Ashley's Birthday Weekend

This weekend, we traveled to East Tennessee to celebrate my baby sister’s 19th Birthday. It was a whirlwind trip but worth every minute of the 7 hour drive it took to get there.

 Since we don’t know our way around Knoxville as well as she does, Ashley planned out our Friday. It was a fun filled weekend and the first trip that I got to document with my new camera! Plus, getting to see Ash on her actual birthday was the best. God has blessed me so much with that girl - there is just no relationship quite like that of a sister!

Anyways, we grabbed lunch on campus after Ashley got out of class and headed over to Ijams Nature Center. It was a beautiful day for a make-shift picnic and the park was wonderful. Located right along the Tennessee River, this park had leisure trails and a really neat boardwalk. 

After the park, we headed back to campus and had a little dinner at the Copper Cellar - it was a great burger! Ashley has fallen in love with women’s softball at UT actually has one of the best teams in the country. The game was a blast and the Lady Vol’s pulled out a victory over Auburn. Nothing like a little SEC rivalry! 

We ended the day exhausted but back to the cabin for a little late night birthday treat!

Ash spent the night with us and this morning we got up for a little hike around the park. This past year, I have really enjoyed time in the Smokey Mountains - the park is just such a great place for outdoor adventurin’ and being able to enjoy the gorgeous spring weather! We drove around for a while and then stopped off at the old Elkmont logging camp for a short walk through the valley. 

We stopped along the way for a little “educational” reading at each marked point. It was the perfect length and Baby M’s new sling was AWESOME! We enjoyed it all weekend {a great purchase} 

We headed back towards Knoxville to drop Ashley off and say our goodbye's. Thankfully, I didn't cry this time {i HATE goodbye} because she will be home in a little less than three weeks. 

I hope that your weekend has been full of sunshine and some quality time with the ones that you love! 

Linking up with Sami!