My Saturday morning began with something quite luxurious…
my husband let me sleep late.
When he jumped out of bed with our two little girls at 7:00ish, I blessed him repeatedly and expressed my unfailing love.
Unfortunately, I was pretty convinced I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep.
Yet somehow I managed the impossible.
I drifted back off into never-never land.
Hours later, I was startled to learn I’d slept until 10:30am.
I blessed my husband again as I stumbled out of bed and crept downstairs with a guilty conscience.
Do all moms feel like a delinquent or failure when they sleep late…or is it just me?
It was nothing a little coffee couldn’t fix though. 
I hit the brew button on the slowest-coffee-maker-in-creation and then learned Maddie had finished making her latest sweet temptation…
Mint Chocolate Brownies.
Oh those would pair quite nicely with my coffee, I thought.
And they certainly did not disappoint.
The kids seemed content lounging around watching Saturday morning cartoons and playing Minecraft, but the gorgeous weather outside was calling my name.
Duff devised a plan and we mobilized the troops against most of their wills.
We would explore the Watauga River.
Ahhh, yes, a cliff sign…we were heading in the right direction for a Saturday adventure.
Duff managed to bring us to a great spot for hiking and watching many kayakers make their way down the river.
We set up our own little ‘grandstand’ for cheering on the passing kayakers.
Gabby was such a little trooper climbing up rocks, leaping over brooks, and side-stepping quagmire.
Now I’m not sure how you feel about sticks…
in the hands of little boys.
But if you look ever-so-carefully, you might just notice a theme in the next several pictures here.
He has such a knack for finding them.
And it isn’t like he’s selfish with his treasures. He generously offers to share.
But you will never,
ever,
find this little boy,
in the great outdoors,
without a stick.
It’s just his thing.
Oh, and on the way home…we discussed the term ‘redneck’.
And we attempted to purchase hotdogs to roast over our campfire, but we failed.
Then we saw the ‘Welcome to Tennessee’ sign.
We decided to stop.
It seemed like a great photo-op, you know because we’re weird.
And then we would always remember our trip to Tennessee.
