We ran across rocks.

We sat on rocks, but all were not happy about it.

We jumped from one rock to another.

We threw rocks.

We stacked rocks.

We climbed rocks.

And we invented a new game in the rocks. It’s called Hillbilly Twister.

When Josh was small, I bought a child’s harness for him to wear when we were shopping. Actually, it was for me as much as it was for him. It gave Josh a sense of freedom and provided me with peace of mind. I told him it was a mountain climbing outfit and he loved it. When he was a little older he handed down this mountain climbing outfit to his little brother, who loved it as well.

When we decided to take the family on a trip to the Smokey Mountains, I thought that it would be a great idea to get harnesses for the twins. Guess what? You can’t find the things. Oh, you can find cutesy ones that look like a monkey with a long tail for a leash, but not serious harnesses. And certainly not harnesses built to provide freedom and peace of mind. Then Sunday I spotted some. They are put out by the American Kennel Club. That’s right, dog harnesses. Nothing is too good for my grandchildren.

 

They work like a charm! They fit great! And best of all the boys love them…I told them they were mountain climbing outfits. On our way into Target in Birmingham, a young mother asked where we got them. When I told her that they were dog harnesses, she said, “Well they look good.”

We left Woodworth right on time and headed to Meridian Mississippi. Joel and I had stayed in a Hampton Inn there on our Smokey’s trip in April. We had not made reservations. As a matter of fact, we had not made reservations on our previous trips and everything had always worked out. But THIS TIME, when we arrived there at midnight, there was no room in the Inn. Some sort of light and power convention was going on and there was no room in any inn in Meridian. We had to drive thirty more miles to a Comfort Inn in Livingston, Alabama. Had there been no room there, I would have gladly slept in a manger in the nearest barn. However, everything worked out fine and that put us a little ahead for the next leg of our journey.

The twins enjoyed their stay at the Comfort Inn. They were especially excited about the continental breakfast. Josh fulfilled his responsibility as the milk monitor, avoiding any unnecessary messes.

 

Then, after letting them run in the corner of the parking lot, we were once again on our way to the big, big mountains.