Outdoor Adventures | 2016 edition

In terms of spending time outdoors together, 2016 was a good year for our family. We were more intentional about spending time outside with our kids and made more of an effort to adventure. Our adventures are different from what we would do pre-kids, but I think it is the effort that counts. We are getting to a point where we can see the future activities with our kids getting bigger and that is encouraging! Also, Daniel changed jobs last year and his more normal work week has made a big difference in our efforts to do the things we love as a family. We are looking forward to all of the adventures in store for us in 2017.

January

First Hike of the New Year at Sunset Rock | Lookout Mountain, TN

Hike to Mushroom Rock | Signal Mountain, TN

February

Mountain Bike Date in Prentice Cooper State Forest | Signal Mountain, TN

Hiking/Trail Running to Mushroom Rock | Signal Mountain, TN

Caving with Kids at Florida Caverns State Park | Marianna, FL

March

Our First Tri (Rock & Row Triathlon) | Rock Island, TN

Hiking at Rock Island Gorge | Rock Island, TN

Hiking at Fall Creek Falls | Fall Creek Falls, TN

May

Strawberry Picking with Friends at Sims Farm | Ft. Olgethorpe, GA

Day Hike in Prentice Cooper | Signal Mountain, TN

Mother's Day Paddling Excursion (a first for Isaac) | Lookout Creek at base of Lookout Mountain, TN 

Camping with Kids at Chester Frost State Park (a first for Isaac) | Chattanooga, TN 

Day Hikes to Huckleberry Knob and Bald River Falls | Cherohala Skyway, NC 

McCoy Farm Memorial Day Picnic | Signal Mountain, TN

June

Blue Hole | Soddy Daisy, TN

July

Cousins Trip to the Beach | St. George Island, FL

August

Biking the Oro-Medonte Rail Trail | Orillia, Ontario
Paddling on Lake Simcoe | Orillia, Ontario

Cliff Jumping (Muskoka River) | Gravenhurst, Ontario 

Niagara Falls | Niagara Falls, Ontario

Day Hike at Point Park | Lookout Mountain, TN

September

Paddling with (4) Kids at Chester Frost | Chattanooga, TN

Day Hike to Glen Falls | Lookout Mountain, TN  

Tractor Day at Hidden Hills Farm and Saddle Club | Ooltewah, TN 

October

Three Sisters Blue Grass Festival | Chattanooga, TN

Ocoee White Water Center | Cherokee National Forest, TN 

Old McDonald's Farm | Sale Creek, TN 

Family Camping at High Falls State Park (camping, hiking, paddling, biking) | High Falls State Park, GA

November

ATVs to Edwards Point | Signal Mountain, TN 

Touring the Nina and Pinta | Chattanooga, TN

Hiking with kids to Edwards Point via Rainbow Lake (hiking, climbing) | Signal Mountain, TN

December

New Year's Eve Day Hike to Snooper's Rock | Signal Mountain, TN

Also this year Daniel went on quite a few undocumented (by me) trail runs and dirt bike rides. He enjoys running on various trails in Prentice Cooper State Forest here on Signal Mountain including Edwards Point, Mushroom Rock, down the mountain to Suck Creek and also around Rainbow Lake. Other places he runs include Stringers Ridge and in Green Gorge behind our house. For riding, he prefers the off road trails around Edwards Point.

First Hike of the New Year: Old Stone Fort

The first day of 2017 dawned cold and rainy. Not exactly a great day to be outdoors.

According to the forecast, January 2nd had the potential for sunshine (or at least no rain) and warmer temps, but we already had lunch plans with some of Daniel's family at his Grandmother's house in Manchester, TN.

On a whim, I googled "Manchester Trails" to see if there was anywhere we might be able to take the boys... I probably should have just asked Daniel!

Anyway, I discovered that Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park, also known as Old Stone Fort, had a dam, and a 3-mile loop that included waterfalls.

So I mentioned to Daniel that I thought we should consider leaving our house early enough in the morning to go roam around this park before lunch with family.

He asked what I had in mind, and then surprised me by saying that he grew up camping at Old Stone Fort! I don't know why we have never visited there.

We arrived in Manchester in time to spend about an hour in the park. With two little kids, this time frame was perfect – they could run around and burn off some energy and not get too exhausted prior to our family visit.

Before heading down the trail, we checked out the exterior of the fort (it is now a museum that was closed for the holiday). It was built by Native Americans between 1,500 and 2,000 years ago and you can read about it on the park's website if you are interested in that sort of thing.

