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Tips for Hiking With Kids: Spruce Flat Falls
You would think that with all of the hiking we do on vacations and on the weekends that we would be experts about hiking with our kids. We have hiked with them since they were babies, first in carriers and then a combination of carrier and walking until around age 4 when they walk all of the way. On this hike at Spruce Flat Falls, we encountered some difficulties with extreme crankiness that could have been easily solved with my number one tip! Tip #1 Bring snacks and water! This is the only hike where we left both in the car and it was not a happy mistake: the complaining…
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Recap: Hiking Outfits for the Great Smoky Mountains
I packed a variety of comfortable clothes for our spring break and put together my outfits by rolling them in my packing cubes. It took less space and made getting dressed easier. I did purchase a few things on this trip and I will share those items soon. Here is a recap of what I wore and which activities we did on those days. This is what I wore when we hiked Laurel Falls Branch except that this sweatshirt is a souvenir sweatshirt I picked up in Townsend on the way back. We spent the evening by the river and made a fire. I did not attempt to fish as…
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Parrot Mountain, Pigeon Forge
During our spring break in the Great Smoky Mountains, I wanted to do an activity that did not involve hiking. After briefly looking at the prices of Dollywood (that a budget friendly place for a family of 6), I looked up animal or zoo places nearby. Parrot Mountain popped up and reading about them online, I decided that our family would love it: I was not wrong! Parrot Mountain is actually 2 min from Dollywood and a mere 30 minutes from where we stayed near Townsend, TN. It is a family owned business on 4 acres and has a variety of birds. Tickets for adults are 24.95 and 12.95 for…
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April Showers with Ageless Style Link Up
I absolutely loved this theme chosen by Leslie of Once Upon a Time Happily Ever After. I knew I would use my pretty and inexpensive umbrella from Aldi but wasn’t sure what I would wear. Then a couple of weeks ago, Jodie of Jodie Touch of Style shared a look that Lesley wore and I knew that was the one! I shopped my closet to create something similar. I really love an all white look and I have done this a couple of times on the blog with different pieces. This time I really liked Lesley’s idea of using black accessories. I tried adding a belt but it didn’t look…
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4 Ways to Wear a Floral Skirt
While we were on vacation, I found two pretty floral items and today I am sharing the floral skirt I picked up at the TjMaxx in Maryville, TN. On a side note, that was the best TjMaxx I have ever been in. My pictures don’t really do this skirt justice and I will say that I prefer the fitted options with it but I wanted to show some variety in styling. Casual with a Sweatshirt I wore this outfit while on vacation: we had intended to go to our friends’ church on a spur of the moment and I did not have plain shoes nor a skirt. So I picked…
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Cades Cove: Great Smoky Mountains
I think this was my favorite nature outing of our spring break. It mixed history, views and wildlife and I plan to come back next trip since you never know what animals you may encounter. Cades Cove is a 11 mile one way loop in the Smoky Mountains near the entrance in Townsend, TN. There are historic buildings you can visit, many side stops where you can pause your car and take pictures of the scenery and depending on which part of the day you visit more or less wildlife to observe. We went on a rainy and windy afternoon since I knew we would spend most of our time…
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Laurel Falls: Great Smoky Mountains
Laurel Falls is an 80 ft tall waterfall and is divided in an upper and lower section separated by a walkway. The Laurel Branch falls trail is paved and 2.6 miles long roundtrip. It was an easy trail for us to walk (children ages 4 to 15) and there were several rock formations on the side that the boys enjoyed climbing. I didn’t let the boys climb this particular one as the other side was a very steep drop but there were quite a few they enjoyed. I do recommend bringing snacks and water especially if hiking with kids as that does keep them happier! I made the mistake of…
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Hiking Outfit: Stylish and Comfortable
We have been taking what I call a hiking or nature vacation once a year for the past few years typically during spring break and this year we headed to a cabin near Townsend, TN which is minutes away from the Great Smoky Mountains. I will be sharing several posts about our hikes and adventures but today, I wanted to share one of my hiking outfits. I will be sharing a recap of all of my outfits in a couple of weeks but today, I am sharing my formula for a stylish but comfortable hiking outfit. I was pretty pleased with what I packed (practice makes perfect) and I packed…
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Styling a Denim Jacket for the April Sunday Showcase
Welcome to the Sunday Showcase where I join Ada from Elegance and Mommyhood the first Sunday of the month to feature a theme and share some style inpiration with you. Feels like it was just recently that I posted about denim jackets sharing lots of outfit ideas with you. Today, I am showing yet another way to wear your denim jacket (I really could have chosen any of mine) by pairing it with a shorter dress and cowboys boots. Wearing your western boots does not mean that you will look like a cowgirl even if you pair it with a denim jacket which makes both pieces versatile. Don’t forget to…
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A Picnic and a Hike
I am sharing some pretty pictures from last week today but I wanted to share how the back story is not as idyllic as the pictures. I really try to be out and about several times a week to enjoy the outdoors but sometimes the pictures are more beautiful than the reality or its aftermath. A Picnic I decided to take my youngest to the “duck pond” for a picnic thinking it would be fun and it was. We enjoyed lunch by the water, walked around the pond, too some pictures and looked at the ducks, geese and turtles. What I didn’t think of was the pollen associated with those…