We came in late last night from TN, where we went to camp and visit with my father's side of the family. Some of them live in Florida and others in Ohio, so TN is a good middle spot and fall is a great time to be there! The leaves are absolutely beautiful. I enjoyed seeing my family. Camping was perfect. It was cold enough to enjoy the campfire and snuggling down in the sleeping bags, but not too cold. We camped at Elkmont near Gatlinburg. At one time it was a logging community, but now there is an old abandoned town there. The kids call it the Ghost Town! We did manage to see three black bears. One was up in a tree over the roadway. A ranger managed to get him down to safety. The other ran across the road in front of us and the last bear was foraging in a trash can. It took one look at us, grabbed the bag and ran! On Sunday we headed over to Oak Ridge TN, the “atomic” city, to go to the Museum of Science and Energy. I am still amazed when I dwell on the fact that this city was able to keep secrecy for 6 years with the population of 75,000! We found a letterbox while we were there, too. It was a series of three boxes appropriately called “Loose Lips Sink Ships”. One box was missing, but the other two were still intact. They were hidden near the “Friendship Bell”. This bell was molded in Japan and is a sign of the hope for friendship between the town of Oak Ridge, who helped to create the atom bomb, and the Japanese.

We went with our monthly group to the pumpkin patch this morning. That was fun. The kids went to an educational presentation, petted the animals, went on a hayride and got a bag of apples and a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. They had such a good time with some of their best friends in the world! I love the seasonal activities like apple picking in the fall, Chistmas caroling in the winter and strawberry picking in the spring.

Now it is time to unpack and clean up. It was just barely cold enough to start a fire in the fireplace this morning. Still feeling nostalgic from camping, we decided to start one anyways. It makes home so cozy and safe: )