The Top of the Nut

This is the journey up towards and at the top of Hickory Nut Falls. (Pictures from prior visits and from the bottom of the falls are on here, too- from older blogs.) IT WAS GORGEOUS! We couldn't believe that you could actually WALK on the rocks and far up onto the upper layers of rock where the natural spring begins. WARNING: These pictures don't do it justice!

On Top of the World!

More pics atop the mountains near Chimney Rock. More waterfalls, too!

Bye Bye Motorcycle!!!

We did a little eBay selling a few days ago and traded some motorcycle for some cash. We went in yesterday to go vehicle searching at a bunch of local dealerships and have been searching on eBay for a reliable trade for the Land Rover. We went back to a place today, haggled a bit, and walked out with ANOTHER Land Rover! This one is much more reliable, making our drive much more at ease and our family a bit safer. Here's a few shots of the new addition...

Exterior View

Outside shots of the new Rover. It's a 2002 Discovery 2- more room in the back, more upgrades, more sunroofs with shades, more LATCH system, bigger tires, smoother ride, NO DINGS, and no work to do before NC inspections!!! Actually, the place we bought it already did the oil change, inspections, and no dealer fees added on! THEN... they gave us passes to go to dinner on them! GRRREAT place to buy a car- local and have been there since 1940. Very happy with it and we feel a better trade for the motorcycle we sold on eBay. They picked it up at midnight last night and it gave us the downpayment and took care of half of the bill for us. Just a few small payments and we'll own the baby.

Fishin' Fun!!!

Ayden has been talking about fishing for almost a year now, so we finally decided to break down and get some rods for the kids. McKayleigh picked a Barbie one (of course!) and Ayden selected a Pirates of the Caribbean one (of course!). We had a BLAST out by our pond. Took the Land Rover down with us to test it's off-road abilities (passed!) and a few chairs. Caught about seven fish total! The first two were on our first casts out! Took a while to get the other guys... but we discovered their hiding spot and caught the rest! We plan on fishing again tomorrow, too!

Tumblin'...

Ayden post-falling into the water on top... he was a little upset to be wet. So I swapped his undies- didn't make him happy, so Andrew went sans-shirt and tied it up on him. He called the knot on the back his "ball". Hahaha!

Catchin' Time!

The kids touching and catching the fish... Ayden is here in Andrew's shirt he had to take off since Ayden took a tumble in our pond pretty much right when we got there!

My Handsome Men

Cute shot of the boys doing their chores. I am so blessed and am so in love with them both...

Busy Beavers...

The boys washing the truck. Ayden doing the best he can at spot washing...

Toot Toot, Ahhhh, Beep, Beep...

...workin' at the carwash, yeah... Pictures of my men working hard on the Rover. Maybe we have another hard working deatailer in the family...

Captain Ayden Sparrow!

Our little Ayden is OBSESSED with Pirates of the Caribbean! Here he is in his FAVORITE new outfit- his Captain Jack Sparrow getup. He wore the bandana ALL DAY yesterday, and woke up this morning asking where his, "Capin Jack Parrow?!?" is. Once again, we have a little pirates roaming these waters! He is so flipping adorable it should be illegal...

Day at the Park

A new park we found by my Gramma's in Rutherfordton. It had about three Little League fields (yeah!!!), a basketball, and tennis court. Also had a pretty cool set of playground equipment and some swings. Certainly can't beat some of the ones in Mount Dora, but we liked finding a place to let them run around a bit. ...like the two acres we have isn't enough! :) Also, a picture of our ONE and first flower!!! There are about eight of these planted on the side of the house, but- alas... the freeze took the others! This is the only surviving flower and buds. A beautiful iris has been born!!!