November 2nd - Wild Saturday!

We have the kids this weekend, so of course, it was not normal.  They both slept well, even with Ashby sleeping in our bed.  They were both up by 7:30, which is not bad at all.  After breakfast, they played.  They enjoyed having Grandpa here to play with them.

Late morning, Ethan and Eric from next door came over to play in the backyard for a while.  When they left, we had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then headed out to the park.  We were a little disappointed at the park as they had torn down the big climbing gym.  The kids still had fun on the swings and seesaw.  Fortunately, there were not many children there, so it wasn't a problem.

On the way home, we picked up a pizza for our dinner.  By the time we got home, Ashby was beginning to complain about not feeling good, and sure enough, she had a fever.  We gave her some medicine and spent some quiet time on the couch, watching some cartoons.  Ashby eventually climbed into Grandpa's lap in the big chair and they both took a nice nap.

Brooks took his bath by himself and had fun playing with the water.  He then got ready for bed and after playing a while, he went to sleep before 7:30.  Ashby still had a fever, but since she had napped, she was not ready to sleep yet.  She sat quietly watching more TV.

A little later, the missionaries came by and stayed for a short time.  They practiced giving one of their lessons to us.  We asked them to keep it short, though, since it was time for Ashby to get ready for bed.  When they left, she gathered up some books and wanted Grandma and Grandpa to both come up to the bed upstairs to read.  We read one long book and then decided to go get into bed.  After a few minutes in the big bed, Ashby wanted to go to sleep in the bed in Brooks' room.

Brooks woke up in the middle of the night and I had to hold him for a few minutes to get him back to sleep.  That woke Ashby up, so she took more medicine and then came into our bed, where she cuddled for the rest of the night.

We loved our day with Ashby and Brooks, except for Ashby getting sick.  They are so much fun!  We love them!!!!!!!!!!

November 1st - Babysitting Weekend!

My biggest chore of the day was getting all the laundry done - took a while, but all six loads got done, folded and put away.  I did a few other routine things in between.

Around 4:30 or so, Lisa and David dropped the kids off.  They are taking an anniversary weekend to Asheville and we get to keep the young'uns!  They were both so excited.  We decided to play outside in the front yard, since it was such a beautiful day.  Just about the time we headed out, Grandpa got home, so they had a ball playing with him.  They talked him into raking up a big pile of leaves so they could jump in them.  They had a lot of fun.

We finally came in and had some mac & cheese for dinner.  The rest of the evening was spent playing cars, pots and pan drums, and all sorts of other very fun and noisy things.

Brooks was to bed shortly after 8, but Ashby stayed up and played a little longer.  She couldn't decide where to sleep.  She decided she didn't want to sleep in the big bed in the same room with Brooks, so she was planning on sleeping in the bed upstairs.  That was OK, until she was ready to sleep.  Then she came down and wanted to sleep with us.  By that time, I was heading to bed, too, so she climbed in with me and we read some more books.  Then she cuddled up and went to sleep.  She ended up sleeping the whole night with us, clinging like a little vine to me.  Precious!

So day one has gone well.  Here's hoping the rest of the weekend is just as successful.

Oct 30th - Another Gorgeous Day!

We slept in again today - even I didn't get up until 7:45.  When he finally got up, Bill decided he needed a walk, so he headed up the mountain.  He took about an hour and when he got back, we finally had breakfast.  By then, it was 11:00!

After eating and cleaning up, we headed out for another ride.  This time we headed to Waynesviile, where we took the road that heads to Brevard.  It passes over the Parkway and is a beautiful drive, which we have taken before.  Past the parkway, we stopped at sliding rock, a huge rock formation in the creek that is a perfect slide.  It is very popular in warm weather.   

We went on a little further to see Looking Glass Falls, which is a nice waterfall that is close to the road, so I didn't have to hike.  My knees just don't take hiking anymore.   I am not sure of the drop, but it is at least 40 or 50 feet, probably a good bit more.

We then headed back up the road to the Parkway and took it to go back to Balsam.  It is a beautiful section of the Blue Ridge, as it is mostly right on the ridge and there are beautiful views on both sides.  It also has the highest point on the whole parkway.  It was a warm, sunny day, so that made everything even lovelier. 

Once we got back home, we decided to go ahead and cook dinner, so we ate early, by about 5:15.  After cleaning up, we sat out on the porch swing for an hour or so.  What a beautiful ending to our last night.  When it started getting too cool, we headed back in and I read and Bill watched the world series.

It has been a great few days - so sorry that we have to head home tomorrow.  But, I am glad we made it up here.  Ron is trying to sell the cabin, so this may be our last trip.  I am glad it has been a good one!

Oct 31st - Back Home!

We got up at our usual lazy time, fixed another big breakfast mid-morning.  Then we had to pack up and get on the road.  I think we both could have stayed another day or two without any problems!

