Going Back to the Source

 

We drive over the Catawba River every now and then down by Charlotte, but Friday, we hiked up to the falls where the whole river begins.

 

It was a perfect summer day with friends. a 2.5 mile round trip climb that involved a little climbing over fallen trees and crossing the river on rocks to keep it exciting. And even though it was still warm, the fact that it was so shady, and that it isn't quite as humid up in the mountains made a nice break from the heat we've had in Charlotte the last couple weeks.

 

 

And then there was the reward of a swim in a nice cool pool at the top.

 

This little peanut did amazingly well and walked the whole thing.

 

 

He's such a ham for the camera (and excuse the terrible picture quality on some of these--I only had my phone and it was struggling with focusing.)

 

The kids had so much fun playing in the water.

 

Watching them play is like watching some sort of Lord of the Flies civilization at times.

  

The rock monkeys--they climbed around for about an hour after lunch, playing on the rocks,

 and finding wildlife, like this crawdad.

 

The falls were gorgeous.

There were a lot of fun places to explore along the trail, too.

 

It's a fabulous hike to do with kids.

 

After the hike, we drove into Asheville for some ice cream (and to wander around the Grove Park Inn in our dirty hiking clothes cause we're classy like that ;) ).

 

I'll take this view any day. The Blue Ridge Mountains are beautiful.

 

 These kids are crazy. But so fun.

 

And look who we found on the way home. We had just introduced our kids to The Goonies (thanks to VidAngel, which, if you haven't heard of it, is a great website for watching movies, especially if you want to be able to edit them. Our kids aren't ready for all the swearing in a lot of these 80's movies.) So this mural was a fun find.

 

Watch out--these kids are going places!

Birthday at the Biltmore

Bug picked something a little different this year--instead of a party, he wanted to go to spend his special day at the biggest house in America.

 

We let him bring along a friend, and these two buddies had a fabulous day together.

These two boys have been friends since before they were 2.

Movies in the car, the tour of an amazing house, dodging rain showers, racing in the gardens, playing with the farm animals,

and amazing views everywhere around the estate.  This was a fabulous weekend to visit--all the fall beauty on the outside, and they'd just decorated for Christmas on the inside.

This picture cracks me up--I imagine that the children who grew up in this house probably rolled around on the ground, too.

And these three found a small fortune of pennies in the gravel.  They were excited about their $1 treasure.

This sweet little guy got off easy and was carried through most of the 178,926 square foot house.  (But he never napped, which we've been paying for ever since.)

Fall at the Biltmore farm.

I'm glad we still have 9 more years before he can drive!

The house isn't the only thing that is super-sized there.

Brothers.

 

Love this picture of these two friends!

Fabulous Weekend

Just the two of us.

An absolutely gorgeous day at the Biltmore.

The Carpet of Flowers.

Huge puffy clouds, low humidity, a breeze.

Beautiful gardens. It was so relaxing, especially as we sat at the Arbor Grill for two hours, eating good food and listening to live music, and enjoying the fact that we could just sit with no jumping up to get extra milk or napkins that had fallen on the ground.

And then we got to sleep in, eat a late breakfast, and head for the Dupont Five Falls Hike. It's an 11 mile hike, and unfortunately it started to rain so we had to cut it short, but we got to see three of the five falls before we turned back.

They really were beautiful. They filmed parts of Last of the Mohican's around these falls.

Lot of water, but with all the rain we get here, it has to go somewhere!

I'm really starting to fall in love with the NC mountains. They may not be as high as what we were used to out west, but they are gorgeous. And spending a couple days with the man I love was fabulous. We're so grateful for good friends who make things like this possible by watching our kids and dog.

Fun with the Family

Rara brought a gingerbread house kit to decorate with the kids

and Uncle D. helped them with all the frosting. (And I managed to finish up the last of the christmas gifts and a lot of my wrapping while they did all this.)

Then, after Christmas, and when Uncle C. and Aunt R. had joined us, we went up to Asheville and spent the day at the Biltmore,

where it was freezing cold and the kids had more fun with the snow than anything else.

They even made a miniature snowman, which was still there several hours later, meaning there were hundreds of people who went home that day with pictures of the Biltmore, and Bean's snowman.

The greenhouses were nice and warm, which helped us thaw out after a couple hours outside.

That trip marked the beginning of all the illness. Uncle D. was hit with food poisoning just a little after we started our house tour (we couldn't even get in until 4:30, so we were in for a LONG day), which meant he missed most of the house, and then, what should have been about a 2 hour trip home because more like 4 because our car battery died while we were at the McDonald's just outside the Biltmore. Luckily, that is the poshest McD's I've ever seen, so as AAA called us over and over, postponing their time of arrival, we were at least able to wait in comfort, listening to Christmas carols from the player piano, while a fire crackled nearby and we admired the tin-inset ceiling a beautiful tapestry over the hearth.

We made a lot of puzzles, played a lot of games, including some very spirited games of Nertz and Old Maid, and watched a lot of movies. Especially as we took turns this last week succumbing to the stomach bug and strep throat.

But we did have a day in there that both kids seemed healthy, and everyone else was willing to overlook their stuffiness so we could explore the Shipwreck and Pirate exhibit at Discovery Place. We tried out the windtunnel (which only makes it up to Category 1 hurricane, but that was more than enough for Bugaboo--I think he made us open it when the winds hit 30 mph.

Uncle C. makes a great pirate.

And in an unrelated part of the museum, we got to try laying on a bed of nails.

We had a great time with everyone, ate way too much traditional southern food, which really didn't mix so well with all the tummy issues, and were sad to say goodbye to everyone this week.