Double Digits

Reed has officially left behind the years of single-digit living.  He celebrated his 10th birthday in style over the holiday weekend.  On his actual birthday, he and a friend went swimming in the neighborhood pool.

Blossom liked swimming for a while, and then preferred to enjoy the view from the shade.

We then went out for hamburgers - these guys were pretty fun to take out to dinner!

The following day was the birthday party.  For games, we drew a giant (human-sized) board game with sidewalk on the back patio.  They had a big painted die and everything (though in hindsight, I would have made 2 dice for getting through the game quicker!).  Each square they landed on had a task (ie - act like a monkey, shake your bootie, give someone a hug, or go crazy!).

Even ZB wanted to participate!

The older kids helped spray-paint a lawn Twister game.

Reed was inspired by a Mardi Gras party he went to earlier in the year, and wanted a King Cake (minus the plastic baby).  It was fairly easy to make and Reed loved it!

I am so glad to have gotten to know Reed this last decade.  He's had some ups and downs and they've all turned out to make him a great kid - thoughtful, respectful, kind, artistic, friendly and easy-going.

Drenched at the Swimming Hole

Notice the title was not "IN" the swimming hole, just "AT" the swimming hole.  I left Bobby with his newly dumped pile of free mulch (thanks Buncombe County!)... seriously, it's like an early birthday present for the man!

We drove a half hour out of Asheville to just outside Hot Springs, NC to do a fun swimming hole hike.  The river did seem awfully high, but we kept meeting hikers that would pass our little group saying, "It will be fine.  The river gets wide and shallow further up."

So we kept hiking.  About a mile in, we start to feel rain.  Then a group of hikers come the other direction saying that the hole was way too deep and current too strong - not safe to swim today!  As our group stood on the trail and talked about what to do, the rain became harder.  It was obvious after only a couple minutes that we needed to start heading back!

Then it really came down!  Not in a miserable way.  Once you're good and soaked with rain, and it's not too cold or anything, there's not much you can do but keep hiking and chatting and occasionally ducking under a thick leaf cover for some temporary respite.  When we emerged into the parking area, I couldn't think of anything else to do beside start singing, "I can see clearly now, the rain is gone... I can see all obstacles in my way!  Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind, It's gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day!"

Because seriously, when you looked all around, there *were* nothing but blue skies!  Rain storms are crazy here.  After a good dry-off, we had the brilliant idea that hey - we are already soaking, but kinda chilly... and we're right near Hot Springs... hmmm... may as well be warm and soaking, right?

So, we found a swimming hole after all.  Restorative, mineral-filled waters welcomed us, and we'll have to try that hike another (drier) day.

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!