Payton's first week

Payton started the first grade a week ago. She met her teacher on the Friday before and finally said she was excited about going back to school. I think Payton really enjoys being home and playing with all her dolls. But in the end, she decided going back to school would be okay.

She had no qualms about the first day. She walked in, sat at her desk and blew me a kiss good-bye.

Ian's First Day of Pre-K

My baby's getting too big, too fast!

Today was the first day back for Ian. Preston Meadow goes back a full week ahead of Plano ISD, so Payton and I took him to school this morning.

He didn't even hesitate. He unloaded his backpack like an old pro and sat down at a table ready to work. I gave him a hug good-bye. He said 'Bye Mom. I love you.' sigh. Then he hugged Payton good-bye and we were out of there.

When I picked him up from school, he was full of grins. I asked him how school was and he said, 'It was Great!' - Tony the Tiger style. His teacher, Ms. Kelly, said he had a good day. He said he ate all of his ham and cheese sandwich. And he said, in what I would consider almost disbelief, that Ms. Kelly said he only had to eat 2 bites! of banana before he could eat his cookie. :)

Later in the afternoon, Ian mentioned that school was short. I think he meant that it had gone by very quickly. It makes me happy that he's so happy with his new teacher and the school :)

They made this apple for the first day back.....

The Biltmore

While in NC, we went to the Biltmore Estate. I had been there with the kids before, but this was the first time for Scott, Jill and her kids.

It's just a beautiful estate with an interesting history.

The kids enjoyed running around the gardens. They thought the indoor pool and bowling lanes were cool, but got tired towards the end of the tour (it took an hour to make it all the way through the house). Of course, it wasn't anything that a round of ice cream couldn't cure ;)

Canoeing the French Broad River

Scott was really excited to find out that you could kayak down any number of rivers close to Asheville. He and Blake conferred about a couple of options and decided that a trip down the French Broad would be the best choice. Let me go on the record now....I was not so sure about the whole thing. I don't have a very good track record with boats.

In the end, I decided that the potential fun outweighed the potential problems. So we went on a 7 mile canoe/kayak trip down the French Broad River. Scott took the kayak and Ian and I volunteered to take the canoe and Payton. First off, can I say, thank God the River was very wide. I didn't think that handling a canoe all by myself would be so difficult. I did okay as long as I didn't take a break, or get into some swirly current, or as long as the wind didn't pick up. Good Grief! After 6 miles of it, I was so freakin' tired, I was close to tears. So Scott and I switched water craft in the middle of the river. The kids were a little worried about this maneuver (and actually so was I - I think I would have switched craft a mile earlier, but I didn't want to flip one or both boats). Anyway, we managed; and I was much happier in my easily maneuverable kayak for the rest of the trip.

Despite, my little drama, the river was beautiful and the kids had a great time. We bordered Biltmore lands for a good portion of the trip. We even got to see glimpses of the great house and the Inn there on the property.

The Pruitts were old pros at canoeing and kayaking and left us in their wake (we were about 10 minutes behind). But I like to say that we just got more for our money ;)

After the river trip, we ate at 12 Bones BBQ restaurant. It was super yummy! I highly recommend their jalapeño cheese grits and their corn pudding.

Trip to North Carolina

We just got back from a week long trip to North Carolina where we spent most of our time with our good friends, the Pruitts. They live in Asheville, a couple of miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was absolutely gorgeous there. Since we didn't have to contend with over 100 degree heat, we tried to spend a lot of time outside. We sat out on the patio every chance we got.  I think the hottest it got was 92 degrees and we laughed :)

I got to go for a couple of runs - up and down hills - in the cool of the morning (it was only between 68-72!)  And I got to see a couple of flocks of turkeys :) I've never run up on a flock of turkeys before.

So one of the excursions we took was up on the Parkway.

We went blackberry picking at Graveyard Fields which runs along a creek where we ate a picnic lunch. The kids had a great time wading in the cold water. And they really enjoyed hunting up the wild blackberries.

And the adults enjoyed the yummy blackberry cobbler that Jill cooked up, even if the small berries were a little crunchy :)