My Favorite...Part 2

On day 2 of our mountain trip we got up to go eat breakfast with Bonnie and Stuart at their beautiful home.  Check it out here. We had cinnamon rolls, cheese and crackers, and lots of organic fruit. Ivy loved all of the above! I haven't jumped on the organic food wagon but it was REALLY good and I could honestly tell a difference. Their house was so great and they have really great taste, quite similar to my own I must say. They had their own garden and Bonnie had her own room on the bottom floor which will suit all her gardening needs. If you're lucky enough to know Bonnie then you probably know that BOTH of her thumbs are green. I've never seen a women who can make things grow like she can.

Ivy had a blast eating breakfast there and she thought she was something else sitting at the bar in the kitchen like a big girl! And Ivy loved walking to garden and seeing all the plants.  I can't remember the dogs name but Ivy loved him.  He was big enough that Ivy could have jumped on his back and rode him like a horse. They also have a cat that is apparently a true scaredy cat and won't come to anyone other than them so Ivy was super excited when he got close enough and let her pet him.

After we left Bonnie and Stuart's we took a drive over to Todd, N.C. which is very beautiful. Chris and I actually tried to buy an acre there a few years ago and the lady decided not to sell it. It was an acre right on the river and it was so beautiful and perfect! I could punch her face but she probably realized that she was making a huge mistake.

We made a stop at the Todd General Store to just rummage around through all the cool stuff they have there and we got a little snack too.  So Ivy got to have a sip of her fist long neck...Dr. Pepper that is.  And as you can see, she took it very seriously.

We stayed there for a little while and just relaxed in a little field by the river across the street from the store. It was nice and quiet and the perfect weather. We had lots of fun just letting Ivy throw rocks in the river and run around. They have a stage set up where they have a Dobro contest every year usually right around my birthday...that would be a real treat to watch, especially if Jerry Douglas showed up. But since there was no Dobro playing going on that day Ivy and I danced on the stage. There was no music playing, we just wanted to do it, so we did. Of course she's always dancing and singing and I love doing it with her.

And of course there was more steps for some epic picture taking...these really are my favorite!

I thought I was about to get a kiss...

...but proof that she's a licker!

Little Miss Sassy!

I don't know where she gets it...

Then it was off to the Moses Cone Manor, also one of my favorite places.  Lots of cool things go on there and they were having a heritage festival that day with all kinds of cool stuff.  Unfortunately we got there too late but we still got to see some horses and Ivy named all of them Bullseye.  We went inside since the sister store to the Folk Art Center is in there.  We are in there and I'm admiring some of the sculptures that are behind glass and I hear Chris and Ivy talking about acorns.  I walked over to where they were and Ivy had picked up two acorn salt and pepper shakers.  They were wooden, small, cute, and $8 a piece.  And don't get me wrong folks, we are very lucky parents...Ivy doesn't pitch huge fits in public and we can usually get her to leave something that she wants by asking her to tell it bye bye and she'll see it again soon. But not the acorns.  She pulled the price tag off of one and I quickly told her no that it wasn't a sticker that she could have and I put the acorn back on the shelf.  I didn't think twice about it when I was doing it but it was the wrong move.  All of a sudden there was very loud screaming and crying and a few "Ivy get acorns Mama!" or "Daddy, Mommy take my acorns!"   We tried distracting her with other things but it didn't work.  Then one of the women that worked there came up to us and said "Excuse me but we close in 10 minutes."  It was pretty crowded in there and she walked past several people to tell us that so basically she was saying "Get the screaming kid outta here."  We walked through the rest of store at a very fast pace and out the door.  She still kept screaming for her acorns.  We headed towards our car and I put her down on ground and showed her a real acorn...she cut that crying off in about a tenth of a second.  So we collected acorns that I'm pretty sure we'll turn into an art project sometime soon.  This girl is serious about her acorns!

So after some serious acorn hunting we heading to Blowing Rock where we always eat at Woodlands and we have ice cream at Kilwin's.  Now let me explain about Woodlands...I don't like BBQ very much but this place isn't your average BBQ.  This stuff is made with some serious love and I usually eat until I am miserable and then I eat some more.  If you go to Blowing Rock...eat at Woodlands.

