Weekend in the Mountains!

Our friends invited us up to their cabin in the Smokey Mountains, where we were lucky enough to have 2 full days of sunshine and 70+ degree temperatures in early March! It was a beautiful weekend that was full of activity while somehow turning out to be one of the most relaxing family trips we've ever taken! We're attributing that partially to the lack of cell phone service... we were totally unplugged all weekend. It was wonderful!

The cabin shared its property with the beautiful Inn at Blackberry Farm, so we had the opportunity to visit all of the farm's animals! We fed carrots to horses, walked around with sheep and 3 day old lambs, kept our distance from some not-so-shy llamas and pigs, played with the CUTEST little puppies, and searched for wild turkeys! Carter needs a bit more practice being around big animals, which his mom was happy to encourage. Having grown up around all kinds of animals on our ranch in California, I really want our little guy to learn to be comfortable with sheep nipping at his toes and horses nudging his shoulder for more treats! He was really scared at first, but slowly opened up and by the end of the weekend, he even pet a horse's nose :).  So now, we either need to talk Grandma and Grandpa into getting some rescue horses, llamas, or chickens... or we need to find some friends who will let us hang out on their farms! For now, we'll settle for petting zoos, I guess.
His favorite part of exploring the farm was "driving" the golf cart from animal to animal... such a boy!

The view from the cabin was seriously breathtaking, and Carter loved swinging and gazing at the mountains. If only they made a swing like that big enough for mom and dad- haha.