The Shoe Crew: fun visit

Nana and Papa Tom came for a visit and we had so much fun! Somedays we did lots of fun things, other days we didn't do much of anything. It was nice.

Addy was so happy to see her Nana and Papa!

And she was also happy to be visiting The Hermitage {Home of Pres. Andrew Jackson}. Can't you tell? We spent a long morning there one day and it was really fascinating. There's tons to see!

Addy and Nana sitting on the back porch steps

The gardens were amazing! This little flower child blends right in :)

Addy loved, loved, loved the butterflies! She calls them "Flufflies". She was dying to touch one. In this picture below she was holding her hands out and saying, "I hold um?"

Her other love:

rocks

Whenever we make a Home Depot run, Miss Ad has to sit on the "tractors". Thanks to Mr. Crosby for introducing us to this world of fun :)

"cheeeese!"

Rocking on the porch of the Carnton Home in Franklin.

This was really neat! There was a Civil War battle in the front yard of this home and the home actually turned into a field hospital for the soldiers. So much amazing history. So glad we finally did this!

And, of course, we got some playtime in!

And, of course, we had to eat some Jim and Nick's BBQ!

SB and Chris joined us. Love it and Love them!

Addy Lou and her sweet grandparents

We decided to take Tom and Vici to the Smoky Mountains for a couple of days. We love it up there and we knew they would, too. We are so fortunate to be able to stay at my Aunt Amy and Uncle Kevin's mountain house. One of my favorite places ever!

{Thanks guys!}

hiking up to Laurel Falls

Once we got to the top we had to get our feet wet

Addy decided she needed a snack for the "ride" down. Ha! Giddy up, Daddy!

Bless her sweet little heart

Okay, these next two pics have a pretty great story to go with them. We packed a picnic lunch, so after our hike we were ready to eat. We found a nice little spot right on the river. As we were walking down to the river, we noticed an older couple who had the same idea. (Except they were a little more prepared--they had chairs and a small table) Anyway, we decided to go down the river just a bit. As we were sitting on the rocks eating, we heard some commotion up by our car. We heard people hollering. Matt immediately thought someone was breaking into our car or something. Then we heard someone shout, "Bear!" Yes. Bear. Sure enough, there was a bear at the older couple's picnic area helping himself to their lunch. We were only about 20 yards away, so needless to say we all got a little panic-y. (Well everyone but Matt. He was just standing there looking at it.) We had to climb up the steep bank through the woods to get back to our car. It was kinda crazy, y'all! Once we got Addy situated in the car, Matt and I went to take a couple of pictures. By this time, the bear had grabbed the couple's cooler/backpack and taken it across the river. He was tearing it to shreds. He found some potato chips and had a little snack. The lady told us that while they were eating she noticed something moving down the river, then realized it was a bear. As they were getting up to move away, the bear started running toward them. Luckily they got to safety and the bear was only interested in their food. Whoa! That is a long story. But I just had to tell it! Hopefully it will be our one and only bear encounter! Below are a couple pictures we snapped of the furry guy.

(This one is kinda hard to make out. The shiny thing is the backpack insulation. The bear is standing right over it)