Making Memories on the Mountain...

On Sunday the family ventured up to Grandfather Mountain in Linville, NC. This is a family tradition that we started in 2008. The very first thing I did when I stopped working was plan a weekend trip there. And this was our third year in a row. I always look forward to this trip each October. I'm one of those people who dreams of owning a mountain house rather than a beach house. This year, however, was much warmer than usual and the colors weren't as vibrant. (I'll take the cold any day.) Still, we had a blast and enjoyed a lovely, lovely day in each others company.... We also added a stop-off trip to Blowing Rock on the way home. Blowing Rock has a very sweet little downtown area with cute little shops and a great central park/playground. It's also fairly dog friendly so the dogs joined us on a walk around town.

Here are a few of my favorite photos....

The clouds were really beautiful all day. Pictures never do justice but I tried to get some decent shots. It was one of those perfect Carolina Blue sky days...

We picnicked right near this spot and I fell in love with this majestic tree.

As we were leaving home, Sophie insisted on bringing a hippo toy from when she was younger. We tried to talk her out of it....to no avail. As it turns out, the hippo received several nice walks on Grandfather Mountain. Very cute...

Kenzie never rests. She guards us so fiercely. It make me want to cry sometimes. She's such an amazing soul. My furry soul mate. No question.

Hubbs gets the last shot. Of course. Who gets to be this sweet AND this gorgeous? Ugh. And the best part? He has no friggin' clue. Not one.

Did I die and go to Paper Heaven?

Well, no. But I did go to the Holiday Open House at Paper Source last night. You know, I've been frequenting that store for about a decade now and had never taken a class there. Seems silly knowing how much I love paper. Well, thanks to my friend Leslie, I attended a class last night. It was SO MUCH FUN. I felt like a kid back in elementary school doing crafts. I was in my own little world creating cards and having the time of my life. So I wanted to share a few of the cards I made last night. I am so proud.

Which is your favorite?

I am already diligently working on my holiday cards (Hanukkah and Christmas). I'll have to reveal them later because most of the recipients read this blog. But I can't wait because just making them makes me grin from ear to ear. I've decided I really need to win the lottery so I can buy all the supplies I am now dreaming about.....

If you're lucky enough to have a Paper Source in your area, do yourself a favor and attend a class. You won't be sorry!!!

PS - I forgot to mention the best part. My raffle ticket was pulled for a giveaway so I received a bunch of items for FREE. See, I really did die and go to Paper Heaven!!! :-)

A Weekend Respite With The Family

After all the "camp talk" going on in our house lately, we had a great idea this past weekend. Let's camp out in our backyard ~ it'll be good practice for Sophie before we take her out in the woods.

So let's just say that there was a small snafu with our tent and it ended up in a jumbled up pile in the yard. Well, who needs a tent? We decided to enjoy a camping night anyway.

We pulled out the grill....to use in lieu of a fire pit....collected some sticks and paper.....brought out all the s'more goodies....played some great tunes...and had an awesome time.

The whole family joined in on the fun. Sophie made sure all of her animals had a place to sit by the fire....

Later, our sweet little muffin ended up falling asleep in one of our sleeping bags. Hubbell stayed curled up at the end of the sleeping bag keeping watch over "his girl".

Kenzie hopped up on the lounge chair and snuggled with me. LOVE this schnoz shot of her. She is just too delicious....

Mom & Dad (aka Audrey & Alain)....well, they hung out drinking wine and sitting mesmerized by the fire until about 1:00 in the morning.

It was a perfect, perfect night.

I really love my family.

Reflections on the Goose's 4th Birthday...

Things have been so crazy lately....going to NYC, executing all the plans for Sophie's birthday, heading to the beach, a five-party weekend....whew....we've been moving fast around here. Now that we're starting to have some time to breathe, I find myself reflecting on the past four years, since a lovely little being named Sophie entered our lives.

Hanging with Hubbs the day before Soph entered the world.

As with all parents, it's hard to believe that our sweet little girl is already four. What happened to the time? Where did it go? I think we all have a specific child age in mind when we imagine having children and being parents. For me, Sophie's coming into the age that always filled my dreams.

How would I describe our daughter? Inquisitive, curious, imaginative, independent, needs to be constantly challenged, sensitive and, at the moment, she's firmly ensconced in the question phase. The other day she asked me why dinosaurs also poop. I asked, "how do you know dinosaurs poop". She responded that she'd seen it. Hmmm. "What did it look like" asked this very curious Mom. Like big green balls. Hmmmm, it must've been a vegetarian dinosaur then, I told her. Our conversations are very much like this nowadays. And it's so much fun!!!

Sophie, admiring her 4th Birthday Cake

Yesterday we were riding in the car, on the way home from a party, and she said to me, "Mommy, you're always happy". Well, I can't imagine a greater compliment coming from anyone but it was especially nice coming from my own child. Of course, for her, it's just an observation. For me, it just made my heart warm, snuggly and happy. I love the brutal honesty that kids have at this age, the ability to say whatever they're thinking & feeling. I hope she can hold onto that for as long as possible. The one thing I know for sure is that I'll be enjoying it for as long as I can....

