doggie + girl = snuggle time

Waterfall morning

We piled into the van Satruday for an adventure morning. We started the day off with a hike to the beautiful Catawba Falls in Old Fort (just about a 25 minute drive from the homestead). The forest service recently bought the land around the falls and opened the trail to the public only a few months ago. The hike was fantastic ~ a perfect 3 miles means little to no whining from the children, we started at 8:30am to beat other hikers on the trail, and the weather was perfectly cool with just a little fog. We enjoyed a snack of maple yogurt poundcake at the base of the falls and loved splashing around in the cool mountain water. What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning!

When a week flies by...

...it may mean that the parents got to go on TWO dates

one to see the incredibly talented (and adorable) Norah Jones.

The oldest child may have found another use for his new half pipe (reading nook)~

the youngest may have enjoyed some face painting~

and the middle child may be working on her hooping routine with some other stone mountain girls ~

two notes

David and I got to go see Norah Jones in concert last night. It was incredible. The kids stayed with Meredith and Kevin (and their three kids) and when we came home, these notes awaited us. The first one is from Gita and the second from Nimuae. love them!

Packing up for the LEAF

It is time for the annual spring Lake Eden Arts Festival!

We have been going to the spring and the fall festival every year since Nim was a toddler. Our festival experience is almost always a ton of fun and gets better and better since we learn a little more about camping at a music festival with three kids every time. For instance, we have learned that eating festival food for three days weighs very heavy on the pocketbook (and the gut!) so now we make a bunch of food beforehand to bring along.

Today we are making:
1. Pulled pork for sandwiches
2. Granola for breakfast
3. Chunked veggie salad to go with bagels for lunch
4. Mini quiches

The car is mostly packed and the kids are totally excited.
Here's to beautiful spring weather, amazing music, and family adventures!

Oh yes....Nim had this fantastic idea. She saw some cute sticky name tags at the goodwill the other day. She bought them and made 3 tags for her and Gita to wear (one for each day) that has their name and our cell phone numbers...just in case they get lost. Isn't that awesome?

Noah's 13th Birthday, oh my!

Yesterday we celebrated Noah's big 13th birthday. What a big year!
I whipped up some chocolate pudding pies in the morning before heading off to work.
Noah went to his woodworking class in the morning and then to the mall to get his haircut.
Next stop was the skatepark with his skating buddy and then back up the mountain with take- out Chinese food. And he "opened" his big birthday present ~ a new mountain bike!
A few neighbors came over after dinner to help us celebrate and to eat pie.
Happy Birthday, Noah!