My kids love to get the popsicles that have jokes printed on the sticks. And even more than that, they love to make us guess and guess until we get the right answer.

Last night Luke asked us this one:

What did the attorney name her daughter?

Bud and I tried to be serious (Court-ney was my best answer), but when he wouldn't tell us the answer, it turned silly. Well, Bud is pretty silly a lot of the time anyway, it doesn't take much. Names like Jury Box, Gavel, and Defendant were flying.

Finally Bud said, "Sequestered!"

Luke laughed out loud and said, "Daa-ad, it's a girl's name!"

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Here's a fun conversation to have with your kids. If you were living in the 1800's and travelling by covered wagon to someplace unsettled, what would you need to bring with you? We visited a farm in the National Park yesterday that was settled in 1883. It was fun trying to think of everything this settler would have had to bring with him.

Have a great day!

We've been here in the Smoky Mountains for a full ten days now. On every single hike we pass some giddy yankees telling us about the bear they just saw up the trail. (They really aren't yankees. I just felt like saying that.) But do we see a bear? No. Today the kids and I took Bud up to Grotto Falls, and it was fantastic. Again. I imagine it wasn't the last time we'll hike that trail.

Anyway, as we were leaving the falls to hike back down, these yankees told us about the bear they saw on their way up. So we hiked down vewwwwy quietly, keeping an eye out for the bear. At the bottom of the trail, Peyton and I agreed that bears do not indeed live in the Smoky Mountains and it is all a conspiracy to make us feel inadequate.

We huff our way over to the car and I throw it into reverse. I look into my rearview mirror and what do I see? Not one, but THREE black bears! A mama and her two babies. They meandered around about 30 feet from us and headed down the road. We followed them a way before they headed back into the woods. It was THE COOLEST THING EVER.

It was so cool in fact, that they camera lay useless in the console between the driver and passenger seats of the car, because we were paralyzed by the coolness and couldn't remember we owned a camera. Brilliant.

In other news, we closed down Splash Country yesterday. You've never seen three children so totally zonked in your life.



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Please keep Bud and his family in your prayers. His grandmother died last night. She was a sweet lady and we will all miss her very much.