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!

On a given day...

Nimuae, who discovered her love for flying around the neighborhood on her bike only last summer, is rocking some very flavorful biking attire. Notice the kneesocks and hightops, with the bikini, and of course the helmet to top it off. Safety meets fashion....

Fashion dive Nim and almost 13-year old brother prepare for a ride to the mailboxes.

While Gita hangs with "her girls." Lilikoi, Salome, Gita, and Kestrel love to share some girl time.

On a fine spring day..

curious kitties check out the swimming pool...

silly dogs with big black noses sniffing...

nephews in dapper hats snuggle with uncles...

and little ladies kiss frogs to see if the fairy tales might be true

City mice in the country

Last weekend we had a wonderful visit from one of David's oldest friends and her husband. Julie and Bill flew into Asheville from Chicago on Thursday night. We had a weekend full of great food, adventures, parties, neighbors, and catching up. The kids fell in love with the Julie and Bill the second they saw them at the airport. We spent on sunny afternoon hiking to and hanging out at some waterfalls just down the road from us....

Baby goats!

I am finally posting some pictures of the kiddos with the new goat kids. We had two babies born last Thursday (two girls) and then two more babies on Friday (one girl and one boy). They are all so sweet and healthy! Here are some pictures from the weekend ~

Thatch and mud

Down in the garden, in the old bean patch, Noah and his friend, Aurora, spent an afternoon creating the coolest little earthen home, perfect for a gnome family. One minute they were at the kitchen table beading and the next minute they were gone. I looked around for them and came across the two pre-teens (won't be saying that for long...next month = teenager. holy moly.) planning and building and creating in the garden. Mud and stone walls with twig timber framing? so cool. Thatch roof? heck yeah. Gravel paths and landscaped yard? wow. Very impressed (and proud!)