Class of 2027

Labor Day in Blowing Rock

For the past 6+ years, we have spent the Labor Day weekend with Dad & Linda.  Typically we head down to the beach for a long weekend (or whole week), but this year they opted for the mountains instead.  We were thrilled to get some cool weather (quite cold at night!) and had a blast riding four-wheelers, visiting Grandfather Mountain, eating Linda's yummy gourmet meals & just relaxing. 



Jackson's first 4-wheeler ride.  Check out his grin -- he LOVED it!

OBSESSED with the bald eagle wind sock and its spinning wings.

The Newly Weds




On the top of Grandfather Mountain



Overlooking beautiful Linville

About to walk across the "Mile High" Swinging Bridge with Poppy & Nanny



Back in the good 'ole days, you could buy bags of peanuts to feed to the bears.  Now they only feed them once day during "enrichment time".  These bears, however, are used to sitting up & begging for snacks and still do.



Looking for otters...they, too, have apparently been scaled back due to budget cuts.  You should see the scrawny leopard and the bald eagle empty eagle nest.



We were getting out of the car but J insisted on crawling into the back seat to hug on Aunt Jenn.



Poppy had built a gigantic rope swing at the old mountain house and Jackson absolutely loved swinging on it.

"I designed it so you couldn't hit the tree, don't worry." Ben took a turn & nearly got impaled when Dad swung him towards the tree trunk/broken off limbs.  Good thing Ben had the gumption to bail before hitting the tree...

Jackson's turn again!

All the boys at the summit of our hike.

Tellling Poppy & Nanny bye-bye

Riding horsies with Daddy.

Corn Country!

As many of you may know, my BFF Alisha was diagnosed with colon cancer this past April.  She is the absolute last person I would have ever expected to have health problems; she's the most health-conscious, super-atheletic, organic-loving, pesticide-hating, vitamin-popping, earth-saving, holistic-minded girl I know.  Her world was turned upside overnight & over the past 4 months, she has undergone colon resection surgery, put their house on the market, moved back home to Wapakoneta, OH, & already endured 4 rounds of chemo.  Fortunately, Alisha is blessed with a wonderful husband, a precious little boy, extremely supportive parents, sisters & brother-in-laws and lots of extended family, most of which reside nearby in Ohio.  (She also has a huge fan-base back here in Greenville!)

I had been eagerly anticipating a trip to Wapakoneta...I've heard all sorts of stories from her childhood over the past several years and couldn't wait to check out the farm & see what "Wapak" was all about.  Alisha, Alex & Ethan are temporarily living with her parents while they finish renovating a house, so I had not planned to take Jackson with me, but he was invited to come along so he could see his buddy Ethan.  (We  intentionally got pregnant at the same time & our boys are only a month apart!)  So Jackson & I took our first mommy-son trip to Wapakoneta.  He was an absolute dream on the plane & I could not have asked for a happier baby on the trip!

Let me start by saying that Alisha should be a poster-child for cancer.  She looked absolutely amazing and had more energy than I have had in the past 14 months combined.  Looking at her, you would never know that she is going through chemo & fighting a horrible disease.  She's as upbeat, optimistic & active as always - the same 'ole BFF that made me sweat it out at Boot Camp & always shared a good laugh when I often put my foot in my mouth.

Being a "city girl", I have never really been to a "real" farm.  In my mind, there would be a white farm house, a big red barn, a couple cows, some chickens (maybe), a green tactor, a couple dozen bales of hay & fields of corn.  You can imagine my surprise when we pull up to a pretty brick house, backng up to several huge metal "barns", sourrounded by shady trees, a distant lake, fields & fields of crops and a lone dog.  There is also a huge quarry where Alisha's Dad has been excuvating in order to build a pond.  Its like Disney World-Wapak with all the 4-wheelers, tractors, bulldozers, combines, etc. 

