Biltmore

My parents visited my sister’s family in Atlanta the weekend before Thanksgiving and then were headed to our house to celebrate the holiday.  We made a plan to meet in Asheville for Tuesday night (my parents and I shopped in Black Mountain—I bought a painting I’d noticed when we were there at the end of October—and had dinner at the Sierra Nevada Brewery) and then spend Wednesday exploring the Biltmore.  Jonathan drove the kids up on Wednesday to meet us at the Biltmore near Asheville.  Ella and Jack had never explored the Biltmore, the largest privately-owned house in the United States, so we got them an audio guide (my mom and I got them as well) to help them understand the significance of the house and its history.  The Biltmore was beautifully decked out for Christmas—it was a nice way to kick off the holiday season for us.  We spent Thanksgiving at home with my parents.  It was so nice to have them visit again—they were here in September to watch the kids while Jonathan and I were in Aruba, but I didn’t really get to spend time with them. 

Instagrammin’ in November

Life is good.  November was another great month with adventures with family and friends.

i headed to wild dunes (outside charleston) for a tennis tournament weekend with friends. | the view from our house | ellen and me post practice—matches are tomorrow! | the racquet wars wsrc crew | wearing our shirts, ready to support those in the finals | go wsrc! | fun weekend | another raleigh tournament in the books for jack | ella went to kanuga on a confirmation retreat | the confirmands | how could you not give this girl every treat she wants?? | cutest little bass clarinet player around | checking out the catawba brewery here in charlotte with friends | four friends, four different flights | happy birthday to jonathan—he took the day off and we had fun at top golf and went out to lunch. | happy birthday to jonathan! | donut cake | back to asheville—i met my parents in asheville for a night. | we explored the sierra nevada brewery. | jim and patty | watching the bottling process was pretty cool (better in video). | kellerweiss—my favorite | the next day we met jonathan, ella, and jack at the biltmore (olive stayed at a doggie day care right outside the biltmore). | it was all decked out for christmas. | this was the kids’ first time at the biltmore. | i coudn’t tell you how many christmas trees filled the biltmore—a lot. | the mural on the study’s ceiling | we found the thomas edison bulb on the tree. | it was a beautiful sunny day, not too chilly. | my sweetie and me, in the greenhouse | ella and papa, walking the gardens | one last look at the beautiful biltmore house | wine tasting at the biltmore winery | the biltmore gatehouse all lit up—goodbye to biltmore before we head home for thanksgiving the next day | ella ran the turkey trot 4-miler on thanksgiving day and came in third in her age group. | ella’s ode to bob ross | jack took me on a date to his cotillion dance. | what a gentleman | jack and friend koen

Soccer Player

I rarely take my big camera to Jack’s soccer games anymore—and by rarely I mean never.  Playing club soccer, he has so so many soccer games each year (at least 20 to 25 a year) and this is, I think, his 5th year of club soccer.  So, maybe I take watching him play for granted a little bit.  Jack has developed into a very talented soccer player, especially on defense (just like his mama—but he’s much more technically skilled than I ever was).  Jack’s just a great athlete in general.  So, I do love watching him play—I just don’t get my camera out during his games.  It was a nice surprise, however, when a friend’s mom emailed me a few shots of Jack she had taken at a recent game when her son had subbed for Jack’s team.  Thanks, Chaeli!  I love having pictures of my soccer-playing boy!  

Asheville Weekend: Lookout Trail in Montreat

On Monday of our long weekend away, we packed up our car, armed with a picnic lunch, and headed to Montreat for a hike before heading home.  I wanted a hike that took us to a wide-open view of the mountains and foothills and, again, wasn’t too far out of our way.  I used the AllTrails app and found just what I was looking for—Lookout Trail in Montreat, just down the road from where we were staying in Black Mountain.  The hike was pretty steep climbing to get to the lookout point, but we encountered very few people along the way so Olive was in hog heaven off leash.  The view went on for miles—you could see some snow-capped mountains in the distance from the previous night’s snowfall (and some was on the trail, too) and the fall colors were just starting to paint the trees. 

