a post with no cute pictures of or stories about the boys

As my post title warns, this post is about some fun Daddy A and I had while our children were in the care of some wonderful babysitters. There are no pictures of or stories about our adorable children in this post. If that's what you're here for, come back soon, because vacation pictures are on the way! In the meantime, if you care to hear about our adventures, read on.

About a week and a half ago, Daddy A and I had the privilege of going to the Saint Andrews Society dinner in Blowing Rock with some good friends of ours from church. They invited us to come up in the afternoon for a bit of hiking, and then we headed out to dinner that evening. We had a blast!

I did say "hiking" in the previous paragraph. However, I quickly found out that what we were actually doing was going rock climbing. This is our friend Scott. I discovered during our adventures that he's actually part mountain goat.

He grew up in Blowing Rock, so I suppose it's possible that his expertise at jumping about on large piles of rock comes partly from practice, but I'm sticking with my mountain goat theory.

Here we are by this awesome waterfall. I'd call it our "money shot," but the picture doesn't really do the waterfall justice. Instead I'll call it our "we hiked up to this waterfall and here's our touristy picture to prove it" shot.

And here's Scott and Amy's "we hiked up to this waterfall and here's our touristy picture to prove it" shot. Except they're not tourists, since they grew up in Blowing Rock. But I guess, since they were with us, they decided to take a touristy picture, too. Or maybe we asked them to take one... the details aren't that important. Here's the photo:


We went back to Scott's parents' house to shower and get ready for dinner. I'd say we cleaned up pretty well...


We laughed, enjoyed food and fellowship, and sang Scottish tunes. We met new people, we ate delicious desserts, and chatted with our friends outside of our church building. We came home relaxed and refreshed... and then I left with the boys the next day for vacation with Grandma Paige and Poppa Fred. Pictures will be posted soon!

A Plethora of Posts

I'm fairly certain that my recent troubles with photo uploading are the result of problems with my router. Last night, we all headed up to church so I could use the internet connection there. Daddy A and the boys played on the playground and in the nursery while I did some photo editing and uploading (just one of the reasons he's my hero...). Then we came home and I was able to add some narrative to my posts and upload them - some last night, and some today during naptime. So, to make up for my long absence from blogland (which I know you were all lamenting), I now provide you with several posts about our recent adventures. Enjoy!

Fun on the Fourth

We headed to the Red, White, and Bluegrass Festival in town for much of the weekend. One of our favorite places, Bouncin' Kids, had set up four inflatables and P had a blast jumping around and going through the "popsicle (obstacle) course". C was content to climb up the steps and slide down the ramp that was the entrance to one of the structures.

He spent lots of time just hanging out and watching his "bubba," wondering why on earth P would want to "Dump!" over and over in the heat.



Both boys enjoyed cotton candy and snow cones, too. At the start of the fireworks the boys were a bit scared, but within seconds were enjoying the show. P used his "glow gummy" (a glow necklace) to "shoot" the fireworks into the sky and gave a running commentary on the show. ("There's a green one. This one's purple.") After each firework, he would say, "Wow!"

I was surprised that P's second favorite thing to do at the festival was visit the "train." Great Smoky Mountain Railroad had a booth with brochures and pictures set up, and P would visit every half hour or so to "look at the train." I know the boy loves trains, but this beat out festival snacks! He's still carrying around an informational booklet and reading his "train book" during all of his down time.

We were all pretty tired by the time we drove home. (P switched to his "Tweetsie train Book" on the way, just for variety in reading material, I guess.)


The boys didn't get into bed until after 11:00pm! Thankfully, they both slept in. P has trouble with that, but he did manage to sleep until almost 8:00am (which is very late for him), and C slept until 9:45am!!!

We hope everyone had a happy 4th of July!

Dance Camp... and (finally) a video!

Since The Little Gym has closed, and P still likes to dance, we decided to give Princess Prince and Princess Dance Camp with Ms. Debbie a try. (There were two princes in the class, and most of the activities and dances accommodated the boys quite well. Ms. Debbie and Ms. Melody did sometimes still refer to the camp as "Princess Camp," though, as did the flyers, posters, and registration forms. Fortunately, the three year old princes were oblivious.)

The camp was four days a week for three weeks, and the last day was a "Tea Party." The dancers showed us their new moves and wore costumes. P went as Buzz Lightyear, rather than a traditional Disney Prince. He wore the top half of these underoos with white pants.

Upon entering the studio, I helped P put on his "tappers" (tap shoes). Ms. Debbie passed out the fish crafts everyone had made on "Ariel day," and P decided his wasn't finished after all. While the princesses made their necklaces to wear during the dance, the princes opted out of that activity. (Jack was asleep in his Daddy's lap, and despite the manly looking wooden beads in the "boy necklace" bags, P declared that he "not like this".) P stretched out on the floor and got to work scraping the black coating off of the rainbow colored paper cut into the shape of a fish.

The class lined up for the first dance. To P's left is his new friend Maggie, in her pink princess dress. Ms. Debbie's at the front.

After I took the photo from the back, Ms. Debbie told us we could move up front. Instead of trying to capture P's moves in the mirror, I switched angles.

It was slow going at first. P stood in his spot while all most of his classmates danced around him. (A couple of students didn't even want to stand on an "X".) At least he was willing to stand up front... but it wasn't until the "You Can Fly!" dance that I can honestly say that P did any dancing.

I'm sure he danced at that point because he was comfortable and ready to dance. There is no way that P kept asking for a cupcake (because the tea party refreshments were already displayed on a table in the studio) and that I told him in a very stern voice that if he wanted a cupcake when it was time for cupcakes then he had better start dancing. I'm always a very patient mother. I'm completely comfortable with my child doing things and reaching milestones in his own time, and we certainly never use food as a reward in our family. (We really do try not to do that, but never is a very broad term, and I'm human.)