 

Upon picking me up from the airport, Alisha suprised me with plans to visit the neighboring county fair later that evening!  I love good old-fashion fun and nothing beats a fair, especially one that features a tiger show, petting zoo & very few rednecks.  Unfortunately, we missed her cousin's 2nd place finish for showing his cow =)

The next day, we hit up the Wapak Waterpark (who knew?), which had a great kiddie play area, 2 big waterslides & fairly cold water.  Aunt Alisha aka Mother Earth loaned us a cloth swimmie diaper (as opposed to the Missy-favored, disposable Little Swimmers) and thankfully they withstood the test that Jackson put them through (note to self: don't feed baby burritos from the fair)  The boys had fun playing in the water & going down the waterslide! 

On Thursday, we took the boys antiquing and then went to Alisha's sister Missy's house to let the boys play in her pond.  Missy's son Zach is only a couple months older than Ethan, so they are more like brothers than cousins.  Jackson fit right in with the two blondies ;)

Aunt Alisha also did the honors of giving Jackson his first haircut on our last night.  His curly mullet was getting out of control so we decided it was time to trim it up.  We couldn't find scissors sharp enough so she used the clippers instead.  All he needed was his toothbrush as a distraction & he was content!

Our trip was over all too soon & it was so great to see Alisha & spend time with her amazing family.  We have already decided that the Talbert family will be making an annual summer trip to Ohio (in addition to other get-togethers through-out the year!)

Alisha's sweet Mom, Debbie. 
An awesome Mom, Grandma & a wonderful hostess.

Enjoying an after-dinner ride on the 'Bota.

Bathtime!

Alisha & her sisters used to sell sweet corn during the summers growing up and were locally known as the "corn girls".  I always joked that I'm sure everyone knew them as the little hotties that sold the corn.  This picture says it all.  (Alisha don't kill me)

Flea Market Fancy

I'm a bit tardy with this post, but how could I resist documenting our recent flea market adventure?  I will admit that I am relatively new to the flea market scene, but for those of you who don't live in or around Greenville, let me give you the scoop on Pickens Flea Market: Every Wednesday, rain or shine year-round, the 32-acre flea market is home to hundreds of temporary vendors, peddling their finest, most sought-after "treasures".  The vast selection of merchandise ranges from obsolete VHS tapes to antique silver serveware to edible dry goods to puppies, rabbits & chickens to crystal stemware to new-without-tags underwear to high-end acoustic guitars.  One man's treasure is most definitely another man's trash!!

Always eager to try out unusual, baby-friendly activities, Julie & I loaded up the boys & set off to Pickens a few Wednesdays ago.  The boys were rockstars on the 45 minute drive to Pickens.  Of course it was another sweltering South Carolina August day, and nothing makes the heat & humidity seem more staggering than tromping around a dusty field surrounded by loads of junk.  We did a lap through the "covered booths" (which, in my naivety, had assumed meant "inside booths", but they were in fact more like a reallllly long, continuous carport) then stumbled across the live band that performs weekly. 
Oh what a treat - live bluegrass smack dab in the middle of the flea market.  The group of musicians appeared to range from retired vets to vendors to great-great-great grandfathers and it seemed more like a barnyard jam session than a concert.  Their audience seemed to be mainly groupies aka other retired vets/vendors/great-great-grandfathers. Oh well, sue them for false advertising the "free concert".

After the concert, we continued our rounds and ran across some animals.  The over-breed, under-fed puppies broke my heart so we didn't linger.  We saw lots of bunnies, guinea pigs & finally some chickens.  The chickens, by far, were the most entertaining to the boys.  

While treasure-hunting, I spotted a miniature wooden rocking chair similar to one that Poppy & Nanny have in the mountains.  Jackson adores that chair & within minutes, I had bartered my way down from $15 to $10 and was the proud new owner of a kiddie-sized red rocker that was badly in need of a fresh coat of paint.  Jackson was an eager beaver to climb into his new chair the minute I let him out of the stroller.

(check out that snazzy boat in the background)

Two snowcones & 20 sticky little fingers later, we decided to call it a day and go get some lunch.  Both boys had been great despite the heat, and begged us to let them tailgate for a few minutes before heading out.  How could we resist these two little guys?

We had lunch at Firehouse Subs (kids eat free on Wednesdays!) and spent the rest of the car ride home trying to keep the boys awake so they'd nap extra-long when they got home.  We definitely want to go back to the flea market this fall when its a bit cooler.  In the meantime, I'm running out of unconventional activities...suggestions?

Who can resist the fire hats??