The Harrisons: Waterfalls and Birthdays

Caleb turned nine years old yesterday. Crazy, huh?

How could I have a nine year old?

I suppose everyone feels that way when their oldest child has a birthday.

Caleb decided he would like to celebrate by hiking to a waterfall with friends and family. So yesterday afternoon we all met up and caravaned down to Old Fort to hike to Catawba Falls. Caleb was so excited and talked non-stop on the ride there with Mimi and Granddaddy. They were making jokes about needing some duct tape to shut him up when we arrived.

Can you see Annabelle's fake tattoos in this photo? They looked awful and hilarious.....we put a ring of flowers around her belly button, one around her arm and a couple on her lower back. She thought they looked awesome. The boys had them on their chests, arms and backs but were embarrassed and kept their shirts on during the party. I will try to get a picture so you can see them later.

The falls were gorgeous and we all loved climbing on them and playing in the pools.

The "party" was easy but successful because Caleb had a wonderful time. I just asked everyone to bring a water bottle for themselves and then packed some snacks and cookies. We all hiked in together, played at the falls for a couple hours and then left in a couple of shifts for home. Caleb opened a present from Mimi and Granddaddy on the way there and then a few more on the way home.

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Last Tuesday, Uncle Jonathan joined us for a hike up to "Skinny Dip Falls" (that is the name of the falls but no one really skinny dips there anymore.....or at least they weren't that day) We were considering them for the party that weekend but decided Catawba Falls would be better for the littler kids. These falls are deeper and have a very cool rock where you can jump to the pool below.

Check out this picture.

I didn't even realise how deceiving the angle was until a friend commented on facebook, but it looks like the water is MUCH further down than it is in reality.

Here I am getting ready to jump into the frigid water. We couldn't convince the boys to jump from the higher rock.......another reason we decided on Catawba.