Being at five parties this past weekend, most of those for Soph's school friends, I had a unique opportunity to speak to other parents at length. The one characteristic our daughter possesses that other people mentioned most often is her fierce independence. I remember being pregnant....rubbing my belly....and wishing for my child to be independent. Well, it appears I got my wish. It's the second most obvious trait she picked up from Mom (after her dreamy blue eyes). It makes me happy and I just hope this independence serves her well in life. In this phase of her life, it just makes parenting her a little more difficult. I thought she'd grow out of the "I'll do it myself" phase but not so much.

Sophie, at age three

Being four, Soph is also starting to share interests with both of us. For me, I ADORE singing and dancing with her. She also LOVES music and it appears we share similar tastes. Think Party in the U.S.A. (can't believe I just admitted that!), Empire State of Mind, Hey Soul Sister. Also, one of our new favorite pastimes is playing Candy Land and Chutes & Ladders.....two of my most favorite games when I was little. So these days when we have fun it's actually on both of our parts. How nice to finally get here!!!

Soph has also started writing. She loves to spend time writing her name and asking us to spell words so she can write them out. Can you hear my heart pitter-pattering? This is just the first step that leads to reading. I love to just sit with her and write things.

Soph's Writing

The other day Sophie told me that she wants to be a builder when she grows up. When I asked what type of builder she said she wants to make buildings. So we often discuss what type of building we'd create if we could. Could she also be a dreamer? I think yes. I think I lucked out on that one....

This beautiful little soul. It almost killed me but She made her way into this world with her (very large) eyes WIDE OPEN......still to this day the most alert newborn I've ever seen/met. I can still clearly recall how she'd look all around the hospital rooms and stare at all the people who came to visit her. This tiny little newborn.....laying with limbs all akimbo under the bilirubin lights.....shades on.....soaking in as much as she could, whatever life had to offer. From then until now, she hasn't changed much....just growing more into that alert nature.....full of curiosity.....and fiercely independent. With crazy wild curls and those killer blue eyes. Four years old. Unbelievable.

Our alert baby girl.

Sophie, you are the sunshine in my small little sky....shining, blinding, warming my heart, body, mind and soul. I love you, Goose.

S'More to Come!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

We had a very busy weekend with five parties on the schedule. Amazingly, we made it to all of them and managed to have a great time. Sophie was definitely tired though....from all the fun! What am I saying? I was also tired with all the driving, preparing gifts, etc... Whew.

On Friday a friend asked me to help plan/style her son's birthday party. Of course I said yes. So I'm very excited and thick in the midst of making the plans. It's a 6th birthday party and it will have a camping theme. The party is scheduled for October 17th. I can't wait. I've posted some of my inspiration below....s'more to come....

Image via Scissor Variations via HipHipHooray

Image via LuLu Blue via HipHipHooray

Image via PassionforParties

Sea Pines Forest Preserve

Since I've chosen to only talk about Hunting Island thus far when recounting our vacation, you might be thinking that I don't like Hilton Head much. But that would be wrong. There are many things I like about the island. I just tend to like places more undisturbed and natural. However, having said that, I think the powers that be work really hard to keep Hilton Head as natural as possible considering how commercialized it is. On the actual island, my favorite place is the Nature Preserve in Sea Pines.

The main attraction here is the alligators. On this trip we only spotted two. Last year we saw many. I'm not sure why this is. Last year we visited at dusk...perhaps that is the difference. Anyhow, my first alligator sighting was this tiny little guy peeking out of the water.....

I also LOVE the egrets. Look at this Great Egret. They're so graceful and majestic.

The Spanish Moss is particularly thick here. If you choose to drive through the preserve, you will see a lot of this. It's magical...

All three of us fell in love with this bird ~ the double-crested cormorant. We watched several of them heading out into the water and diving for fish. The best part? Watching them dry out their wings in between dives. Their wings aren't waterproof. It's so cool. They really are amazing!

The best part of the day? The comic relief provided by this sign..... It still cracks me up. If you're unfortunate enough to fall in or stupid enough to dive in, and if you're lucky enough to survive, we will slap your ass with a ticket. You either lose or you lose.

The Marsh Boardwalk on Hunting Island

Aahhh, more on Hunting Island. On Sophie's second birthday, we discovered Hunting Island for the first time and took a little walk on the Marsh Boardwalk there. I can't even describe how peaceful this place is for me. If you're really quiet, you can hear the thousands of fiddler crabs fiddling around beneath the boardwalk. There's only a very distant whir of traffic from someplace. Occasionally a plane flying over. Otherwise, only the sounds of nature exist to keep you company. It's simply divine. We went there again this year and I enjoyed it just as much. I don't know when Sophie will have her first lasting memories. But, if I had my choice, those memories would come at a moment like this....

Okay, so if you ever find yourself on Hunting Island, you'll find yourself driving on a road like this one. Very lush and green with lots of Spanish Moss.

Keep going until you see this sign on the right side of the road....

Park your car in an available space (although I've never really seen another car there!). Head to the path. You'll immediately see this ahead...

Walk along the boardwalk and enjoy all the crabs below and an occasional egret flying by. As you continue, you'll come to this path which is on a small hummock.

You'll once again come to a boardwalk which will end at this lovely platform. The birds love to rest here. I have so many friggin' photos of birds sitting on this platform. I could stand here for hours. The water slowly rolling by and all the birds in the distance.....it's heavenly.