Fun in the Mountains

We retrieved Ramsey from camp last Friday evening, much to her dismay.  We made a weekend of it since we were already in the mountains. 

We spent Friday night in the quaint little mountain town of Brevard and took in a movie at this quaint old movie theater.  If you haven't seen "Despicable Me" yet, I highly recommend it!  Only Ramsey is in the picture because Michael and Bradey were in the restroom...as usual.

Saturday morning, after a good ole' healthy breakfast at "Huddle House", we rented tubes from the Davidson River Rafting Company at the entrance of Pisgah National Forest.

We floated down river for about an hour and then walked back to our starting spot to float back down again.  We all had a great time.  The weather was beautiful and so was the scenery.

After our two trips tubing, we ate lunch at Sycamore Flats Recreational area and then headed for Sliding Rock.  Sliding Rock is a 60' waterfall that is not very steep so you can slide down it.  You can see a video of folks sliding down it at the bottom of this website page http://www.ncwaterfalls.com/sliding_rock1.htm  

That's Bradey sliding down above and Ramsey sliding down below

Here we are at "Looking Glass Falls".  Bradey was the only one that got in the water at the waterfall.

That evening we headed over to the Chimney Rock/Lake Lure area and spent the night at the Mountain Meadows Motel.  The motel has a pond for swimming, fishing and boating.  They have a picnic area, basketball court, volleyball, horseshoes, jacuzzi, etc.  There were a few other people there Saturday night but we had the whole place to ourselves on Sunday.  Love it there!

Saturday night and Sunday the girls went swimming and "peddled" around the pond in a little peddle-boat.  We all went fishing (only Michael actually got one on the hook and out of the water), played volleyball, and played HORSE in basketball.  Michael won both times...but barely.  It isn't fair when he stands directly underneath the net and uses his 6ft tall body and long arm to one hand it in compared to my 5ft 4" height and short arm!  Cheater.  I got him with the 3 pointers though (well, where the 3 point line would be for that little court  :).

We went home via Chimney Rock and Lake Lure and walked around the shops and lake...and the ice cream parlor :) 

It was a great weekend!  We are planning to visit again in the fall.  In the meantime, I'll be working on my under the net shooting!  

Bye, Bye Baby Girl

There she goes...

I took Ramsey up into the mountains today and left her there :)  She is spending the next couple of days away at Girl Scout Camp.

Ramsey's camp program is called "The Mane Event" and is based on horses.  She will be learning to care for and groom the horses, as well as, enjoy riding time while she is there.  This is her camp counselor, "Pudge".  Ramsey's cabin holds 5 girls, so, she'll be meeting 4 new friends tonight...hope none of them snore!

Once she was all checked in, it was time for mom to check out.  She is standing in the "Goodbye Circle" where the parent(s) say goodbye.  She hugged me and then kissed me 3 times quickly in a row which is what she does when she is not ready to let me go.  Her eyes were a little red and I held her until she said "okay, I'm ready" and that was it, she turned and left the circle and joined the other girls heading off to the next step - without their parents.  I stayed strong for her but barely made it around the corner before the tears started flowing as I thought about how proud I am of the young lady she is becoming and how in a small way I miss the little girl she used to be...but then, she'll always be my baby girl.

 

As I drove away, she waved at me from down there in the meadow where she was playing games with the new friends she had already made.  She had a big smile on her face and I still had a tear on my cheek.  Bye, Bye Baby Girl.

Birdhouse Cove

See the birdhouses in the trees on the left?  We went to Florida last weekend to pick the girls up from their 2 weeks of fun with Mamaw and Papaw.  We played on the St. Johns River one day and found a pleasant surprise down one of the coves.

Folks have hung birdhouses, many with their names and hometowns, up and down the cove.  It was really neat to see the beautiful, hand-painted houses.  If we can remember to get the birdhouse, we hope to hang one ourselves in Birdhouse Cove the next time we're on the St. Johns River.

Left to Right:  Dad, Anna (a friend of the girls' from Indiana), Ramsey, Bradey, Cindy, my baby niece Lexi (Michael and I brought her down with us) and Michael.

A very friendly dragonfly hung out on the boat with us and landed on Bradey's hand.

We stopped at Blue Spring State Park for a cookout and the girls went swimming in the springs.  Here's Ramsey jumping off the dock.

It was a great day on the river with family!

Happy 4th of July!

Ramsey is on top left and Bradey is bottom left

Happy 4th of July!  Well, 3rd of July, but, close enough :)

Ramsey's Girl Scout Troop invited Bradey's Girl Scout Troop to join them in the annual Harrisburg 4th of July parade.  Their theme was "Girl Scouts Become Stars".  Every girl carried a sign showing what she would like to be when she grows up.  Ramsey's said "Girl Scouts become Authors" and

Bradey's said "Girl Scouts become Veterinarians".

Here's Ramsey walking along with her best gal friend Riley.  (Yes, I know that I said that Ramsey's sign said "Authors" but this one says "Dancers", I'm not fibbin' to ya, she's carrying someone else's sign)

Is was a family affair.  I walked with the float and Michael pulled it with his truck.  I guess that makes him an honorary Girl Scout?  Maybe I can get him to sell some Girl Scout cookies in January?  Hmmm, I'm not sure how good he'll look in a brownie uniform...