Last week we were here.  In the mountains.  Just us and the river flowing in our backyard... Oh, and the cub bear, the deer, the chickens, horses, turkeys, billy goats,  foxes, and the unbelievably beautiful fall colors.  It was a striking contrast from our beach vacation last year, but fun nonetheless.  

The girls waded in the river, soaking themselves from head to toe.  We fished, cooked s'mores, ventured into small adjacent towns, hiked, read, napped in the front porch in rockers, fell asleep to rain falling on our cabin's metal roof, ate delicious meals at several hole-in-the-walls, and relaxed (as much as possible with four mini-me's running underfoot).

We have a few take-aways from this trip.  They are as follows, in no particular order:

1) Sorry kids.  No "Seven days of sundaes."  Daddy caught a fish (finally) and when it comes to Daddy, a bet's a bet.
2) If you've never driven on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the fall, put it on your bucket list.  You won't regret it.
3) Our kids and food dyes don't mesh.  We knew that before but, hey, this is vacation, right?  Wrong.  We found that we simply cannot take a vacation from our ban on the evil dyes.
4) It is clear that Mt. Airy will never outgrow Andy Griffeth.  It's been 50 years and well, Mayberry isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
5) Is there anything better than bringing a page turner on vacation?  LOVED Unbroken.  Highly, highly recommend it. 
6) When driving through the mountains all you need is a good set of eyes, or 6, to find some amazing animals.  

7) I still love this man.  Wouldn't blame him, though, for wanting to trade me in for something newer and less wrinkly.  Did someone say "Sean Connery"?

8)  I. Caught. A. Fish!  Can you see it there?  No? Get closer.  No... closer.  K, just go get a magnifying glass and then we'll talk.
9)  Who knew that rolling down a hill would require a lesson for a 5 year old.  "Honey, you roll DOWN the hill, not sideways."

10)  Fish really DO go into shock if you play with them too much.  Hmm. 
11) If you leave a bucket of fish and crawdads by the river over night, don't expect it to be there in the morning.
12) There is no better fragrance than the smell of burning leaves.

13) We've still got it.