Tuesday, October 13, 2015

mountain life, take 2

We enjoyed our second annual "family retreat" in the mountains this past weekend. Basically that means we gather with all of Matt's siblings and their spouses and kids and cram ourselves into a super awesome cabin where we eat junk food and have fun all weekend. Calling it a retreat just makes it sound more legit.

Last year (and like, go look at the pictures of my TEENY TINY BABY and shed a few tears with me, will you?) we met up in Maggie Valley, NC. This year we trekked all the way to Boone...a much further drive (well, for the Athens crowd), but well worth it. We went a few weeks earlier, too, to hopefully catch 'peak leaf season' (which is A Thing), and that was DEFINITELY a good call. Oh, and we stayed an extra day longer. Also a really good call. So that's your basic recipe for a great family retreat, I guess. Go to an awesome mountain town during peak leaf season and don't scrimp on your cabin rental. Jacuzzis on the porch are not optional.

I'll let my (millions of) pictures do the rest of the talking.


I love watching Millie get to know our extended family!! She took a special liking to her Uncle Tom this weekend- sometimes she'd run up to him to pick her up and read her books even when Matt and I were in the room! That really made me smile.


The porch at this cabin (and really, we shouldn't be saying "cabin" here. It was waaaaay nicer than a cabin should be) seriously brought its A game. Saturday was pretty rainy and gross, but the porch (with hot tub; did I mention that?) was covered and had plenty of rocking chairs, swings, and blankets to keep us occupied and let us enjoy the (wet, fog-surrounded) leaves.

We didn't want to waste a day in Boone, though, so we headed to explore Linville Caverns- an "excellent rainy day activity," the webpage promised. 

The webpage didn't lie- we had a lot of fun! And so did the rest of the state of North Carolina. I'm pretty sure we were all there. But oh well. I've never been in a cavern/cave (is there a difference??) before, and I thought this was really interesting. And not scary- it wasn't the kind of thing where you're crawling through narrow holes. You remain fully upright at all times, and the majority of the tour is wheelchair accessible, if that tells you anything about how non-spelunkingish this tour was.

On Sunday the weather turned gorrrrrgeous and we headed out for a hike. Again...the rest of North Carolina the entire US population east of the Mississippi joined us. For real though. Leaf season enthusiasts don't mess around.


We borrowed a hiking backpack from my friend and Millie loved being able to see everything, pat Matt's head, and eat snacks/drink water as the Spirit led her. She was also (not surprisingly) the Rough Ridge Trail Sunshine Committee, waving and clapping for every single person we passed- which was somewhere in the ballpark of ten billion. She makes more friends during a two hour hike than I've made in my entire lifetime. 

I'm not much of a hiker, but I really enjoyed this one. It was muddy and crowded, but the leaves and views were just incredible...and also, happy Millie in a backpack. It really doesn't get much better. 

The following picture is too amazing to smoosh into a collage, so please sit down before you pass out over the cuteness.


Ugh. For real.

Sadly, like all good things, the weekend had to come to an end. I'm not a huge fan of car trips, but even I couldn't complain much about yesterday's.


A good book, a breathtaking view, and a happily sleeping baby? I'll take it.

But now we're home, and it's kind of a bummer. The best thing about today was this little nugget in her fuchsia overall dress thingy. 



And when she runs to me and hugs my legs while I'm just trying to get a decent picture?? Ummm it's like the best thing in the world. Decent pictures are overrated.

In addition to returning to Real Life today, I also made a return visit to a place I haven't been in awhile: the reproductive endocrinologists' clinic. Womp womp. I guess we'll chat more about that later, because for now, my BFFs Laurelei and Rory are calling me to come hang out, so I gotta jet. I'll just leave you with one last picture that didn't make it to a collage. I'll let you decide whether the most amazing thing about the shot is Millie's adorableness or the way that the backpack straps smoosh 'the girls' in a most attractive fashion- ha!


17 comments:

  1. 1. This looks like an awesome trip and I'm jealous even though I just had my own getaway over the weekend, too.
    2. Leg hugs from toddlers are the best!
    3. Interested to hear more about this RE visit you speak of...

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  2. There's something about calling an event a retreat that makes it that much better. I love the colors of the trees, stunning! That picture of Matt and Millie is the cutest thing, almost as cute as her hugging your legs. What an adorable little girl you have! :)

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  3. You all are so photogenic, I can't stand it!

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  4. That strap...it can be moved up or down...to accommodate different bodies....BUT that picture is hysterical so maybe it's best you didn't learn of that handy feature before your "retreat". 😂😂😂 And as a northern girl recently transplanted to the south I'm SO jealous of your leaf season pictures! I miss fall terribly!

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    1. Hahaha- sorry, for some reason I didn't get a notification for this comment so I can't email reply!! But anyway- DEFINITELY did not know I could move that strap! Ha!!! If I ever use a pack again, I'll be sure to look for that handy feature...but then again, what would there be to laugh at??!

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  5. Looks like you all had a great time. Millie is just so sweet. And I'm eager to hear about your RE visit! :)

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  6. Ahhh so jealous of the pretty leaves! And the tasty food and family togetherness, of course. And yes, anxiously awaiting RE updates!

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  7. Fun trip!! We just got back from our yearly CT vacation and I am already wishing I was back in the land of beautiful leaves and a real fall season. :)

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  8. That's for realz the most amazing post ever. Hard to pick just one thing I like best. Maybe I'll stick with Millie's super happy smiles and ignore the boob smoosh! Living in New England we enjoy the gorgeous changing leave right in our backyard. Every year I'm amazed by the beautiful and colorful the leaves.

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  9. Those leaves! It for real looks like a Bob Ross painting! Drew has an overall dress where the skirt part is a pattern and also a pair of overall shorts with a ruffle - she refuses to wear either. Crushes me inside. So you better doubly enjoy Millie's cuteness in her overall dress! What episode are you on for GG? I forget - have you watched it before?

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  10. The colors of those leaves are GORGEOUS!!!!!

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  11. This looks like such a fun trip!! Love the picture of Millie kissing Matt, so precious. I totally think Millie is laughing at the boob smash in that last pic! haha

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  12. Why are the NC mountains the most beautiful place ever?!? Every winter I decide I want to move to Asheville, but then spring comes. Went to The Highlands, NC in June 2014 and noticed that not only did the most well appointed "cabins" have hot tubs on their covered back porches, they also had fireplaces with chimneys. Whaaaaa??? This blew my mind. Genius.

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  13. Matt and Millie kissing! And her overall dress! She is too much!

    I'm excited about hearing about your RE visit! I was thinking the other day that, in the world in which they can do almost anything with reproductive technology, it is very sad that what you can't do is hire J to make you another Millie. You completely won the gene pool with this baby! You should be able to get more of them! :)

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    1. Yikes. I'm sure you intended nothing other than complete adoration of Millie, but this is pretty insensitive, especially towards her birth mother.

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  14. I agree with Jane, you are all so photogenic! The last pic is my favourite.

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  15. Okay, you are my second blog friend to write about visiting Linville Caverns in the past week. What craziness is this blog world bringing to my life?!? Also, I want to go have a mountain retreat right now. You make it sound like a lot of fun. I'm definitely making sure my next weekend away involves a hot tub.

    And I LOVE Millie's pink overall dress. So cute!

    I'm praying for you about the RE visit. I hope it's good, or at least okay, news.

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