Big Creek Trail, NC

Yesterday the Francis family got together and went to the Big Creek Trail in North Carolina. This is a relatively short hike that we took that lead to a waterfall as well as many swimming holes. There was also a very unique cave and rock house that is just a little off the trail. It seems that this part of the trail is not very commonly known. Luckily we had Joe's parents who did know where this was and showed us.


So Joe, Bubba, Butch, Hair and I headed up the hill to these two rock formations. When we got up there we noticed that the cave had a chimney hole. It was funny to be at the top where the chimney hole was and to see the guys down inside the cave! There was also a tunnel that lead off the cave. When I got down inside the cave the guys were all trying to find out where the entrance to the tunnel was. I waited a couple of minutes until Hair and Butch made it around. Then I decided to go and see if I could get there. I learned why Joe was not going. There was a small crevice in between two rocks that you had to squeeze through. Hair, Bubba, Butch and I crawled back through the tunnel.


After we finished with that adventure we hike to the swimming hole. There was a rock that some kids we jumping off of, so Joe, Hair and I decided to try it out. That was very interesting! After we got to the top Hair jumped first, then I took my turn, and last was Joe. It was fun to jump even with the cold, cold water! (The rock we jumped from is the one in the center of the picture. We jumped from the left side of that rock where the water gets calm again.)


Linda and I took many pictures of flowers as well as all sorts of different mushrooms along the way. Of course, if you look at the picture below you can now see how Linda gets the great shots for her flowersofthefield site!


To end off I will add a few of my favorite pictures that I took on the hike.

Nothing Like A Good Watermelon

I have decided that the best watermelons I have ever had are the ones that I received from Jo's grandfather, Ruley. They are called Charleston Grey. They are the sweetest, juiciest watermelons ever! I love the ones that I was brought from SC on their trips here (or our trips there). I had a local raised watermelon tonight and I just kept thinking about how much better the Greys were compare to this. I am so eager for next spring so that I can plant some of these for myself (thanks to Ruley for giving me some seeds on our last trip).

Beauty of Summer

On the Trail to the Walker Sisters' Cabin

Back To School

Another year of school has started for Bubba and Butch. This is a happy time for me as I get to spend time with my friends from school as well. I also have the responsibility of creating a bulletin board for the Scouts that is located in the front hall of the Elementary building. This is always a funny time for me because directly across the hall is another bulletin board that a lady in the office is in charge of keeping up. I have slowly become accustom to her telling people that I always come to try to out do her boards and to make hers look bad. She has a fun time teasing me every time I come in to add something new. For this new board I was working on it and adding things to it for two days during teacher inservice last week. Today this lady was telling people how I just would live at the school if I could! All about my days spent there last week. We have such a fun time together there and we are like one big family. Boy is it great to be back!

Seeing Old Friends Again

After a couple of months of not seeing many of the friends I have from school, we got a chance to get together again. Today was a birthday party for one of the little girls in Butch's class. It was at the school's swimming pool. I was thrilled to see several other moms that I really enjoy talking to. We caught up a bit, ate cake and tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. I also got to hold the three month old baby that if you remember from back in May I tried to make a baby hat for and failed miserably the first time! We are all looking forward to being able to see each other on a more regular basis. It is so funny that my friends from school are mostly mothers of daughters! It is somewhat hard to bring two boys to a play date with only girls. We are looking forward to next Saturday when we have orientation at school. School starts in only NINE DAYS!!!

Atlanta Bound!

Tonight at my birthday dinner Joe gave me my birthday present from him. We have four tickets to the Braves vs Marlins Stitch n Pitch game on Sept 17th! I have never been to a Braves game and have wanted to go for years. My father and my father-in-law are big fans of the Braves and I have spent many times with them watching the games on TV. It seems that this will be a great time for me to spend time watching live baseball and crocheting!