Mountain Top

You know what's neat? On a Sunday afternoon, after we finish dinner, and we are considering going for a walk around the neighborhood, we can look at each other and say: "Hey, let's drive up to Caesar's Head." And then we do. It's about 30 min from our little mountain, I guess.

Mason was in awe of this overlook. He and Kate both get very excited about the view of the mountains.

And a spectacular view it was - just after a long rain.

Perhaps you remember the trip we took to the Caesar's Head 2 years ago? It didn't go well.  It had also been raining, and the rocks at the overlook were slick. If we told them once, we told them 100 times to BE CAREFUL. Did it work? Partially. Kate was not at all careful, and Mason was super careful. Funny that the kid who ended up with a broken foot is the one who couldn't handle our safety precautions.

Here they are at the lookout. This is one of those pictures they'll pull out in 30 years and Mason will say "That's me and my sister. Remember those trips we used to take to Caesar's Head?"

And then hopefully they'll look at this one and smile.

And then they'll look at this one and say: "Wow, Mom looks so young."

Making some good memories with Daddy.

We ventured down into Devil's Kitchen. Again. WET WET WET.

Somehow she did not break her neck.

Mason kept saying: "Be careful. Be. Careful."

 Remember the girl that used to not look at the camera? Not anymore. Problem is that she can't just look and smile, she has to pose as well.

I promise that there will be a post about the new house and our little mountain soon. It is a very peaceful place, and we're enjoying it thoroughly.  We've also been enjoying the Swamp Rabbit Trail. More on that another day!

Weekend

What a nice relaxing weekend!

It started Friday - which has recently turned into donut day.  There is a Dunkin Donuts just down the hill from us. What can I say? It's a lot easier to get them in the car when there is the promise of donuts. With "sphinkals" (sprinkles).

And to make Friday that much more exciting... Nan and Pop picked the kids up early from school. Kate is such a little extrovert.  Not a bit shy about introducing everyone to Nan and Pop.  My favorite quotes during pick up?

"Come on and meet my Nan. She's really nice!"

"This is my Pop. His name is Frank. This is my Nan. Her name is..... Fraylick." (Even Rain Man draws a blank once in a while.)

"That is my Nan and Pop. Pop is wearing the new shirt I just gave him!" (Father's Day gift)

Some nights I can still get these two to take a bath together. It can be wild. It can be fun. It can be a complete disaster. Friday night? Fun.

Saturday night was a date night for Don and I. Those are always nice and very much appreciated.  Then today we hit the pool.  The kids LOVE the pool. I love that Mason falls asleep on the 3 min car ride home. :) I don't know why we buy these two more than one bathing suit. Next year? They go to Target and pick the one they like. We buy 2 of each. Done. Mason's favorite? Choo Choo (aka Thomas the Train). He would wear that bathing suit to school every day if we let him.  He tells me it's water day almost every morning.  Kate's favorite is Ariel, the Little Mermaid. Her tail is shiny.  What girly-girl doesn't love a little glitz?

And now I'm off to bed. Everyone else? Asleep for the last hour and a half. This "Clinical Assistant Professor" gig is killing me.

Water Water Everywhere!

It's been hot, and oddly enough, not too rainy. So, we've been keeping cool.

We finally checked out the pool.  

The kids have water day at school once a week.  This week the parents were invited. It's kind of a mud-fest for the boys, but they have a lot of fun.  Mason ate this popsicle. And then cried because he could only have one.  On his daily school report, every item on the menu has "x3" listed beside it.

I distracted him with some swinging and sliding.

This weekend we broke out the slip and slide.  Our house is on a hill, which makes for a lot of good sliding.

In other news, we checked out the library.

And to counter that, I let the kids eat dinner and watch TV on the back porch

Tiny Tapper

Oh my heavenly stars!  This is just too cute not to post. I think I've found a use for the tap shoes that don't fit Kate any longer.  And you know what? He's not bad! 

