Last week was family vacation time in the North Carolina mountains. We were situated in Rosman NC, just a few miles away from where Nicole Kidman and Jude Law struggled to reconnect in the movie Cold Mountain. We left early on Wednesday morning for a five day jaunt that included hiking, a natural rock water slide, a birthday celebration, picnicking, sampling of the area's finest brews and viewing (and not viewing) some of the area's famed waterfalls.

Rowan was not so into hiking until he learned that throwing rocks into the creek is good, clean fun. He enjoyed having such sports enthusiasts as Uncle Pat and Cousins Alex and Gus around to throw ball, bat a balloon around and run laps on the deck with.

Maureen was quite taken with the idea of sleeping with Cousins Abbey and Gus, away from Mom and Dad. She didn't quite make it the first night, but was successful the second, though Aunt Kathy experienced the joys of the early morning water run. Maureen was also the instigator of getting everyone off their feet to dance to the vacation theme song, Sweet Caroline. Every time a new person arrived to the cabin, we had to welcome them with a little song and dance.

When driving home yesterday, we posed our customary question to the kids, "What was your favorite part of the vacation?" Rowan said his was having chicken nuggets, french fries and apples at McDonald's just an hour ago at the Dollywood exit. Maureen agreed. Just think of the money we could have saved!

But seriously, it was a great vacation with the in-laws and we have the pictures that will help us remember the trip for years to come.