Back to Life, Back to Humidity...

Just before our trip, I misplaced the camera. The iPad doesn't have a flash. My phone is...just a phone. I am not exactly on the cutting edge of technology! So pictures had to wait. And folks, have I got the pictures! Rob took more than 700! And he is better at framing pictures than I am, plus his phone takes better pictures than any camera I've ever owned. So as I sort through the 700 plus pictures, I will post some of my favorites as time permits. Here are a few that (mostly) didn't make it onto Rob's facebook feed:

Snug (that's a nice way to say crowded!)

No visit to the Smoky Mountains is complete without...

Climbing up to Clingman's Dome - she made it the whole way - Natalie actually has a lot of endurance.  I think that comes from being short and having to keep up everywhere we go!  I remember a year or two back holding her hand and walking briskly when her little voice panted up to me, "I'm running as fast as I can!"

They went to the park with Grandma and Grandpa Robbins and THIS is what they told me about when they got back.

Irene - getting the big head...

"Grandpa let me DRIVE!"

Nip and Tuck (and Stella)

The Mighty Mississippi

And so we rolled homeward.  Hurricane season started while we were got and we mercifully missed 5 days of that.  :)  Actually today was not that hot and was overcast, but humid and buggy.  Our neighbor/friends had a baby while we were gone and someone moved in next door.  One of our plants died.  Mako ate an uncertain amount of cocoa powder (but probably a very toxic amount for a dog) and somehow survived.  I will not go into details to spare him embarrassment, but we were a little uncertain he would make it at one point.