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!

Blowing Rock

Our little family headed up to the mountains Thursday afternoon for a fun weekend together.  After an uneventful ride, a quick stop at the grocery store,  and a slightly nerve-wracking drive up the mountain, we made it to our house.  How beautiful!Sam thought the stone wall on our deck was a climbing wall.  Jack thought he’d try, too, and then they decided to combine forces.  Those boys-I like their optimism.  I couldn’t figure out how to expose my pictures correctly to get the beautiful sun and the rays coming through the clouds, so you’ll have to believe me when I say it was a sight to see!Jack got Finn McMissile right before we got in the car (LOVES him!), so he brought Finn and the boat to the deck to play.  He probably could’ve stayed there the rest of the night.Sam and I tried out the carrier we borrowed-thanks, Clark!  I thought he would like it, but don’t let this smile fool you.  He was in it for two minutes and then wanted out.  “Daddy!  Daddy!  Daddy!” he said.  A quick dinner, some US Open, and our first night was over.  So much fun to come!

Happy 3rd birthday, Kaki!

We had so much fun at your Belle, Tinkerbelle pool party!  You’re the sweetest new three-year-old we know, and we love you so much!

Waking up

Jack is (mostly) always supper cuddly when he wakes up, and I love it.  I also love his bed-head and I love to hear the first things he has to say after waking from sleep.  It’s usually either really sweet or super funny.  The other morning he walked in our room at about 7:15, us still asleep, with a sword in each hand and said, “Momma, wanna ching?” meaning sword fight!  Goodness, no!

Sooo, I snuck in his room at the end of nap time today to take a few sleeping pictures and watch him wake up.  Sweet boy was already awake, but catching those first wake-up smiles-that was fun, too!Oh, and his first thoughts after nap?  He was making sure I saw that he moved his toy pile from Sam’s bed to the window seat.  He was happy with that decision!

Sweet sleeping boy

VBS

We had Bible School at church this week, and it was so wonderful!  Our theme this year was ReNew-the Green VBS, so we learned about God’s Earth, how things grow, and how to take care of what we’ve been given.Courtney and I had a class of four-year-olds, but we were with the three-year-olds a lot of the day.  It was so nice to spend this time with Jack!  If he was in music or story time before my class, he’d keep a look-out for me.  When he saw me, he’d get the biggest smile on his face and then come sit right in my lap.  I know it’ll be too soon before he won’t want to do that anymore, so I ate it up.  I loved it.The sad part-he cried each time we had to go to our own classes.  By the third day, though, he believed me when I told him we’d see each other again and went willingly with his class!And he had the cutest little class, too!  He played with Katherine, Mary Mac, Wylly, Henry, Sullivan, Anne Rhett, and Mac, just to name a few.  We’re so excited for all the good little influences he’ll grow up with!  He also had Mrs. Casey, which was GREAT!, and some really sweet youth helpers.  (Thanks for checking on him and for the great pictures, Clark!  I asked him if he was glad that you checked on him when he went to the playground, and he said, “Yea.  She made me feel better.”  Thank you!!)I think he did really great for his first year.  He learned some fun new songs, came home with some fun art projects, and learned more about God’s love!  It was a great week!I always think of Jack as such a big boy, but seeing him around those four and five-year-olds reminds me that he’s still a baby.  I love that reminder.

From my phone

I’m so thankful for Instagram and the camera on my phone!  I mean, look at all these every-day moments that I’ll be able to look back on!  Even more thankful for the three boys in these pictures!

May 2012