Asheville Weekend: Catawba Falls Hike

At the end of October, Jack had a soccer game scheduled in Asheville on a Sunday.  The kids also happened to have that Monday off of school.  So, we booked a dog-friendly house in Black Mountain for a nice 3-day weekend.  Our first morning in Asheville was spent horseback riding on mountain trails outside of Asheville, a special activity that Jonathan had booked for us as a surprise (see Instagram post for pics of that).  We also hit some breweries, ate at some nice restaurants (Curaté being the highlight), explored the shops in downtown Black Mountain, snuggled up on a snowy night at our little mountain townhome (yes, it snowed there at the end of October), and, of course, watched a soccer game.  While it was a little chilly for the weekend we were in Asheville, the beginning of fall colors were just beautiful and we had clear, sunny weather on Sunday and Monday, so we had to get in a few hikes, especially for Olive’s (she didn’t come all this way for nothin’).  On Sunday, we only had a little time sandwiched between Jack’s soccer game and reservations at Curaté, so we chose a relatively short (and easily accessed from the highway), but very scenic hike to a waterfall.  Catawba Falls was a beautiful hike to a large waterfall.

Family Portraits

A fellow former manager from Deloitte became a photographer herself in her post-Deloitte life—she is amazing and a true artist with light.  Once I saw her work, I knew I had to book us for our next family portraits.  I was quick to snatch up a mini session as soon as she released some fall dates.  I highly recommend Carrie Howland Photography!

Instagrammin’ in October

I love October!  I spent a lot of time outdoors, logging my October 100 miles per usual, but we also enjoyed a long weekend in Asheville this month.

olive always helps me get through my miles in october. | at beatty | our nephew jake traveled to nearby fort mill for a band competition. | we got to see the rest of the crosson clan for a visit, too. | another beatty hike, but this time with jonathan | and olive, of course | we clean up nice for our family portraits. | squirrel nut park | another beautiful fall day for a hike | with the whole fam this time | we went horseback riding in the mountains outside asheville | over a river and through the woods | in the slight rain | and my horse tried to wipe me off on a tree the entire time. | next stop, brewery hopping in downtown asheville | olive joined us for this bit. | plus, vortex donuts | our weekend was planned around a soccer game of jack’s in asheville. | brrrr—it was chilly! | beautiful hike at catawba falls | we clean up nice again for a dinner out in asheville | at curaté | and home and snuggling with olive by 8pm on this snowy night in october in asheville | snow-capped mountains the next day | one last hike before we head home—this time above Montreat for some spectacular views | halloween! | ella was maleficent. | jack was jason. | and olive was a panther…reluctantly (it’s more of a muscle tee—i guess she needs a medium!). 

Instagrammin’ in September

Aruba was so amazing, it’s worth double posting.  Like I said, most of the pics in my Aruba post were iPhone pics, so it makes sense that most of them made it on to Instagram as well.  Our September highlights were a trip for Jonathan and me to Aruba and then a trip for the kids to Awanita, a youth group retreat to the NC mountains.  This was Jack’s first year on the retreat—he was very excited about the mud pit.

Aruba – One Happy Island

Aaaah, Aruba.  Jonathan won his company’s President’s Cup Award this year—he’s been eligible so few years because his department kind of gets grouped in with all of the corporate/home office employees, this was such a special recognition for him.  And, I love these kinds of awards, because I get to reap the rewards, too.  These trips are the absolute ideal vacations for Jonathan—it’s an all-expenses paid excused absence from work.  The company CEO and VP of Sales, plus several of the sales reps from Jonathan’s region, were on the trip as well, so he never felt like he was missing anything at work, or that he’d return to a big inbox full of work.  This year’s President Cup trip was to Aruba…but, I’m sure you’ve already guessed that.  I had never been to the Caribbean, so this was bonus for me.  My parents came up to watch the kids and Jonathan and I left for an amazing 5-day weekend trip to Aruba.

We stayed at The Ritz-Carlton Aruba and, if that wasn’t luxury enough, we were treated to torchlit gourmet dinners on the beach, small group day trips (we went kayaking and snorkeling with underwater sea scooters and then we rode ATVs around the island to a natural pool), beach- and poolside waiters always there to take a drink or ceviche order, a sunset catamaran cruise, and presents in our room each night (thank goodness Jonathan had room in his suitcase for that YETI cooler).  Aruba definitely lived up to its motto—it was certainly One Happy Island for us.  And what a great way to help Jonathan and I celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary.  Can you believe the color of the sea there???  These are mostly iPhone pics.   

