September Break

 We started out with a bit of work at the beginning of break.  There was some clean-up in the back yard we needed to do + some clean-out of the garage.  "Bagster" was filled and picked up a couple of days later.  Felt good to see the junk go away.

We found some fun things along the way from college and high school including this photo of Todd his roommate took, this fish print which we designed for tee-shirts which are now ragged and gone, my thesis project documents, a cool set of vellum drawings Todd did + a few other gems.

We also prepped for a visit from Rose Marie... cleaning inside the house a bit as well.   (Although didn't get as far along on this area as hoped.)  Thankfully she is not upset if things aren't perfect!  

We picked her up at the airport.  The first thing Mercer noticed:  he's taller than her.  I wanted to snap a photo with his smug look on his face right there at the airport, but the expression was gone in a moment.  

On her first night with us, the entertainment was "fluffy" slime-making - so the house smelled like shaving cream!  

The next day, we packed up the rental van and headed to the North Carolina mountains.  Mom drove over from central North Carolina and met us.  We stayed in a little 1920's renovated cottage for a few days that had a bit of an artistic flair, a fire-pit, a yurt and lots of porches with outside seating.  

Unfortunately, it rained the entire time we were there - so we did not get to really enjoy the porches or the fire-pit.  But - we had a good time none-the-less.  

I had literal cravings for some gourmet mexican food that Todd and I had more than 10 years ago - so we went out to eat there (sorry to the grandmas for "demanding" the food that Todd and I had such a great experience with years before). Ha!  

The main attraction in Asheville was for us to go to the Biltmore Estate while Chihuly's glass sculptures were there.  These first two photos are not ours, of course, rather professional shots -- but -- a nice documentation of the images we want to remember. 

As mentioned - it was rainy - but we were watching the weather and decided to go through the gardens before touring the home.   This turned out to be a good move, as we only had a tiny bit of drizzle on us.  It did pour down rain, but we were inside the house at the time.  

Does the fish look familiar?  More ornate than the one that we shot a photo of in Savannah years ago and made tee-shirts of.  Thought it was kind of cool that we came across the image earlier in the week and then found another fish downspout at Biltmore later in the week! 

Isabella was funny - taking photos in the conservatory - holding up dozens of visitors while she knelt on the ground with my phone aiming up at the ceiling (with super focus and her tongue sticking out of her mouth!)   Several visitors had to say how cute it was... and how they were impressed that a young child was interested in the glass.  Here's the shot of Mercer "towering over" Rose Marie.  (not really - but he's still proud that he's a bit taller!)

Todd and I have seen Chihuly a number of times.  There are a lot of the same things in various exhibits:  glass stakes in the ground, chandeliers, "floating" balls, sculptures on a stand.  One of my favorite things was something new:  these balls in the boat.  Such a lovely arrangement!!

We ate lunch at the cafe that was located in the stables after walking the gardens... as seen - they are pretty gorgeous stables!   (brick floors, heavy timber trusses, cool mechanisms to open a bank of windows all at once)  Lunch was just the fuel needed to continue with the tour inside the home.

My mom has been to the Biltmore before, but Todd's mom had not.  Todd and I have been before as well - so we were "ok" racing through the house keeping up with the kids who were not that into it. The kids did pretty good considering that it was a very adult thing to do, so they were rewarded with ice cream that afternoon.  "The grandmas" were able to walk through together at their own pace so that worked out well for each of them.  

Here are a couple of shots of the outside of the stable and surrounding area.  Still pretty nice, though!

Todd and I went to the Biltmore Village - still on the estate property so we could visit the winery afterward while the "grandmas" went to the museum and to a coffee shop.  We took the kids to a playground that was on-site in the Village after that so they could run around and blow off some steam.  


There were a couple of additional Chihuly installations in the Village - outside of the estate and gardens, so that was an unexpected bonus.

It was a long, long day.  We picked up pizza to take back to the cottage and played Left-Right-Center dice game 'til it was time to crash.   
































The following morning, my mom headed home while Todd, his mom, the kids and I ventured back into downtown Asheville.(Yes - the playground was wet - but they didn't care!)

We visited the Grove Park Inn quickly (we were wondering if there's any stake to the claim of the Inn based on the Groves family lineage - ha!)  We also visited the galleries that are adjacent to the Inn and met up with a friend to chat for awhile.  After that, we visited one of Todd's projects before driving home.

There are SOOOO many pictures from the Biltmore.  At every angle was a photo-worthy view.  (hence the # of photos from this "short" trip) 

Once back in Atlanta, we started to getting back to normal... Mercer and I worked on cub scout stuff.  He also had a baseball scrimmage that Rose Marie was able to attend.  That evening, we ate dinner on "Uncle Orie's" boat as the sun was setting on Lake Altoona.  After dinner, we cruised around the lake a bit more and looked at the stars.  

The final day of break, Todd had a church dedication so I took Rose Marie to the airport.  Feeling the need to do something "kiddish" -- I took ours to a cool playground I've been wanting to visit in town after the airport... on our way home.  


































Mercer also requested to have a "Mercer Fun Day" so Todd took him and a friend bowling / to play video games after we got back from the playground.  (Todd snapped a photo after he made a strike! What a great final achievement of his fall break!)

The break wasn't necessarily relaxing - but it was productive.  

- The cleaning of the yard / garage / general clean-up for our guest needed to happen.  
- The packing and driving for our trip to Asheville was quick and a bit of work, but we are glad we went.  
- There wasn't anything "huge" that we did over the week, but we did make some nice memories with members of 3 different generations of our little family unit!