Crabtree Falls

This hike is on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Since the parkway is a long and curvy mountain road, I thought I'd be smart and shortcut through a nearby town.  Turned out I hadn't read the map right and our short cut turned into a very midguided long cut.  But we did get to see the adorable town of Little Switzerland, NC which I had never seen before - cute swiss chalets and all!  We also checked out the NC Mineral Museum - which was pretty small, but a nice little (and free) stop if you're in the area.

My friend Jackie, little ZB and I trekked out to Crabtree Falls hike at mile marker 339.5 on the parkway.  The trail is about 1.5 miles each way.  Not very strenuous, though I did see some hikers struggling as they must have thought it was a MUCH easier/shorter hike, since all they were carrying was a small bottle of soda.  ZB walked a lot of it, and was thrilled that she was allowed to hold the leash for Hank the dog for so long (not sure how thrilled Hank was about it, but he was patient enough)!

The trail gets a little rougher the closer it gets to the falls, but the destination is well worth it!

ZB was running down the trail at one point and had a big wipe-out.  Though I don't think these hurt for too long, she sure was fascinated by the scrapes for the entire rest of the day.

I am making a note to remember to wear long pants for our next hike.  Not only could it have lessened the scraped-knee factor, but at the water, the trails were lined with irritating stinging nettles.
I'm glad the sun was shining and the temperature was cool.  What a lovely day to get out in the mountains with a couple of sweet ladies!  And an extra thanks to Jackie for snapping some of these good photos!!

Farm Babies

Our last round of babies this year are growing quickly!  Blossom is trying to be very gentle when she holds the 2-week-old chicks, which is sometimes successful.

Reed also found a new friend in this sweet little bunny who he named Kreature (from Harry Potter).

Too much cuteness around here!

A Little More Birthday Goodness

Clay's 13th birthday really stretched out this year!  The day before his birthday he got his present from his Gram & Papoo, which was 5-finger shoes and matching socks:

On the day of his birthday he went downtown with a friend to lunch at Farm Burger (we love that place!), and a trip to the candy store (I don't love that place so much, but I'm pretty sure the boys have a different opinion).

While downtown, Clay was jumping over a short brick retaining wall, and caught his shin on the edge of a brick.  Not a fun birthday thing, but now has 8 stitches to show for it (don't worry - no photo of that!)

We waited a couple weeks after his birthday to do the official party - which was to Midnight Hole for some mountain swimming.  It was our first time there, a good adventure birthday party.  A couple other parents went, and a great group of kids!  Pictures don't do this place justice - it was SO beautiful - we'll definitely return!  Even a couple of the parents took a jump into the icy cold, bubbly water! (seriously... it was ridiculously cold).

We returned home for pizza and brownies, while the parents enjoyed serviceberry mead... yum!  Reed missed the swimming because he was at camp the whole week.  He was glad to at least be home for the playing and pizza eating part.
His camp was called Hatchet Camp at Adelbert Farm.  Thanks Pop-Pop for making that fun camp possible for Reed this Summer - he loved it and is now begging to go back for Fall homeschool classes :)  The camp was based off the book, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.  The kids learned survival skills on a gorgeous farm, as well as enjoyed the farm scenery of goats and poultry.  They got to play in the stream each day and perfect their salamander-catching skills as well!

On the last day, the parents went out and we got to see the debris shelters they had worked on during the week.

Hope everyone is enjoying these warm months as much as we are!

Fast Forward

Remember these photos of a new Spring baby?

We thought it would be fun to pop the baby in the bowl again and see how she measured up!  Fast forward 2 years...

Big girl!  I think it might be all the strawberries :)

It's Official

We have a teenager in the house ... Look who turned 13!
As birthday breakfast tradition goes, he got to wander the cereal aisle at the grocery store and choose what looks the most junky delicious.

This kid loves bacon. He had it with every meal, except dinner because he and B snacked on all the bacon I had cooked up to save for dinner.

His treat at night was ice cream with milk chocolate-covered bacon.

Reed and ZB had great fun decorating and making a gift scavenger hunt before he woke up.

He'll have his party next weekend - hopefully it won't rain - he wants to go to a mountain swimming hole. 
So far, Clay's a pretty awesome teenager - very helpful with ZB and around the house, very funny and imaginative! I've so enjoyed getting to spend these last 13 years with this guy!