365Project.2013 | Week 20

Hang on to your hats! :) For better or for worse, seven pictures simply would not do justice to this week, so if something in the neighborhood of 38(!) is too many, feel free to move on. Otherwise, enjoy what was an absolutely fantastic week with me ... :)

 

Day 134. Yay for Grandmas and Grandpas! :) Grandma provided story time along with special crafts and culinary treats ...

 

And Grandpa provided a trip to the John Deere store for parts ... complete with souvenirs! :)

Yes, our crew was very excited about John Deere hats! :)

And Mommy was particularly glad to enjoy dinner and dessert prepared by someone else for her birthday. :) Thanks, Grandma! ♥

Day 135. It hit 82 degrees ... our threshold for sprinkler use! :)

And I'm sure few will be surprised that Peter puts every bit as much energy into scooting as he does playing soccer! :) He's gotten amazingly good on that thing!

And a random scene from the garden department ... my vine. It's one of those volunteer vines that's simply been appearing every spring since we moved in. The first year we let it grow over the nearby bush and choked it of about two years' growth. (It's only just this year starting to recover.) The next couple years we just kind of let it do its own thing on our porch railing. This year, I decided to lend it some assistance, and spent a few minutes over an hour one Sunday afternoon adding some extra wires to help it travel up the railing. Well, travel it has.

In fact, some rather energetic shoots extended past the railing, so I added some more wires this week ... more pictures to come in future weeks. :)

Day 136. And this is why Grandma and Grandpa came. One of their Christmas gifts to us was a gift certificate to BedAndBreakfast.com and a "coupon" for babysitting for our weekend-away. ♥ Happiness. :)

(To other grandparents who may read our blog, I highly recommend such a gift for your children ... ) :)

We chose what turned out to be a wonderful bed and breakfast called "The Yellow House" in Waynesville, NC.

We actually stayed at "The Pond House" which offered a bit more privacy. It was nice. Very nice. :)

We arrived early enough on Thursday afternoon, that we actually had plenty of time to do some exploring, so we headed over to Cataloochee Valley to see some elk ...

Our GPS offered an interesting perspective on the route we were taking ... and insight to the road names we might have otherwise missed. ;)

It was quiet, peaceful, and pretty. :)

As part of an anniversary project I was working on earlier in the week, I realized that we had not taken one. single. picture. of the two of us since Christmas. Not one. Not even a family picture. I decided to remedy that this weekend. ;) Anyway, here's me and my man. :) Love him and so, so thankful for him. ♥

 An elk! :)

But honestly, I was a lot more excited by the butterflies! There were literally hundreds of them!!!! Amazing!

 

And flowers. I really enjoyed the wildflowers poking up from random spots along the trails. :)

After our afternoon of exploring, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at a local restaurant. We definitely felt special when we walked in and the attendant told us she was going to put us at her favorite table ... just because. :) It was a little one in the corner with a gentle breeze but out of the direct sun ... we were looking out the window to the left of the corner in this picture.

Day 137. Although our 10th anniversary, Mothers' Day, and my birthday were all part of the jumble of the previous week, my hubby's birthday was the "official" part of our weekend away. I brought the banner to help make it so. :)

We thoroughly enjoyed spending this day exploring the Blue Ridge Parkway. I will not bore you with the myriad of photos we took from various and sundry scenic overlooks. Needless to say, we had a blast touring and talking and talking and talking ... did I mention that we thoroughly enjoyed being able to talk without interruption???? :D

Along with a couple of shorter walks, we did two hikes on Friday. Our first was to the top of Devil's Courthouse. It's a "strenuous" half-mile hike (i.e. ... nearly straight up!!!).

Your vehicle looks really tiny when you're a half-mile up ... it's parked on the triangle of road you can see in the upper-third of the pictures.

And since we were so high up, my hubby decided to try flying.

I decided to pass on the flying. ;)

After a few more overlooks, we enjoyed the absolutely incredible picnic lunch packed for us by our host at The Yellow House. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Yes, those are chocolate-dipped strawberries and yes, cheese and crackers ... and a multitude of other special treats. Definitely a very special birthday lunch!

Then we headed to Graveyard Fields for some more hiking. :)

 

A river runs through the valley, and includes an upper and a lower falls. We hiked to lower falls first. Huge boulders piled at the bottom of the falls made it easy to get close, and we had fun adding our own mini rock tower ... five stones for Daddy, Mommy, Hannah, Peter, and Matthew. :)



Then a sweet couple took our picture for us. ♥

He was obviously a photographer, and blessed us with some close-ups as well. :)

Then it was on to Upper Falls. And on. and on. and on. Need I mention that a couple miles looks a good bit shorter painted on a board than it actually is in real life? We found more pretty flowers though. :)

And we finally made it to the falls ... and back out again. :)

Dinner was a fun evening at a local Italian restaurant, complete with cinnamon sticky buns and a candle as a birthday treat. :)

Day 138. We couldn't end our weekend without playing at least one game, and my hubby was quite happy to beat me at Ticket to Ride Saturday morning. :)

We meandered our way home by means of waterfalls. Definitely fun! :)

Dry Falls ... so named because you can walk behind it without getting wet drenched! ;)

And Whitewater Falls is the highest falls in the Eastern USA.

And then homeward bound we were where we found everybody still in one piece ... including G&G! :) Thanks for an incredible weekend, Grandma and Grandpa!!! ♥

Day 139. And business called for Grandma and Grandpa, so they headed home early the very next morning ...

 

Leaving us to begin our first week of summer vacation sans visiting family ... 

And that is a post for another time. :)