Memorial Day Weekend

Lots and lots of pictures for this post but not as many words...mostly because I think the pictures speak for themselves but also because I'm not feeling very "wordy" today.  Hope you enjoy.

We spent Memorial Day in Boone again and we had lots and lots of fun! We visited a lot with Jamie, Heather, Charlie and Baby Brady. We went to a festival in Todd, NC that was really cute. There was a guy playing the guitar and singing and Ivy and Charlie loved it.  Of course any kind of live music Ivy assumes is an open invitation to dance.  She even got Charlie to dance some but he soon got bored with it....

...but not Ivy...she danced and danced and danced...

...she would have danced all day if that guy hadn't quit singing.

We ate breakfast at a wonderful place called Knights on Main Sunday morning.  Chris was sneaky and got some pictures of Ivy and I coloring while we waited for our table.  Ivy noticed before I did...as you can see I was taking my coloring very seriously.

I don't usually like art forms that require kids to "stay in the lines" but this crayola wonder color stuff is great for the car or for long waits at restaraunts.

We headed over to Moses Cone Manor to see some crafts and we found lots and lots of horses.

One guy was even nice enough to let Ivy sit on top of his horse for a little bit.  She was in heaven.  Maybe she'll be a natural like I was as a kid.  Oh how I wish horses were still a part of my life.

Chris took us down to one of his favorite spots on the New River to play.  When we were crossing on the rocks we noticed these yellow swallowtails.  They are pretty common up there but we have never seen this many in one spot!  Whatever was in that moss must have been really delish because at one point I bet there were 50 of them!  Ivy was interested in getting a closer look but as you can see the bees liked that little patch of moss too so we kept our distance.

I stepped into the river with Ivy and I instantly got cramps in my feet.  I have never felt water so cold.

Ivy was not deterred by the cold water in the least.  She had a blast.

She would have stood next to that river all day and night just throwing rocks if I would have let her...

...and I would have let her if we didn't have other obligations later that day.

This picture was on the ride to her Great Mamaw and Papaws house.  She wanted the windows down and since it was only 75 degrees we obliged.  I think she looks so beautiful in this picture with her hair blowing in the wind even though you can tell she is SO very tired.

We spent that evening with Jamie and Heather.  Ivy had lots of fun meeting all of Aunt Heather's horses.

I like to call Charlie "Sir Charles" for no particular reason.  But he is adorable and he doesn't really act like he loves me as much as I love him but I know he does because I bring him cupcakes.

One of the many games played that night - it was called "Pull me Charlie!"

For dinner we roasted hot dogs.  And when I say we "roasted" hot dogs I mean on a real stick plucked from a tree over a real fire.  My heart was very happy.  My heart got even happier when we roasted marshmellows...on a real stick over a real fire.

Before we left on Monday we took a family hike around Price Lake.  The trail is 2.3 miles round trip and Ivy walked at least a mile of that by herself.  I was very impressed. Walking around that lake under the trees made me happy when I would look up and see this.  Natural beauty.

Ivy got to sit on a fallen tree across the path and as you can see she was very excited about it but also a little nervous because it was a bit high.

This was taken after our hike.  The sun was brutal but Chris and I felt like we needed to get this picture.  We  took this exact same hike and picture nine years ago.  The only significant change to the picture other than gray hairs is the gorgeous little girl between us.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend.