Hiking

 For our anniversary this year we took the kiddies and went camping in Shenandoah National Park.  The kiddies were so excited and asked me for two days straight when we were finally going to go.  Luckily Craig is very good at packing because we barely fit it all into our trunk of our car.  The park is about a 2 hour drive from our house which is about the kiddies limit as far as really wanting to get there.  Shenandoah is different from the other National Parks I am used to going to.  Basically, it consists of a 105 mile drive at the very top of the Blue Ridge mountains, skyline drive and it really is right at the skyline.  The highest elevation is approx. 3500 feet above sea level, but it actually feels like you are in the mountains because it is higher than the surrounding area.  What you don't see is all the evergreen trees in our mountains at home, you see hickory and oak mostly. 

 These pictures are of our hike we did the first day. 
A 1 1/4 mile round trip hike down to Dark Hallows waterfall.  The kiddies did so well on the hike and really enjoyed hiking.  They walked the entire way.  The hikes start at skyline drive so the beginning is all downhill and then you have to hike your way back to the top at the end.  Something else a little different from our Utah hikes where we started at the base of a mountain and climbed to the top then back down. 

 The 70 foot waterfall was really pretty.  Liam wanted to go climb right into the water and did get his hands and feet wet a little. 

 Caitlyn really enjoyed drinking water from our camelbacks and the snacks.  Here they are taking a break eating some licorice. 

Some of the areas were pretty steep on the way back up the hill.  They had these log steps to make it a little easier both on the way up and down.