From the roof of the fort, we were able to see the dam and take a quick family photo before heading down the trail. Daniel hung back with Isaac while Jack and I went ahead exploring the trail.

There were many side trails that periodically broke off from the main trail and meandered down to the river with views of the waterfalls that naturally occurred below the dam.

Isaac is insisting on walking more on his own these days. Which is great, but can also make our hikes incredibly slow. Thankfully Jack likes to explore and doesn't mind the slowness.

Toward the end, I put Isaac in our kid carrier (he just wanted to be held and he is heavy!). He was not happy about being strapped down. Sorry kid – it won't be long until you can handle longer walks on your own!

We probably went about half a mile before calling it a morning. After we were back in the car (with snacks to bribe the boys), we drove around the campground and Jack informed us that camper camping would be a lot of fun.

Little does know, we are kicking around the idea of at least renting a camper to see what we think about it. Time will tell what we decide.

It was a lovely way to spend our morning and our first hike of the new year. You can't beat a good waterfall and with the recent rain, the water is definitely flowing.

I have a feeling that our next outdoor excursion might involve snow, if we're lucky!

Top 10 in 2016

I feel like a broken record, but I really hope 2017 will be the year I get back on track with Christmas cards. Thank you to everyone who still has us on their Christmas card list, we always enjoy hanging up your cards during the Christmas season.

 

Best Nine photos from Instagram for 2016

I can't let go of our long-standing tradition of out Top 10 list for the year, so without further ado, here it is...

Family photo at a cottage on Lake Simcoe in Orillia, Ontario

10. We kicked off 2016 by taking a first hike of our year which prompted Project Outside365. The idea was to get our kids outside as much as possible throughout the year. While we didn't spend time outside every single day, we came pretty close. I believe my final tally was 337 days spent outside.

First Hike of 2016: Sunset Rock on Lookout Mountain, TN

We hiked, paddled, camped (including Isaac's first camping trip), biked, climbed, swam, snorkeled, and spent many days at playgrounds. Like the start of the year, we ended 2016 with a family hike. It was a great effort and I am proud of us.

Last Hike of 2016: Snooper's Rock on Signal Mountain, TN

 
9. In January, Isaac got his first teeth and we discovered that he had a pretty severe lip tie. After assessing it, researching and making an appointment with a local doctor who specializes in lip ties, we decided to have a walk-in procedure. It was awful to watch him have it removed – seeing your child in pain is always difficult, but we are glad we went ahead and had it fixed. He bounced right back and the gap between his teeth is almost gone.

Isaac has a lip tie corrected.

8. At the end of February, my Grandma passed away. She had been bed ridden for the last three years, but had been able to be in the comfort of my parent's home during this time. We were sad about her passing, but so grateful that she had had the opportunity to meet and spend time with all of her great grandchildren. It was also a blessing to go home and spend time with our family and extended family.

Our family said goodbye to my Grandma in Searcy, AR.

7. In the month of April, Daniel and I participated in our first triathlon. It was the Rock Island Rock and Row hosted at Rock Island State Park. The race started with a 5k paddle, followed by a hilly 5k run, and finishing with a 5k ride. It was a tough course with huge hills, but lots of fun. We enjoyed our first Tri experience and also taking our boys to some of our favorite trails in Rock Island and Fall Creek Falls State Parks. This is such a beautiful part of our state and we hope to be back soon.

 

Daniel and I participated in our first Triathlon, The Rock and Row in Rock Island, TN.

6. This was the year that we decided to let Jack start to explore sports. We agreed that he should only do one activity at a time. He's still in the phase of being easily distracted and not wanting to exert a lot of energy. Only time will tell whether he will really be into sports or not. In January there was Gymnastics, then T Ball in the spring, followed by Soccer in the fall, and also swimming lessons at our Y. We have him signed up for Taekwondo starting this week, he is super excited about it.

Jack started trying different sports, including Spring T Ball.

 
5. This year both of our boys had milestone birthday with Isaac turning ONE in April and Jack turning FIVE in November. We are so blessed by both of these little ones and cannot imagine our lives without either one. Jack will start kindergarten this coming fall (he is currently in his third year of preschool) and Isaac will start preschool. Time slow down!

Isaac turned ONE in April.

Jack turned FIVE in November.

