Mountains & Tweetsie

Following a fun day at Kool Park last week, we headed up to Blowing Rock to Poppy & Gigi's "Tweetsie House" to enjoy a couple days in the mountains. Despite over 50 pictures taken, we were unable to get one where all 3 kids were looking at the camera and/or not screaming.



On Tuesday, we spent the afternoon hiking & biking around Julian Price Park. We ended the outing with wading in the stream and despite the fairly hot temps, the water was still frigid. Unfazed, both Jackson & Parker ended up completely wet by the end of it.


Wednesday morning, we hit up Tweetsie first thing. We were literally the first people in line for tickets, which is a first for us since we are habitually 15 minutes late for everything!




For those unfamiliar with the NC Mountains, Tweetsie is a train-themed amusement park in Blowing Rock, NC and features Tweetsie the train, which happens to be the last operating coal-burning train in NC (I think I heard that fact...) Jackson has been obsessed with Tweetsie ever since Poppy & Gigi took him last fall so he was beyond excited to go back.


Armed with a fully-loaded cap gun and new holster, Jackson was quick to draw his gun any chance he got. Weston preferred the much quieter Indian headdress.






After a chairlift ride to the top of the mountain, we rode several rides. The boys loved the excitement!


We also visited the petting zoo. Upon entering the gated area, we were swarmed with baby goats. Jackson looked up at me with the expression of crisis and told me that "Oh no Mommy, the baby goats got lose!!" Meanwhile, Poppy was letting Weston snack on the cake cone that was used to store the goat food.


The highlight of the day was without a doubt the ride on Tweetsie. The trains pulls 3 large, open-air passenger cars and makes a 3 mile loop around the mountain. Each car is outfitted with a real-life cowboy and every mile or so, Tweetsie stops for a little performance as the cowboys defend the train from the wild Indians, etc. At one point, the Indians sneak up and run through each car on the train, making the kids scream. The boys loved shooting their guns out the window, helping the cowboys get the bad guys. And Jackson is still toting around the souvenir bullet from the cowboys gun.


We had an awesome time and both boys slept for 2 of the 3 hour drive back to Greenville. Thats hard to beat!

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Pudding Paints

Pudding Paints

Step 1: Put several spoonfuls of vanilla pudding in each cup of a muffin tin. Add food coloring to each.


Step 2: Strip baby down to his diaper and put in high chair. Cover surrounding surfaces.

Step 3: Let baby play, paint, taste, feel and mush the paints. So much fun although a bit messy.



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Kool Park

On Sunday, we headed to Poppy & GiGi's house for more grandparent fun.
Jackson's cousin Parker was there and even though the boys are 3 years apart in age, they love playing and snuggling with each other.

On Monday, after a morning at the park, we headed to Kool Park for some water fun. For those of you unfamiliar with Kool Park (yes, it is really spelled with a "K"), it is somewhat of a Catawba County legacy. Kool Park has been operating for 79 years and is a waterpark of sorts, featuring a rock waterslide, huge pool, multiple diving boards and a diving tower. It is located down a narrow dirt road, surrounded by a barbed wire fence and has a sign at the entrance stating that no re-entry is allowed due to alcohol consumption issues in the parking lot.

Within minutes of our arrival at Kool Park, it starts thunder-storming. After about 15 minutes of heavy thunder and downpouring, the lifeguards finally clear the pool. And no, we weren't in the water...but we were speechless that they were still allowing people to swim and be on the metal diving tower while it was storming. Lawless. As a lifeguard in high school, we prayed for thunder and were quick to clear the pool at even the first hint of a storm. Apparently things have changed, at least at Kool Park. We passed the time by eating snowcones & popcorn.


After 30 minutes of storming, the head lifeguard consulted his iPhone and was apparently reassured that the storm was moving out because they let everyone back in the pool...even though the storm was still raging. It was shocking, but once the thunder died down, we finally joined the crowd & got in the water.


Jackson was pretty much obsessed with the water slide and went down it no less than two dozen times. I even went down a time or two with Weston and he seemed to be indifferent.



After an hour & a half of water fun, we headed home. But I can't wait to go back next time Ben is in Hickory with us!

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Camp Grandparents

Last weekend, Ben had a "boys weekend" at our house in Greenville which meant that the little boys and I had to take off for a few days. This was the perfect opportunity to go spend some time with both sets of my parents in Hickory and try to fit in the countless activities that we never seem to have time to do when we are there. We had an absolute ball and did not slow down at all for the whole 5 days. I swear, these "senior citizens" have more energy than I do!

Friday afternoon, we arrived at Bebe & PopPaw's house raring to go. We were recovering from a post-Pottery-Barn-outlet meltdown (they didn't have the backpack we had been eyeing) and the chocolate chip cookie that helped with the attitude 180 was still evident all over Jackson's face & hands. Who cares? A huge cookie & a dirty face are so worth an hour of not whining.

We started out with a golf cart ride around Rock Barn, followed by rollerskating in the driveway...until the storm hit.
We were super excited about the yummy pork ribs that PopPaw was grilling for dinner as well as the fresh corn and other local veggies. Weston (and his 6 little teeth) also enjoyed it.



