Tree Swings and Zip lines...Oh MY!

As if the super high "OMG my toddler is swinging ABOVE the roofline of the house" TREE SWING was not enough my husband had to follow his passion and install a zip line for the boys too. (WHY did we just happen to have zip line equipment just lying about in the garage? Why?) Needless to say there were two, okay THREE happy boys in the backyard.

Table Mountain State Park

Despite the weather it was an AMAZING camping trip!!!  We knew that rain was in the forecast and I am so happy we followed through and went anyway.
We stayed at Table Rock State Part in the "Upcountry" of South Carolina, right on the edge of North Carolina and the Blue Ridge Mountains. It cleared up long enough on the last day for me to get a PERFECT photo of the mountain and Pinnacle Lake...

It was so nice to be in the mountains. We left Tuesday morning after a harried job of packing the trailer and coolers and followed the main highways up to Greenville, SC. It was about 4 hours but it didn't seem that long. The boys had plenty of toys and books to keep them occupied in the back seat!

After setting up camp we had a great dinner of left over chinese food and then checked out the park a little bit. We were able to have a fire and enjoy "dam crackers" and SMORES that evening before the rain started.... and it rained ALL NIGHT LONG!! To two adventurous boys that meant MUD and we were smart enough to pack accordingly and remembered BOOTS. Nothing like cheerios out of a styrofoam cup while playing in the mud!!

It was raining too much to hike so we went for a drive and found this awesome waterfall right next to the highway. (It IS a scenic highway after all!) So this was our FIRST waterfall of the day... lots more to come!

Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway 11 looks like it is in the clouds...
because it WAS in the clouds!

Table Rock Mountain is somewhere under that cloud.

After a lunch of grilled cheese and Ta'mater soup the boys attempted to nap but they were too excited about the afternoon hiking trip, so NO NAPS!?! No worries...they had enough energy to spare! So off we went to the trail head that was full of waterfalls and so pretty!

This is the view oh, maybe 25 steps into the "trail" ...can it get better than this???

Mmmmm which trail to choose????

According to the website http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/park-finder/state-park/350.aspx

"Table Rock was home to one of the state’s first formal nature education programs and now serves as a trailhead for the 80-mile long Foothills Trail through the wilderness along the Blue Ridge Escarpment. Trails through the forested park also include one that leads to the top of Table Rock Mountain itself."

As much as we wanted to do the trail up to the summit of Table Rock we settled for the shorter, more toddler friendly Carrick Creek Trail instead.

http://www.sctrails.net/Trails/ALLTRAILS/NRT/TableRock.html says The 3.4-mile Table Rock Trail is a highly strenuous, out-and-back hike that ascends 2,000 feet to the summit of the imposing granite dome, Table Rock Mountain (3,157 feet). As you might guess, the strenuous hike offers the reward of spectacular views from the summit.

This moderately strenuous, 1.8-mile trail loop provides some breathtaking views of Table Rock State Park. A circuit of the Carrick Creek Trail will take you about one hour to complete, and is clearly marked with green arrows on signs throughout the trail. The first 100 yards of the trail are asphalt, which makes it accessible to handicapped and easy to traverse, so it allows every outdoor enthusiast to be a part of the great South Carolina outdoors. You begin your hike at an elevation of 1,160 feet at the Nature Center, and rise to 1,520 feet for striking views of cascading waterfalls. You will pass through a forest that includes an oak-hickory dominant forest, scattered pines, and hemlock. Local wildlife includes black bear, white tail deer, turkey, gray fox, bobcat, and a small number of mountain snakes that are rarely seen.

Here we go!!! Check out the trail markers and make sure we follow the GREEN trail!!

The final waterfall !!(okay, it was the first too since the trail was a loop!) 

We emerged to clear skies to we quickly hit the look out and snapped some Mountain photos!

You will notice that Spud is a little bit wet..okay, he was soaked to the bone! His idea of "communing" with nature was to belly flop into as many streams and rock slides he could find. We took those two tired but happy little hikers home for some dry clothes and dinner.

Daddy and his boys, drinkin round the fire pit.

Pnut is watching a little TOO closely.

Mmmmmm SMORES again!

One full day of camping behind us, we awake ready to enjoy day 2! I want to point out that we did get a visit in the night by a masked varmint but they did NOT get to enjoy anything! Despite what their chicken breast loving cousin in Hunting Island told them we did NOT feed any racoons on this camping trip!!

On the agenda today is the other two state parks in the area, Jones Gap and Caesars Head. Unfortunately the boys were not as enthusiastic about hiking on day two, so we did more meandering than actual hiking. The weather was again rainy and cloudy so the views from Caesars head (at 3,200 feet above sea level!) were not as great as they could of been...oh darn, that means we will have to go back again another day!

Once again, from the official website http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/park-finder/state-park/962.aspx Jones Gap and Caesars Head state parks together form the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area, 11,000 acres of pristine mountain woodlands on the Blue Ridge Escarpment.

Jones Gap highlights include the Middle Saluda River, the state’s first designated scenic river. Besides trout fishing, the river serves as a living lab for the park’s busy learning center, providing hands-on ecology lessons for young and old alike.

The park also includes restored portions of the old Cleveland Fish Hatchery, offers trailside camping and serves as an access point to the 76-mile Foothills Trail.

Pnut was stopped by this tree growing out of the middle of a rock.

We headed up to Caesars Head next, a really winding hairpin curvey road that made this Florida girl a little bit nauseas. The clouds were thick so the view was disappointing so we continued down the other side of the mountain into North Carolina to check out Dupont State Forest. The ranger at Jones Gap said the trails were easy and the there were 3 waterfalls less than a mile from the parking lot. He was right about the easy trails... totally flat and wide. We would of brought the double jogging stroller had we known, esp since we had two tired crabby boys at this point. We did drag them the half mile to see one fall..pretty but not impressed. The falls the previous day were much better (and much happier!)

On the way back it had cleared a bit so I was able to take 2 photos from Caesars Head outlook...

After one more night of rain... we packed up our muddy wet camp and headed home!

Pnut is FOUR!!

Happy Birthday to my lil' Pnut!!

Just yesterday he was enjoying his first cupcake...

how did he grow to look like this????

Our family tradition is you wake up to balloons in your bed. You also get to eat a birthday cupcake after a yummy biscuits and gravy breakfast. Usually Daddy is the chef but he was working :o( Luckily we had the next best thing, Grammy!, the woman who taught Daddy how to make his yummy biscuits and gravy! This year the Birthday breakfast was extra special because Great Grammy and Great Pop joined us.

He recognized one gift right away...

His favorite book that we have renewed at the library 3 times ..he now has his very own copy!!

The Birthday Boy got to enjoy his cupcake BEFORE breakfast!

Nanna sent Spud an UnBirthday card...I think he liked it?

LOOK at all of the Coast Guard helicopters!!! FOUR choppers for my FOUR year old!

There were lots of emergencies in Grammy's pond..good thing there were two Coast Guard helicopters in the area!

Pnut requested Chinese food for his birthday dinner and Daddy was able to join us!!

He also requested a "big cake with frosting and strawberries" so Mommy channelled Betty Crocker
and baked her first born baby the perfect cake!

After dinner we went for a dip in the little pool... okay, so it was the rescue swimmer's pool that Spud was testing out his rescue swimmer skills in. Not a bad way to end a FUN FOUR Birthday!!