Enjoy!

Disney Vacay

A plastic dragon swimming pool bought me some free time on the back porch, so I'm posting Disney photos - between the water gun shootings, someone trying to serve me "tea," Mason dousing my computer, and kids yelling "leave me alone!" Don just flew in from Orlando (he was there the entire week) and is resting - I'm nice enough to remove the children from the house so that he can actually do that. I was going to break it up into a couple of posts, but you know my blog posting track record lately. So... one big photo dump. Enjoy!!

We decided to fly to Orlando - mostly because I couldn't handle the idea of 8+ hours in the car with Kate and Mason.  And then the more I thought about taking a flight with them (alone on the way back).... I couldn't imagine that either. I have friends that fly alone with two children across the OCEAN. For Pete's sake! I can surely handle a 1.5 hour direct flight, right? In the end, 1.5 hours of travel time won out over 8 and we booked a flight on Southwest, or as I call it, the Wild Wild West.  If you've never flown SW, it's first come, first serve on seats. Nothing is assigned, and for some reason the few flights I've taken with them, the passengers have been a bit rowdy.  I know, that seems perfect with our two kiddos.

Waiting.... whose idea was this?

Mason does not like mass transit - or so we learned.  He does like lollipops, so we reached a compromise.  He was not a bit interested in looking out the window of the plane, and insisted that the shades be down at all times. 

Kate pulled her own suitcase. It was great fun when it was novel. On the way back she was certain I was the evil Stepmother and she was Cinderella - "You make me do all the work!" I really hope that quote gave someone a good laugh.

Day one we had breakfast with the princesses.

Kate chose an Ariel outfit this year. Certainly not Don's or my pick.  Why not a beautiful dress? We tried our hardest to sway her. No luck.

With Daddy.

 

Cinderella signing Kate's photo book.  The photo books are a must-have for Disney visits.

Mason wasn't so crazy about the princesses. He was very shy. Here is his hiding under the table. At this point, anything to keep him happy through breakfast.

The red-heads.  Notice the real Ariel isn't showing her belly....

After breakfast, we visited a shark in Epcot before heading over to the Magic Kingdom.

And then it was on to race cars!

And playing in lines.

It was kinda hot. Can you tell?

Especially Mason.

So we went back to the hotel for a nap and some time in the pool.  Mason is fearless around water. Gotta watch that boy. I promptly bought him a life jacket when we got back to Greenville.

Then we headed back to Disney for the evening parade and fireworks show.  At first we thought that might have been a crazy idea, but Mason loved the light parade. That alone was worth it.

 

He slept through the fireworks, but Kate enjoyed it.

On day 2, we went straight to the Magic Kingdom when the gates opened, so Kate could ride the Little Mermaid ride (wait the day before was 70 minutes!!)

I guess the magic of Disney rides has to occur in the dark, because they make every swinging ride dark! We had to drag her onto this one. She was crying when she heard the "ocean" noises in the line.  We hopped right on, and most of it was ok. Looks like she won't be scarred for life. 

Aftwerward, we had a photo op with Alice in Wonderland.  Please, one day ask Don how he feels about grown adults waiting in picture lines that prevent children from getting their pictures taken with the Disney characters.

This is the new concept in waiting for rides. You get a pager, much like you would at Outback Steakhouse, and when it's your turn to ride, you get in line.  In the mean time, they have a fun playground for the kiddos to enjoy. I dig it! Mason was a fan of the elephants.

 

There were more characters to visit:

Tinkerbell

Minnie Mouse

Mason couldn't handle the Minnie Mouse line, so we went out and bought him some glasses and played in the water.

We spotted Jesse in Tomorrowland.

And some aliens.

And last, but not least, the magic carpet ride.

 And we were beat!

The next day, Don dropped us off at the airport. I was a little concerned by the dancing at the gate:

And this:

But then we took off, and moments later, there was this:

And Kate settled down and I read a magazine.

What a sweet trip!