A Great Day at Grandfather Mountain

We took a break from unpacking Saturday and took our friends Ronnie & Phil up on an invitation to go hiking at Grandfather Mountain in Linville, NC. The brochure says, "5,946 feet up on a mountain, you enter a different world" and it's so true. Its past peak fall leaf color season up there but there was still enough rusty red color on the trees to make the views spectacular! 

We took the easy less than a mile hike up to the swinging bridge - not the one with the rock climbing and ladders. It was pretty far up for us southerners and very rocky as you can see from the photos. The kids loved it and even spotted some ice around the puddles at the top. 

The mile high swinging bridge really was swinging in the wind, and because the boys were jumping up and down on it to make it wobble more. It's not bad as long as you don't look down. Whoa, dizzy! I even went across it thinking it led to the trail back down the mountain. Not the case! It doesn't really lead to anywhere because they closed the lookout past the bridge because people were getting too close to the edge and falling off the cliff. So you have to walk back across the bridge and back down the trail the way you came.

Even my boys were getting a little too close to the edge for my liking. They liked feeling tall up on the mountain and seeing over all the mountains so far away.

My Rock Climbers

Always going opposite directions

There's a little Animal Habitat where you can go view the local wildlife where they have animals that have been injured and cared for. The bears were fun to see up close. There's also a gift shop, museum with movie about the mountain, and a restaurant and fudge shop. We took a picnic and ate at one of the picnic tables near the beginning of the trail. It was a cold (about 45-55 degrees F) but beautiful day! 

We love the mountains! My take on Grandfather Mountain is that it is a great place for families to visit if you plan to spend the day. It can be pricey at $18 per adult and $8 kids ages 4-12 but that pays for everything you do once inside the gates (except buying fudge and stuff). There is a lot to do there and you will want to take your time so you can enjoy the hiking trails and animals and such. If you live in the area and like to hike its probably worthwhile to buy and annual pass for $170 which includes admission for a carload of people for one year. Be sure to check the weather before you go, some attractions close when there is snow and ice. Dress in layers and wear good hiking shoes and THICK SOCKS! I was breaking in a new pair of boots when we went and my socks were too thin and made my ankles sore by the end of the day. 

All in all  it was a wonderful day. Thank you Ronnie & Phil for taking us on this great adventure! We love the mountains of North Carolina. It is amazing to see Gods awesome creation here. 

Upward Ends & Fall Begins...

This past weekend we played our final flag football game of the season and celebrated at the end of season celebration. Stanley juggled and shared the gospel and the kids were happy to get trophies. These were definitely participation trophies as our team was 0-8 this season, but whose keeping score really. It was our first attempt at any kind of football.

The next day was the Fall Festival and Trunk n' Treat at the Church. It was great fun and I was so grateful to just be mom at this event and get to walk around with my own kids and enjoy the games, food, hayride, puppet show, and candy. They had a great time. A BIG thank you to all the special volunteers whole pulled this whole event off. Awesome job!

A bat...

and an Army Chaplain.

Played all the games at least twice...

Milked a cow...

Made balloon animals with Dad...

Won the cake walk THREE Times!!!

Carolina Balloon Festival

Balloon Take-off!

This is what happens when I'm in charge of the camera....too many pictures to post...just saying.

Turning Six

Our youngest son wanted a "Mountain Party" for his 6th birthday. I guess having spent most of his life in Louisiana, the mountains of North Carolina are still a bit of a wonder to him.  But this was an easy party. We rented the pavilion at Bakers Mountain and invited his church Sunday School class and his friends from Kindergarten. We went on a scavenger hunt (more like a nature walk on the paved trail), dug for "gold" in the sand treasure box,  made our own trail mix and the trail mix bar, played corn hole, ate hot dogs, chips, and of course cake! We had so much fun, I only got pictures of him blowing out the candle, opening what seemed like a zillion presents, and running around in a superman cape his brother gave him. I hope he will have good memories of his party - especially since I didn't get many pictures.

Our baby lost his first tooth!

October 6, 2013

Well after a busy Sunday we were just out for a little walk with the family through the "neighborhood" at the apartments where we are currently living, when I hear a crying scream, "Mom, I lost my tooth!" I turn around to see my almost 6 year old picking his tooth up off the pavement holding a rubber ball with slobber and blood on it. I said what happened and through the tears he managed to tell me he put the ball in his mouth and his tooth just popped out! We didn't even know it was loose so this was completely unexpected. We took a quick detour to the gym to get some water and paper towels and he was fine. Dad on the other hand was a bit queasy from seeing the blood. Then he cried all the way home, "I want my tooth in!" I trying to be compassionate and hold his hand, but I was laughing so hard at the absurdity of it all I could barely breathe. Here we are with a crying 5 year old holding his mouth just like in the picture above trying to talk and cry about wanting his tooth put back in, Dad not able to even look at him because of the blood, and his older brother trying to reason with him that loosing a tooth is a completely natural part of getting older and its a good thing because you get money. I was just thankful I was there to experience it, and that my baby lost his first tooth without me having to pull it!

Something about September

There's just something about September. The cooler nights, foggy mornings, the crunch of leaves underfoot, the sounds of Friday night football.

Here's little of what we've been up to...

Exploring last day of butterfly exhibit at the science museum while Grandparents from TX were here visiting... 

Making pintresty grocery bags (ok, that's just for me fun)...

Playing & "coaching" Flag Football....

"Just one thing: Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, working side by side for the faith that comes from the gospel." Philippians 1:27

Back to School

First days of school this week.

In the same school here, it's going to be a good year.