Friday, June 27, 2025

Happy 20th Birthday, Zara!

Much like that one time when Wes and I (and Z) crafted a BRILLIANT spy-themed 9th Birthday party for AJ, there are no pics of the fabulous escape room/scavenger hunt/puzzle fest/quest we put together for Zara's 20th birthday. If I do say so myself, we upped the 19th birthday bar and came up with some REALLY cool puzzles. But what we do have photographic evidence of is the beautiful and delicious cake (and the REAL whipped cream) that Whitney and our amazing kitchen staff made for Z. And with that, we only have one teenager in the family. Welcome to your 20s, little Zoo!

Friday, June 20, 2025

Smoke Camp Knob

Couldn't let another summer go by without attempting the infamous and storied Smoke Camp Knob hike. While we don't take kiddos there with camp anymore, we figured we still needed to make the trek. We (un)wisely chose to hike it directly after some pretty hellacious storms. As you can see from the pics, the trail was anything but clear. The top is lovely though, nice views and a sweet little camping spot which you can totes get to via a forest road in a vehicle, which is probably how I'd visit again if I did and also why we no longer take campers there. Also, it's a pretty steep hike with a sheer drop and a lot of stinging nettle, so yeah, not my fave.