First Day of School

Ella started 8th grade and Jack started 6th at the end of August—two middle schoolers!  Ella’s starting some high school courses this year with Math 1 and Spanish 1.  Jack is going to try his hand at the bass clarinet in band. 

Eclipse Party

Charlotte was pretty close to the Path of Totality for the solar eclipse on August 21, 2017, but since Charlotte would get a 98.4% view of the eclipse we decided to avoid the crowds and view the eclipse locally with friends.  Longtime friends Baden, Ilse, and mom Ivy hosted a eclipse viewing party for us, complete with eclipse-themed snacks.  Armed with our eclipse glasses, we stepped outside periodically to see the different stages of the eclipse.  There was a strange glow of dusk for an hour or so outside on either side of the eclipse peaking for us around 2:40pm.  The glasses were strange because you could literally not see anything with them on until you looked up into the sky and could see just that sliver of sun.  The most comfortable way to check on the progression of the eclipse was to look down at the dappled light—the shadows were shaped like the eclipse.  I know the experience was much more extreme, with darkness for 3 minutes, for those in the Path of Totality, but what we saw was pretty cool, too.  It was definitely a memorable experience and fun to share with good friends.  Thanks for hosting us, Tauchers!

Instagrammin’ in August

We made the most of what was left of summer in August!

busch gardens with nonni and papa! | loving a sunny day at the park after lots of rain from tropical storm emily! | up close with the cheetah—that was a fun ride, too! | ella and jack did all of the coasters! | mama gorilla | tennis at nonni and papa’s club | jack trying out one of his birthday presents | ella doing some artwork in nonni’s studio | and jack | happy 12th birthday to jackaroo! | make a wish! | thinking… | i guess it’s a good one. | excited to visit the usta national campus in orlando | my tennis playing buddies | sweeping the court post play | bedtime stories with harper and hudson | cousin love | aunt jacqui, uncle randy, harper, and hudson took us to wekiwa springs. | the water was cold but beautiful—i took lots of pictures. | nana and poppop joined us in orlando! | uncle randy and his birthday skateboard | hudson trying it out | long-legged ella | happy 40th birthday to uncle randy! | live rocky horror picture show stage act at the brewery | cheers to nana and poppop | and jacqui | finally home with my pup and she tears her dew claw | poor girl had to wear a cone of shame for a week. | and she tore a piece off of it, so with the duct tape she looks like the dog from mars now. | new haircuts for school coming up | getting his award from coach dave | jack’s team won the pre-season tournament | watching the total eclipse with friends baden and ilse (funny—we started the summer with them and now we’re ending it with them) | eclipse watching | cool eclipse shadows | one final hurrah for summer—a trip to the quarry (again, lots of pictures) | end of summer tradition of ice cream at bruster’s | and, the first day of school—back at the same school, 6th grade and 8th grade!

Florida Tourists: Orlando

Orlando was our final stop on our Florida Tourists trip.  While we were in Florida, I really wanted to take the kids to a natural spring.  We didn’t have time to detour to Ginny Springs, a favorite of mine during college, so Aunt Jacqui was happy to help us find one close to them to check this off our tourist list.  We went to Wekiwa Springs near their house.  It was fuh-reezing—or refreshing, I guess, because it was a hot summer’s day—but all of the kids jumped right in, the 2 1/2 year olds included!  Harper and Hudson are so open to every new experience.  They are just joys to be be around. 

Nana and PopPop joined us on our second day at Jacqui and Randy’s house.  We had all come together to celebrate Uncle Randy’s 40th birthday!  We enjoyed a delicious shrimp boil meal and some birthday cake at home and then the kids stayed at home while Aunt Jacqui, Uncle Randy, Nana, PopPop and I all went to a brewery to meet many of Jacqui and Randy’s friends to help him celebrate the milestone birthday.  Unbeknownst to Jacqui when she booked the brewery for Randy’s party, a special live performance of Rocky Horror Picture Show was at the brewery that night, too.  We got quite the hoot out of that, and luckily none of us were asked to join the show.  Happy birthday, Uncle Randy!

After nearly two weeks away, several new Florida sights seen, and many family members hugged, we headed back home.  We had a great trip as Florida tourists.

{happy 40th to uncle randy!  and, fidget spinner fun with the grandparents.}