New Year's Eve Hike

I think our annual Christmas Eve hike will turn into a New Year's Eve hike. With the added traveling that occurs now that we live in Tennessee, it is just a little too much to try to cram into the Christmas schedule. We headed out last week to Ijams Nature Center to explore an old quarry area. It is a beautiful place, with a big lake and great overlooks. The trail was perfect for the kids-- challenging but not too hard or too long.Experiment-- Look, Kate can still fit into the backpack. This is officially the last time she will ever ride in it. And, really, it wasn't that heavy. Ben was pretty territorial about it, though. He didn't want anyone else riding in it (he often does the same thing when the others sit in my lap).There was an old train track back down at the bottom that we had fun playing on. This shot is pretty funny. Kate and Jackson were very concerned with the people further down the trail. Benjamin is looking pretty cute, though!Yet another family self-portrait where Jamie and I were the only two looking at the camera.

"The view from here is AMAZING!" It was fun seeing her enthusiasm. And those were her exact words. The boys trying on the daypack with water and snacks.