And right as we sat down to eat I got a call from Heather who had just gotten back from vacation asking us to go eat mexican with them.  Well I can honestly say that I would rather hang with Heather and Jamie than eat at Woodlands but we were just about to place our order.  So we decided that we would see each other next day.  And about 5 minutes after that I was like..."Why should we wait until tomorrow?"   I quickly grabbed my cell phone and told her to meet us at the Blowing Rock park after they were done and we could all have ice cream together at Kilwin's.  She agreed...Hooray!

So we took Ivy to the park and let her play for a while.  I'm so proud of my girl, she loves other kids and approaches them and says "Come mon' lets play!"  She's so cute and has so much confidence it kills me.  She takes her Jesse doll everywhere now and she willingly shares it with everyone.  She made friends with a random girl named Reagan and they took turns sliding with Jesse.  They were best friends for about an hour.

Then Jamie, Heather, and Charlie showed up and Ivy was so excited to play with Charlie. Charlie was a little tired and grumpy but he eventually warmed up and was happy to play.

Then it was time for ice cream...Kilwin's here we come! Now if you know me, you know I like ice cream, doesn't really matter what brand or what flavor but Toasted Coconut from Kilwin's is hands down the best ice cream I have ever eaten in my life. I have to get it every time I go there, seriously every single time.  If I ever went and they didn't have it, I would be so heartbroken. But we take our ice cream very seriously.

If we lived in Boone, I can guarantee this picture would be taken every Saturday night.

I love this one because we are all saying something with our expressions:  Heather I think just saw someone with an Obama shirt on, Charlie looks utterly shocked by the Obama shirt, and Ivy and I are like "really? can we just eat our ice cream?  And no I don't normally "double fist it" with ice cream but I'm always glad to hold Chris's and lick it enough so that it doesn't melt while he takes pictures.

And then it was time to leave and Charlie and Ivy said goodbye.

Look familiar?.......

Ivy 17 months and Charlie 2 weeks

The next day was a lazy day for us. We got up and just hung around the house and then went up to Chris's Mamaw and Papaw's for lunch. Ivy loaded up on mac-n-cheese and Charlie was SERIOUS about some corn.

The rest of the afternoon we just hung around and spent time with Chris's family. And then hung around some more and spent time with Jamie and Heather. Our babies napped and they played. It was a beautiful afternoon.

They were milk buddies....

...then they were "lets show each other our big belly" buddies.

Then it was time to say good bye again. I asked Charlie for a hug and he reached out his arm and I was so excited...then he smacked me square in the forehead. Yeah I think he loves me!

Then the next day it was time to leave. We were gonna get up early and leave early like we always plan to do....pfffft! Whatever! We set the alarm for 7 but I ignored it. Then at 8:30 woke up to realize we were late for breakfast with Mamaw and Papaw....ahhhh! But they didn't care, she just reheated everything for us. This woman makes some homemade cocoa that is delicious! Ivy loves biscuits but she really loves them with cocoa on them...Oh yeah, I do too! We left and went to the Mast General Store/Candy Barrel Annex.  They have big barrels full of all sorts of candy.  We wanted to take Ivy in there to get some treats and to let her pick out some treats to send to Uncle Cliffy...she picked him out (with no help or guidance from me) jumbo sweettarts, pop rocks, and tootsie rolls. We had a blast!

Then we head to the park behind the annex and let Ivy play in the creek and on the playground.  It was a blast and Ivy loved it even thought the water was freezing!

Oh and Ivy got to have her first RC Cola and Moonpie. I always get one but from now on I will be sharing with her because let me tell you...her southern roots kicked in when she tasted that combo.

She's always careful with that first bite of something new...

...but she got into it.

She loved the RC too but wouldn't let me help her and well...you can see the result, but we just laughed about it.

Then we walked back to the car and got cleaned up and drove home. It was a nice relaxing drive. We skipped the interstate so it would be a little more relaxing and just drove down 221 and enjoyed the scenery.  Ivy napped a little and sang a little and we read books.  And no pee pee accidents in the car on the way up to the mountains or back.  And that is very exciting for a Mama!

I can't wait until we go back in October!