Whatever the reason, P did dance during "You Can Fly!" and the remainder of the "recital" portion of the tea party.

This is a really poor quality picture, but it is the only one I got of the two "princes," P and Jack. As you can see, Jack's still pretty sleepy.

The last "performance" gave each student a chance to show his or her "prince walk" or "princess walk." I didn't tape the entire dance, but here's the section when P does his "prince walk"... complete with sword!

At long last, it was time for P's favorite part of the tea party... the refreshments!

P and I had a great time together, and he's planning to take dance in the fall.

more about the baby goat

Daddy A took last Thursday off, and the four of us went to Tweetsie. (Yes, again. What can I say? We love the place!)

Once again, we watched the "dancin' girls," rode the "big train" and the mouse train, rode some rides, and did other Tweetsiesque things. Once again, we went to the Deer Park. And, once again, I wasn't prepared with my camera. Remember this post? I had a similar conversation with myself before we left on Thursday's trip, but this time I said, "Mama E, that roaming baby goat was a fluke. It won't happen again." Um, yeah. Not a fluke. I don't know what I was thinking. It makes sense that if a baby goat likes people and likes freedom and can get out of a fenced in area, she would. Which she did, again. And once again, I provide you, dearest family and friends, with some cell phone pictures (taken mostly by Daddy A this time), of the baby goat. This time, C slept through the Deer Park, and our friend Anna was with us. To aid in your enjoyment of the photos, I will provide P's running commentary about the baby goat.

"The bebe goat is back! She's a girl. She's nice. She licks." (Licks, as opposed to bites, in case you wanted clarification,)


"I feedin' her. She's eatin' her food."

"Come here, goat! Come on!" This was then followed alternately by, "She's followin' me!" (cried joyfully), and "She's not comin'!" (cried in despair). For the most part, though, the baby goat did follow P all over the Deer Park area. I thought it was precious, but I may be just the tiniest bit biased.

"She's likin' me!" (Yes, I wrote "liking," not "licking.")

"Bouncin' at Cowboy Camp"

P finished up dance camp a couple of weeks ago. (More on that in an upcoming post.) During dance camp, he made a new friend, Maggie. Maggie is three days younger than P, and her daddy is a pastor, too. The week after dance camp was Vacation Bible School at Maggie's church. (Ours was the week of June 14th.) (According to P,) Maggie invited P to come. (I have yet to hear Maggie say anything, but this is the way P says it happened.) P decided he'd like to go, so we gave it a go. The VBS was "Saddle Ridge Ranch," and P took to calling it "Cowboy Camp." The last night was "Family Night," and there were hot dogs, s'mores, and inflatables. We discovered that P is now quite fond of crazy about "bouncin' an' the slides." I took some pictures of him zooming down the inflatable slide, and this one came out the best.


P really enjoyed "Cowboy Camp," and since C was able to go to the nursery program at the church, Daddy A and I were able to spend some time together as a couple... more than we've been able to in quite a while, honestly. I appreciated the time to reconnect with my husband. Thanks Dayna, Noel, and FBC Valdese!

another trip to Tweetsie and fun with a goat

While Daddy A was on a mission trip the last week of June, the boys and I took (another) trip to Tweetsie Railroad. We took our friend Happy with us. Happy is the adopted daughter of our church's missionary, and they'll be returning to Malawi at the end of this month. But I digress.

Back to Tweetsie: As I packed up the strollers and diaper bags for the trip, I decided not to take the camera. "Mama E," I said to myself, "Y'all take plenty of trips to Tweetsie. This will be your sixth or seventh visit this season. How many pictures of one place in two months' time do you need? Make it easier on yourself. You'll have three small children to keep up with - how many pictures will you be able to take, anyway? Leave the camera at home - you'll have enough to keep up with as it is." And then I replied (I'm talking to myself, remember?), "You're right, Mama E. I won't need the camera. I probably wouldn't use it if I had it with me."

And off to Tweetsie we went. At the very top of Miner's Mountain, Tweetsie has a Deer Park. This is essentially a petting zoo. You can buy feed for the animals, and there are llamas, miniature horses, emus, pigs, goats, rabbits, and, of course, deer. There's a paved walkway between some wooden fences, and the whole area is fenced in (by taller, stronger fences), too. Generally, I find the Deer Park relatively unremarkable. Sure, the animals are cute, but when aren't they? I could typically take it or leave it. But on this particular day (remember, my camera was back at home resting comfortably in its perch atop my computer desk), a baby goat walked squeezed right through the small wooden fence and out onto the paved walkway. Apparently the larger fence is the only one that matters, because the employees said that was fine. They ask you not to pick up the animals, but you can feed and pet to your heart's content. This particular baby goat was incredibly adorable, and rather small, except for a large belly. As I mentioned above, she had to squeeze through the fence, but she didn't have a hard time. Apparently she took quite well to the "feed the animals to your heart's content" rule, and had eaten to her heart's content.

The kids loved the goats, so I snapped a few photos with my cell phone. Excuse the quality (or lack thereof) of the pictures, and enjoy!

You can't tell from this angle, but C laughed and laughed while he was petting the goat. He may be the biggest animal lover in our family, but it's hard to say yet.


P was all set to feed her, but the goat wasn't interested. I guess she was finally full. Happy is beside him, petting the goat.

P and Happy both got down for a closer look.

Isn't this baby goat adorable? (If anyone's wondering what to get me for my upcoming birthday, feel free to look at this post for inspiration...)

Eventually, we did say goodbye to the baby goat (for the day), and headed off to ride some rides, get our faces painted, and stop in at the fudge shop. We all considered the day a success!