to say the least.
Things have been rather hectic around here lately. I had a psych final to study for and had the exam on the 21st. Grace also had a sleepover birthday that same day, and we were getting ready to leave to go out of town. Because of my exam, I had not done anything in advance to get ready, and originally, the plan was to leave on the 22nd, drive to Orlando and then on the 23rd drive 7 hrs to Ray's brother's house. We had so much to do and I had a migraine on top of everything, which I just worked through because I really didn't have any other choice. We ended up working all through the 22nd, running errands, making piles, picking up Grace from her sleepover.....I even went to the school uniform store to get uniforms for next year. They had a really good sale and I wasn't going to be here later in the week to take advantage of it, so that was the only time I had to do so. Well, we didn't leave on the 22nd. We ended up packing all night and I think we finally finished, or I finally took a break, around 3:30am, and took a snooze. We got on the road at 6:30am and off we went (which was now a 10 hr drive because we were no longer stopping in Orlando).
Vacation was a whirlwind. First, we spent 3 days at Ray's brother's in NW Florida- which as of now, is no longer his home. He, my sister-in-law and my nephews will be relocating to Turkey at the end of this month.
Next, we drove through Alabama and into Georgia to a suburb of Atlanta to visit my longtime best friend, Sara, her husband Kevin and their daughter, who I had not yet met, Katie. We spent 2 days there and got to visit the Georgia Aquarium. We wished we had longer time to spend there, but the time we did have was very nice. We ate at this awesome BBQ place the first night. As we drove there, we passed this Hindu temple, and when Nate saw it, he said, "It's the biggest sand castle in the world." So funny. You should have heard the inflection in his voice when he said it. Even funnier, when I asked Sara and Kevin about it, Kevin even mentioned something about it looking like a sand castle. Here's a pic:
It does look like a sand castle, doesn't it?
After Georgia, we left and headed north to North Carolina. We had rented a cabin in Linville/Newland for 4 nights. Little did I know when we booked it (maybe Ray knew, but I didn't), his parents had been living in that area back before Ray was born when it was just his older sister and older brother. Anyway, the cabin was very nice. We had a great view of Grandfather Mountain. It was a great and relaxing time and to top everything off, we had the BEST weather ever. It was mid-to-high 70's during the day and at night it had gotten down into the low 50's, with one night getting down to 49. I even used the fireplace Friday morning to warm up the house a little because it had gotten quite chilly. Our time there was beautiful. I can't wait to go to NC again. There was nothing like sitting on the porch, rocking, listening to the sound of the birds chirping and the trees blowing in the wind in the cool weather.
Unfortunately, the first 2 days at the cabin Nate and I were at our worst with a cold we had just gotten, complete with crazy head congestion and fevers. The first day, we did nothing really. I actually took a nap because I was feeling so crummy, but even though we had plans to do stuff that first day, it ended up being REALLY nice to do nothing for a change. We grilled dinner on the grill every night which was SO nice. We took the kids in the hot tub one night (don't worry- it wasn't too hot and they didn't stay long). We went on a hike at Linville Falls. Side note- after walking up slopes my kids have never had to walk up before because of living in a very flat Florida, they seemed to be pretty tired. However, somehow, Nate finds the energy to just run around like crazy after. Where does he get his energy from? I thought he would have been wiped out after that! I swear that boy has a motor somewhere that I don't know about. Thursday we went to Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi at over a mile high, and then Black Mountain (near Asheville). Overall, it went fast, but we had a great time and I am especially glad that the kids had a great time, too. I know Grace really loved this trip because our last night in Georgia, she cried about not wanting to leave and wanting to stay longer, and our last night in the cabin she did the same thing. I wished we could have stayed longer, too. I hope they have memories about this trip forever. I know I will. It was so awesome to have the kids just go out on the porch and play while I was in the kitchen doing dishes. Or seeing them run outside into the yard. Or sitting in the hammock. Or playing with Legos by the fireplace. Or sitting on the porch swing. Or going on a hike.
I am so ready to be out of South Florida now. And I am so ready for more trips like this later in the future.
Lastly, the kids got to see a groundhog, chipmunks and fireflies for the first time while in Georgia. I think we also got see a rabbit (in FL), a wild turkey (in NC), a robin (in NC), and a cardinal (in NC).
Perhaps I will post some pictures from our trip soon. We just got back yesterday, and my house is in shambles with stuff all over the place waiting to be put away. (By the way, the kids thought it was really cool that we went to/through 5 states during our trip: FL, AL, GA, NC, SC
Dry Falls, NC
Dry Falls, NC
Dry Falls, NC
Dry Falls, NC
Dry Falls, NC
Walking under Dry Falls
Under Dry Falls
The river the Dry Falls flows into
Porch View
Mountain view from porch
More views from porch
More views from porch
View of the back of the cabin
Another view of the back of the cabin
Side of the cabin
Living Room
Dining Area
Dining Area/Kitchen
Kitchen
Laundry
Desk Area in Living Room (near stairway)
Master Bedroom w/ king bed
Second Bedroom w/ 2 twin beds
Nate playing in yard
Nate on the hammock in the yard
Grace in the yard
Grace on the hammock
Grace and Nate playing around on the hammock
Grace on the porch
Grace and Nate on the porch swing
On the last morning we decided to take
In order to get the kids to cooperate with picture
