot the following morning.  Could not have picked a better weekend as we woke up to piles of beautiful snow!!  Took a swim and then the boys were off to the slopes!!  Elijah seemed to like it and am thinking the fearless little girl will want in next year :)

Almost seven

I was tickled to capture this photo of Elijah this afternoon at the soccer field.  Today was his first day of AYSO soccer and he seemed to really enjoy it.  Pretty adorable to see him running around the field in uniform.  He kicked the ball handful of times but was smiling for almost the whole game.

Go Team LEMON!

Brother and sister

Elijah and Anne seem to grow closer every day.  When we first brought Anne home from the hospital, I had to bribe him to be in a photo with her.  As you can see, they are now quite the pals.  Elijah is a pretty reserved kid but I've noticed that he gets more silly and relaxed when interacting with more spirited children.  Anne is quite the spirited little girl and she definitely brings out a fun part of Elijah.

Anne turns 18 months old this week; she is bursting with smiles and personality.  She loves dogs and "woof woof" was one of her first words.  She tends to be a wild one but is very gentle when petting the neighborhood pooches. Anne is quite active and will climb pretty much whatever she can.  She ventures to the top of our park's "big slide" and zooms down without hesitation.  She nearly walks down stairs on her own though (usually) agrees to wait for someone to hold her hand.  A few weeks ago, she managed to climb and jump out of a baby swing, thankfully there were no injuries. One of her favorite places to play is on our wide window sills.  She is generally independent but definitely enjoys being with her brother.  Anne loves to eat, cheese (another first word) and fruit are particular favorites.  When she is tired of eating something, she either flings it to the ground or rubs it into her hair.  We have been working on this with only very modest success.  The worst is when she rubs fish into her hair and then smells like the ocean (not in a good way).  Thankfully she loves baths, though getting out of the tub is a different story. At this point, Anne is super outgoing.  She loves greeting people with a "hi" and big smile.  When out and about, strangers most frequently comment on her beautiful smile, blue eyes and curls. She is repeating words a lot more frequently and clearly these days.  Her spoken vocabulary is limited but it is clear that she understands most everything in both English and Hebrew. I sometimes suspect that she can say what she wants but chooses instead to scream. This evening, Amiel brought her to the park. She unsuccessfully tried to swipe another child's ball and later found the same ball unattended. Apparently she picked it up and announced "my ball!" To my knowledge, this is first time she independently put two words together.  Speaking of words, Anne loves her Daddy and says "Abba!" all the time.  When we try to prompt her to say "Ima" or "Mommy," she yells "Abba" even louder. She finds this game immensely entertaining, often repeating "Abba" using the same volume and intonation as I am using to say "Ima." Other favorite things include nursery rhymes, snuggling with her well-loved pink blanket animals and playing with her wooden baby stroller.  She particularly likes to climb inside of it and have Elijah push her around the house. 

More about Elijah to come!!