Brian gets home from Afghanistan

It was about 10pm, but nothing was going to ruin this day for any of us. It was ONLY 15 months and 10 days, but who's counting?

Disneyworld (2)

Katie holding the biggest grass hopper we'd ever seen. You'll notice she's wet, we got caught in an afternoon thunderstorm as we tried to leave the park, it was fun.
Ben cooling off.
Katie working the Tea Cups
Ben holding the grass hopper, also soaking wet
The kids meet Donald

Disneyworld

Posing with Pluto and Goofy
Jerry arranged a special meeting with Mickey and Minnie before they went out for the parade, a real once in a lifetime experience (I know that might sound corny, but it was special)
Meeting Belle (Beauty & The Beast)
Benjamin was picked for the "Jedi Training Academy" and this is him "battling" Darth Vadar. In Ben's words, Darth Vadar didn't fight his hardest because he knew Ben was only in his first day of training.
Having fun with Nino Jerry.

Visitinig the Georgians

Katie with the toad the kids caught in the Brozovsky's backyard. They also caught a few fireflies.
Ben and Elayna with the toad.
The cousins at the Georgia Aquarium.
Mesmerized.
Playing at the park, in the 100 degree heat (didn't last too long, but it was fun).

Camping in the Great Smoky Mountains (2)

The kids were very excited to find a good sized worm, of course the fact that it was half way through breakfast was especially nice for ambiance.
This is why they call them the "smoky" mountains
The stream that ran through our campground, Rubi got a beautiful shot.
If there is a log, the boys will of course cross it, we had to shimmy on our back sides the last few feet, gotta love some adventure.

Camping in the Great Smoky Mountains

Here's a look at our campsite, complete with blazing campfire and "happy" children.
We actually saw a black bear in the wild, he's snoozing on the large branch in the center of the picture and was about 50 yards away.

Of course no camping trip would be complete without smores.
This is a picture from the drive, PB&J sandwiches for lunch in the parking lot of a gas station, now we're having a real family vacation.
This is us at Laurel Falls, the same hike we saw the bear on.