4. This summer Jack taught himself to ride his bike. Daniel was outside with him and he just kind of did it. It took us both by surprise. He has really excelled at riding and has continued to teach himself new tricks like hopping curbs and some very basic mountain biking skills. We can't wait to take him out on trails with us.

3. For our family vacation this year, we decided to go to Canada. We rented a cottage on a lake about an hour north of Toronto and had a fantastic time paddling, biking and swimming daily on our own little portion of Lake Simcoe. During our week stay, Jack discovered a love of snorkeling and spent hours each day floating in the water seeing everything he could.

Family vacation on Lake Simcoe in Orillia, Ontario

  
During this vacation, we also attended my Family Reunion and had a blast catching up with all of those who were able to attend. It was a first time for most of them to meet Isaac and they hadn't seen Jack in a couple of years. We hope to make this trip a more regular occurrence (the last time we had been there was four years ago for my Grandpa's funeral). 

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We ended our trip by taking the boys to Niagara Falls. I don't like the touristy part of NF, but the falls are truly spectacular and we always stop to see them when we are in the area visiting family.

Visiting Niagara Falls, Ontario on our way home from vacation

2. In December we celebrated our 14th anniversary and had our first real night away from our kids. Ever. I'm not sure what took us so long, but 20 hours to ourselves was worth it!

We celebrated 14 years of marriage with a night away at the Bluff View Inn in Downtown Chattanooga, TN.

 

1. By far, our best news of this year is that after interviewing for different positions within his company for the last several years, Daniel FINALLY had the opportunity to change jobs and fields. He spent almost three years working as a Start-Up Engineer for Watts Bar Unit 2. They are the first power plant in the US to bring a new nuclear unit online in the twenty-first century. It was a really big project and Daniel was grateful for the unique opportunity and experience he had while at Watts Bar. Unfortunately for our family, the hours were awful and we are thrilled that the now works in downtown Chattanooga as a Civil Engineer in their Dam Safety division. This was a big change for him, but has been a huge blessing to our family. Working 40 hours a week instead of 70+ (with a long commute) has made a huge difference in our family life.

Dinner with the Watts Bar Unit 2 Startup group to celebrate the completion of the project.

On a separate work-related note, this summer I wrapped up a textbook that took me a year to design for Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina. I have been extremely blessed by the freelance graphic design projects that I have had over the last six years. Unfortunately the last quarter of this year was really slow for me. I'm not sure what next year will hold, but having my foot in the door in the design and marketing field while I stay home with the boys has been a tremendous blessing for me.

Thrilled to receive a copy of a college textbook of my year-long design project for Central Piedmont Community College.

 
We can't wait to see what 2017 has to offer, good or bad. We are ready to embrace the coming year!

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Top 10 List from Years Past:  2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | We skipped 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015

Word for the Year: Savor

Each year I start out with good intentions, whether resolutions or words, that I hope will reflect the coming year, and each year I get distracted and those good intentions are forgotten. But here I am, once again, hoping that the power of intention will help guide me to a year that is better than the one before.

There were parts of 2016 that, for whatever reason, felt heavy and overwhelming. But when I look back at the year as a whole, I see that it really was a good year – some of the best days of my life.

The things that felt hard are now forgotten as I truly release them to the past and look forward to the future with a clean slate.

This year, I want to savor the life that I have.

savor
[sey-ver] 

verb (used with object)
1. to give a savor to; season; flavor.
2. to perceive by taste or smell, especially with relish: to savor the garden's odors.
3. to give oneself to the enjoyment of: to savor the best in life.

A friend who has older kids, recently told me that I am in a slow stage of life, and she is right. Sometimes I get frustrated at the slowness, but when I take time to savor and really relish the life I have been given, I know that I have been blessed beyond measure.

Whether it is a moment on the couch with Daniel where we set aside the distractions of the day to talk, or time on the playground with another mom who is the slow lane of parenting young kids alongside me, or the daily interactions with my boys where I try to focus on enjoying the stage they are in because I know that I will blink and this stage will be gone.

Like the fog on my mountain that suddenly disappears without my noticing it, the dirty diapers and endless games of I spy will be over and forgotten, and I will find myself missing the mess and the goodness that it brought. So this year I hope to savor the good and remind myself that the harder moments that the coming year has in store will not last forever.

Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

Psalm 37:3-4 

Words from previous years: 

Fortitude {2010} ~ Adaptation {2011} ~ Patience {2012}

Deliberate {2013} ~ Joy {2014} ~ Peace {2015} ~ Release {2016}