New Neighborhood Funny

I just have to share this! The day we closed on our new house we met the next door neighbor. He warned us about the people on the other side of him. It seems they have a very large tropical bird and he felt that he needed to share with us how very loud and annoying this bird is. Well, today I experienced the bird for the first time. It was HILARIOUS! The bird imitates the sounds of children playing (among other things). I was mowing the lawn and and heard the voices of small children, "Mommy, Mom" etc. I looked but couldn't locate anyone so kept mowing, of course. Then I heard someone crying and pitching a fit (sounded like a typical 2-3 year old to me). But I still couldn't locate the voice. He gave himself away when he started to say, "hello," after I started to call for one of the cats. Then he whistled like you would for a dog (he was trying to help me out)! A little later it sounded like small children fighting and a mother intervening, but it was just the bird (Huh, what do you think he hears a lot of?)! I got a good laugh out of it. I hope you will, too.

Our First Outdoor Adventure

Wow! What a beautiful Labor Day! We decided that we had lived in this beautiful place for too long without getting out and really seeing it, so yesterday we went down to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I think we spent a good portion of the day marveling about how we didn't have to drive an entire day to get to such a beautiful place (only an hour)! We went into the park at the Cosby entrance in the northeast corner, picked a trail and took off. I was amazed at how much of the park is only accessible on foot. We met several parties of backcountry campers returning home after the long weekend. The kids were pretty impressed that those people had hiked in 5 miles to their campground!
Our destination was Hen Wallow Falls less than 2.5 miles down the trail. It was a very pretty little waterfall. We ate our lunch and enjoyed the sound of the water hitting the rocks. And, of course, took the requisite picture with a little silliness from dad. Then everyone, except mom, decided that they needed to test the water and cool off their feet. Cool was definitely the operative word as you can tell by the look on Savannah's face! We were so amazed by the abundance of rhododendrons in the forest. We'll definitely have to go back in the spring!