Trip to LA, California for Jason and Tiffany Part 1

Sam's best friend from LMU got married on June 10th and Ivy was invited to be the flower girl in the wedding. We decided (fairly last minute!) to take the whole family out for the weekend and it was a whirlwind of a trip! Tiring but SO fun and amazing to see everyone. We had't seen Britton and Diana in almost a whole year so it was amazing to have the ol' study group all together for the occasion. These next few posts are from our amazing weekend in LA, California!

Pictured above, Marshall's first plane ride since he's been a baby! On the way there, we had to take separate flights mostly for the last minute decision to have me and Marshall come along. He thought the plane was AMAZING. Also, both kids thought it was SO fun to be able to share a bed in the hotel. hehe..

These next pics are from the night before the wedding--the rehearsal and the dinner at Jason's parents house afterwards. We loved being able to finally meet Jason and Tiffany's families and see what home is like for them!!

Kids in front of our hotel, the wedding was held in the Performing Arts Center just across the courtyard from it!

Dinner at Jason's house:

Laurel Run with friends

I love the summer activities we can find around this area! It is so beautiful this time of year! We met some friends at a local park for lunch and a morning hike together! Didn't quite make it all the way to the Laurel Falls but no worries, my kids still had a blast! Also, I'm pretty dang proud of their hiking abilities. Well mostly Ivy's. Haha! Marshall had fun tagging along on my back and Ivy didn't complain once! She is such a great little hiker!

Laurel Falls hike:

Our fun bunch:

Cooper's Gem Mine and mini hike

One thing I love about this part of the country are all the little backwoods activities that people sort of throw together in their backyard. Like this little gem! Cooper's Gem Mine is literally in the middle of the Tennessee hills, tucked away on a little county road.. We met our Mom's club friends here one morning to sift for some "gems" and have a picnic lunch together! We bought a bucket of dirt and sifter the smaller rocks out to look for our gems! Kids thought it was the coolest thing and participated the entire time! Both thought it was such a fun activity! After lunch, some of us mom friends decided to meet at a nearby park that had a trail entrance.  Little did we know how beautiful the waterfalls and view of a little lake we'd find on this trail. It was beautiful! This was such a spontaneously fun summer day with some great friends! Definitely one to remember!