We left around 11:30, so we were back home by 2:00.  After unloading the car and putting away the food, we both just collapsed.  I spent a good bit of time on the computer, catching up with emails, FB, etc.  Bill watched a little TV, took a nap, and then worked on the seminary lesson that he has to teach in the morning.

It is Halloween today, so we were prepared to have some trick-or-treaters, but there were only two groups with a total of seven kids.  We never got the Halloween decorations out this year and, even though the light was on, I think the kids just didn't come.  That and the fact that there are fewer children in the neighborhood, I guess.

So we are back home and now will have to get back into a normal routine.  I am not sure I am ready - especially since I seem to have a pretty full plate over the next few weeks.  Even so, it is always great to get back to one's own bed!

Happy Halloween!

PS - Got these out of order.  I thought I had uploaded all the blogs that I couldn't post while we were at the cabin (no wi-fi), then I discovered I had missed one!  The 30th really was written before the 31st!

Oct 29th - What a Beautiful Day!

I slept a little later today and Bill was up a little earlier, but we still didn't get breakfast until around 10:00.  We are just enjoying the sitting and looking out the window routine too much!

Eventually, we took off for a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway and we couldn't have picked a better day!  It was in the  high 60's and there was plenty of sunshine.  The leaves are past their prime for color, but there are pockets of color, especially in the lower elevations.  Even up in the mountains, without all the colored leaves, it is still beautiful.  We stopped for a while at the visitor's center.

From there, we completed the Parkway drive and then went on into Cherokee, where we stopped at the DQ for an ice cream and to use the wi-fi.  We then headed back to the cabin on the highway.  What a gorgeous drive - we both really enjoyed it.

We then decided it was time to rest - after all, we had really exerted outselves with that long trip!  I read and dozed off a short bit and when I got up, Bill was swining in the porch swing.  I joined him and we were out there for an hour or so.  It is such a beautiful view and the weather was perfect.

We finally came back in and relaxed inside some more.  Neither of us was really hungry, so we ended up having a chili dog for dinner. 

What a great day this was!   

Oct 28th - Wow, What a Lazy Day!

It shouldn't take long to write today - we didn't do much! 

I woke up early and got up and read, while Bill added a few more hours of sleep to his night.  When he finally got up and going, we finally had french toast for breakfast, at around 10:00!  Then we just lazed around, relaxing and enjoying doing nothing of importance.  It had rained during the night and there was still cloud cover most of the day, with occasional patches of blue peaking through.  

In the early afternoon, I went in to read in bed and take a short nap, while Bill talked to the Dish people and got the satellite working properly.  It turned out that it had just developed some glitch and they finally got it all reset so he would be able to watch all the channels.

Mid-afternoon, we decided we needed to get out, so we drove into Waynesville, about 7 or 8 miles up the road.  It was just a leisurely drive, with no particular purpose.  We did end up stopping at a Burger King to get some ice cream and use their wi-fi for a while.  My little computer was doing some strange things, though, so I really wasn't able to get much.  Later, I ran some clean up stuff to try to get it working better.  I hope that took care of whatever the problem was.  We also made a quick stop to pick up some charcoal and lighter.  I had not packed that on purpose.

Back at the cabin, we relaxed some more and when we decided it was time to think about dinner, Bill got the charcoal going while I got stuff ready.  We had steaks on the grill, along with zucchini, squash, and onions.  I do love grilled veggies.  We added a baked potato and ended up with a fantastic meal.

The rest of the evening was spent being just as lazy as we had been all day.  It is just what we needed - especially Bill.  Maybe tomorrow, we will get out a little more - maybe!

Oct 27th - Not Quite a Usual Sunday

We attended church, as usual, and it was all good.  But, from there on, the day was not our usual Sunday.

When I got home, rather than getting dinner prepared as usual, I packed my clothes and the cooler for our trip to North Carolina.  I had packed eveything else already, so it didn't take long to finish it up.  Then I just had to patiently wait for Bill to get home from church.

Bill finally got home, packed his own clothes, loaded the car, and we were on our way by about 4:00.  He had not eaten, so we stopped for a quick burger on the way.  Otherwise, it was a straight shot for the cabin.  We were both anxious for this break.

We arrived about 6:45, which meant it was not quite all the way dark.  It was too dark to see how the leaves are, but Bill was able to get things turned on and the car unloaded while it was still a little bit light.

Then we just relaxed!  We eventually got things unpacked, but we didn't work too hard at it!  By about 8:00, we were ready to eat a little something.  I had planned BLT's for dinner, so I fried up the bacon and we had sandwiches.

Bill settled in to try to watch some TV.  The Dish is on, but it is the very basic service, so there are not really any channels that he wanted to watch.  He may contact Ron tomorrow to see if he will upgrade for the week, and we pay for it, so he can watch some games.  I, of course, am happy as can be, just curled up in my corner with a book.

We are looking forward to these few days.  Bill really needs to de-stress and I always enjoy these kinds of get-aways.   We are both glad to be in North Carolina!