Saturday morning, PopPaw & Jackson went fishing down around Rock Barn and although J was spent after about 15 minutes of casting, Bruce finally got a bite and both boys were beside themselves to have caught one so quickly.


After fishing, we headed to the pool. Jackson continues to improve with his unassisted swimming and was diving under to pick up items off the bottom in the shallow end and even taught himself how to sit on the bottom of the pool. He is such an eager learner when it comes to physical challenges and was surprisingly attentive as I was coaching him through breath holding, arm motions and kicking.


After lunch and a weak attempt at napping, we headed up to Hickory Dickory Dock, which is a glorified Chuckee Cheese. Westie enjoyed the foam climbing blocks and Jackson had a blast in the 3-story playground and bumper cars.









Sunday morning after church, we enjoyed lunch at Rock Barn and finally managed to get some cute photos of the boys with Bebe & PopPaw! And Mommy too :)












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Kiawah - Last few days

Whew, what a fun vacation we had.

We spent another full day on the beach on Friday, soaking up the sun and playing in the water. Jackson LOVED to swim in the waves. Ben taught him how to dive under the waves and he surprised us all by doing it so fearlessly. He was definitely rocking the puddle jumper and goggles but did venture out into the big blue sans the gear and did pretty well. I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck even though Ben was out there with him.



The pool is a different story. Jackson's been jumping off the diving board (in his puddle jumper) and swimming to the edge. In the shallow end, he will jump off the side of the pool unaided and swim back to the stairs. I've broken out the lifeguarding/swim teacher techniques of the past and I've taught Jackson the breaststroke and to surface, breathe in, and go back under. He picked it up on the first try and we are so proud of him.






Friday night, we went out to dinner for some seafood then stopped by Fresh Aire Village to stroll & shop. There was live music and Jackson had a blast dancing along to many of the songs that were on my wedding "DO NOT PLAY" list.















We had such a wonderful vacation and had so much fun playing and hanging out with family!


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Kiawah - Day 2

Thursday morning we woke up to a beautiful, hot, muggy day. My baby was up since 6:30 so my day started earlier by a longshot. PopPaw went fishing and the rest of us had coffee, breakfast and then went on a bike ride to explore parts of the island.


Poor Westie was my co-pilot but I guess I wasn't too bad of a "driver" because I'd glance back there and he would be fast sleep!

Jackson did awesome riding his own "big boy bike" but did have a few minor spills when he veered off the path and lost his balance.









After heading back from the big biking adventure, I packed everyone sandwiches for a beach picnic and we started taking loads of "essentials" down to the beach.






After our beach picnic, the kiddos were raring to go play in the ocean and basically get as sandy & sticky as possible :) Jackson and Bebe had a blast in the "pool" that the tide left behind.






Weston, on the other hand, preferred to stick close to the snacks:




Jackson was pumped about playing in the sand and enlisted Ben & PopPaw into helping him build his fort, complete with a functioning moat. And also what appears to be a potty...



And Momma got a little love from her boys at the end of the day :)






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Get to work, Daddy!

When we were in the early phases of potty-trianing, we came up with the idea of giving Jackson a monumental prize once he achieved 14 consecutive days of no potty accidents (not counting naps & bedtime). Eager to assemble the bunk bed frame & top bunk to Jackson's existing twin, Ben can hardly wait for Jackson to hit this milestone. Its all up in the attic, ready to go....except for the ladder, which needs a little TLC and possible paint rather then sanding & sealant.

This past Sunday, Jackson hit his goal of two weeks of consecutive accident free days.
Much sooner than we anticipated he would.
Much sooner than we have had the chance to purchase a new twin mattress, mattress pads, sheet sets and all that jazz that going along with a new bed. And WAY much sooner than Ben's even started designing restoration of the old ladder.
Jackson can definitely count to fourteen, but good thing he can't do that AND remember what day we are on AND remember how many days are left. He just knows he's getting close.

But I do remind him periodically that he needs to tell Daddy to get to work on his bunk bed ladder!


On a side note, we did poo-poo prizes for anytime he went poop in the potty. These worked wonders for us. Granted, my house now looks like the Dollar Tree dumped their closeouts in my playroom and I'm sure our potty-training is spiking sales of Targets Dollar Spot items. But hey - it worked and I can confidently consider Jackson fully potty-trained at this point.

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Kiawah -Day 1

We came down to Kiawah with Bebe & PopPaw for the July 4th week. Mikey was able to come down for a few days too but we missed Jen!




Upon our arrival on Tuesday afternoon, we beelined it for the beach and both boys had a ball playing in the sand, wading in the surf and spotting the wild deer that came curiously close to us.




Wednesday morning, we were on the beach bright and early at 8am. What we thought was an early morning seashell hunt turned into a "we are on the beach so we may as well swim, get sandy and set up shop." Three trips to the condo and back later, we had our towels, umbrellas, toys and bags cordoning off a good 10' x 10' section.












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After a day on the beach, we rode bikes down to the July 4th festival here on the island. Jackson got his face painted, saw Uncle Sam on stilts and played on the playground. We capped the night off with a fantastic firework show.
















We had two failed attempts at a family picture:








And we capped off the night with a pitch-black bike ride back to our place. Good thing for the flashlight app on our iPhones!




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