Matthew turned 9!

Well, Matthew turned 9 back on March 25th, I can't believe it
but its official he is 9. We didn't have a party but he wanted
to go up t0 ride the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad, so a few
weeks after his birthday we headed up there and did just that!
We made a full weekend of it and enjoyed doing a little hike in the
National Park, Linville Caverns and Grandfathers Mountain,
before we headed back down to home. The weather was great
for all of it and nothing was too crowded, which is just the way we like it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTHEW!


































Thanks Aunt Darlene and Uncle Terry, they left the day
before Matthew turned 9 so they left a card for him with a
nice surprise!!














Here we are ready to board the train for our 4 hour adventure!




































































We were really lucky that the sun popped out just as we
were leaving and the weather just got nicer as the day went.



















On the break we got off and ate lunch at a restaurant
right on the river. It was really a great day!














Back on the train for the last leg of the ride!

































Caboose pictures!



















This was the water fall we hiked up to the next day in the
National Park. It was about a mile up and then a mile back
down. It was still morning so it was nice and cool and again
the weather was perfect for what we were there to do.

We stopped back by the train depot before we headed up
to Linville Caverns and took a few pics with the engine!

After the Caverns we headed up to Grandfathers Mountain. This is the

home of Mildred the Bear and several other creatures along with a

museum and suspended bridge.

I have to say when we got to the top of the mountain the wind was crazy.

We had a hard time getting the car doors open it was so strong. We still

went across the bridge and enjoyed the view!