Napping

Even his Cowboy and Space Ranger need naps.  And boy are they lucky to be cuddled by that sweet boy.

Swimming Lessons, round one

Jack started swimming lessons on Monday with Coach Cassie.  It started out a bit rough (crying when we got there and not wanting to get in), but each day he got more confident, and by day three, he was doing great!They have a rule of ‘no pictures until Thursday’, so of course I was ready today!  Jack flashed me a few grins, and I even got a thumbs up one time.  Maybe I was distracting him?  Oops.It was not the traumatic experience I had heard it would be, so yay!  And I am so proud of our little beginner swimmer!  He learned a lot in four days, and he’s getting really brave.  He keeps asking when he gets to go back to swimming lessons-so we go back for a second round in a couple weeks!

Happy half birthday, Sam!!

You’re eighteen months old, sweet boy!  We went to the mountains with a 17 month-old and brought home a one-and-a-half year old!  Stop it!After supper (which included corn on the cob-you love it and I love to see you eat it.  It’s so funny to me!), we celebrated with one and a half candles on your half birthday cake!  I let you dig right in, so Jack was very concerned that we cut a piece for him before you ate it all!So we did, and you didn’t, but you gave it your best!Happy half birthday, sweet little one!  Eighteen month update (and pictures!) to come!

Happy Father’s Day!

Happy Father’s Day to the best daddy around!  These boys think you hung the moon-and I do, too!  We love you so much and are so thankful for all you do for us.  I’m so grateful that we got to spend Father’s Day weekend together in such a beautiful place.  See you next time, Blowing Rock!  And a big HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to our dads, too!  We love you deed and Mr. Thomas!

Blowing Rock, day three

We started out day three fishing at Grandfather’s Trout Farm.  Kinda cheating, yep, but still fishing?  You bet!  Jack and Mark had a great time, and Sam can’t wait until he can fish!Before too long, they hooked one, and the boys got busy!Jack was excited to be in charge of the net, and I was terrified that he was going to fall in!He stayed dry, but the fish’s fate wasn’t looking so good.  Into the bucket he went.  They fished for a bit longer and then we headed out-to my delight!  I LOVED seeing Jack and Mark so happy, but fishing is clearly a father/son thing!We tried to go to Valle Crucis but we just had a pretty drive through the mountains instead.  We’ll get there next time!  We stopped for a quick lunch and then went home to get the boys down.  We watched more golf, I worked on Sam’s first year book, and we had more of this-When they woke up, we went on a little hike around our house.Oh goodness, these two!  I’m so thankful!Jack wanted to be a bit more adventurous, so Mark and Sam stayed back and he and I explored.  His imagination was going wild and it was great!  After our hike, we came back in for a pancake supper.  Yuuummmmy!  The boys love their daddy’s pancakes-It’s was Jack’s request tonight!Oh, we even had some karate, too.After supper, we turned the TV facing outside so we could watch the Open and enjoy the amazing mountain weather.That sweet Sammers, he’s so patient with the teasing love from his big brother!Man, I loved this day, too!

Blowing Rock, day two

We woke up Friday morning with two babies in our bed, and it was the sweetest thing!  The master suite in our house was on the top floor, and Mark and I didn’t want the boys on the main level by themselves. in a new place. in the mountains.  This was our first vacation just us four, and there was just something so perfect about having our little family wake up together.

We got ready for the day and then made our way back down the mountain to Tweetsie Railroad!  We walked around for a bit and then hopped on the Tweetsie train!Jack was SO excited…at first.  He kept grinning while we waited to pull out of the station and when we got underway.When we stopped for the first cowboy show, that was a different story!  Nope.  Didn’t like it.  At ALL!Sam checked it out but preferred my phone (gross)and relaxing.  (By the way, look at that straight hair!!  YAY!!)Jack thought it would be best to trade seats to be a little further from the action, so Sam got a turn.We pulled back into the station, and all was well again!  We headed up to the County Fair, and Mark and Jack played some arcade games and rode the cars-all with beautiful views of the mountains!After that, Jack saw a man with cotton candy and a huge meltdown followed!  Goodness, it was something we’ve never heard from him, so three of us scarfed down a quick lunch and we headed home for naps.

Fun little place, that Tweetsie Railroad!

The boys napped (three-and-a-half hour naps in the mountains!!) and Mark and I enjoyed more US Open and this beautiful view!We headed into downtown Blowing Rock when they woke up and were so thrilled to see how Norman Rockwell-ish it is!  The people of Blowing Rock built this beautiful park in the middle of downtown on the occasion of America’s Bicentennial.  The weather was perfect.  We loved it!I was there, too, see!?We ate a yummy supper and then headed to Kilwin’s for some ice cream and fudge.  Such a neat shop.  If we didn’t have two little ones with grabby hands, and drippy ice cream cones, I could’ve stayed in there sampling fudge and watching them make candy for a good while!  Instead, we took our ice cream back to the park, and wow, it got messy!  And then he was cold!Sam was a mess, too.  He doesn’t quite understand to lick the ice cream, so he would just dive in to mine or Mark’s.  He didn’t mind the mess at all, but he never likes the clean up!Back at the house, we played more to soak every minute out of the beautiful day,took baths,and then said goodnight to this amazing view.  Loved this day!