Late to post, I know…I seem to be all kinds of behind these days. YIKES! But anyway, last weekend the Willettes, the Karakuses and BB and Babs came to stay with us at the Cliffs a Walnut Cove (again, this is the closest Cliffs property to High Carolina where someday, many moons from now, we will build a Mountain house of our own:)). We really did have a fun weekend…of course it was sometimes hectic, but mostly relaxing. With BB and Babs help it was WAY more relaxing than it would have been without their attendance. Example: on Friday night they swept Kate and Aston (Mia wasn’t there yet…they arrived a little later that night) from underneath us and took them out to an early dinner so we could hangout on the screened in porch by the fire and leisurely get ready to go out to eat later when they returned. Pure bliss!!
The home we stayed in was perfect. It was a 5 bedroom 3 level home so plenty of room for all of us and plenty of closets for the kids to sleep in:) Yes…that’s what we do…set up pack-n-plays in closets so they don’t hear or see us in the middle of the night:)
Mei and me on the porch…
Babs showing the kids how to roast marshmallows and make smores…
Both Aston and Kate were not so sure about this new food…I was so sure he would love it but I was WRONG!
Love how Anne is all lickin’ her lips here…I think it’s “baby bean” (as she calls it) in her belly talkin’ 
Aston puttin’ the moves on his Kate Kate…
Kate was all about sitting in baby Stelly’s bumbo. We called her baby Kate and Aston would feed her and pat her on her back when she needed to burp…it was funny to watch.
Along with the bumbo, Stell brought her door jam bouncy…another 2 year old magnet…Kate and Mia took many turns in it…
Cuddly Willettes…
Aston and Kate running in and out of some old phone booths in Asheville next door to the restaurant where we had breakfast. They were squealing like they always do and a security guard came up to us and asked that we tell our kids to stop screaming…it was a really odd place to ask something like that…we were like “ok…we’ll just go flip the off button on their 2 year old backs…”
Here’s the video:
Mr. Bruce with the choice seat between Aston and Kate in downtown Asheville for breakfast at Chorizo’s…
The whole gang…it was a little chaotic and to get Aston to sit was a chore…
Riding around High Carolina we have started this bad habit of letting Aston sit in the front seat on a lap (all dirt roads hardly ever see another car…but still)…Jeff snapped a few “side view mirror” photos on one of these occasions…
A bath photo…this trip…
A bath photo…last trip…(Blowing Rock, NC in June 2009)…Mia’s always the splasher:)
I purchased these glow in the dark Halloween pj’s for the kids…they were very cute but didn’t get a great photo…
We all took a hike on the Walnut Cove trails Sunday Morning. Mama Jeff (as Kate calls him) was the tour guide. As you can see he was the only one outfitted in full on hiking gear…even the sippy cup on the side of the backpack could be mistaken for a canteen:) Apparently he forgot to send the rest of us the memo:)
They would throw pine cones and leaves off the bridges and watch them float down stream…
Then Mama Jeff introduced large branches to the game as a way to move the clan along. He would throw in a big stick/log and then have the kids chase it down stream along the trail. Otherwise we were stopping to pick up every pine cone/leaf to throw in the stream. I love this picture…they spotted the log coming and they both have the same reaction down to the stance…can you tell they are related?
I like this Mom picture too…looks like the women are left to take care of the young while the men are out hunting and gathering:)
A little caterpillar fun…
Just liked this one of Kate…
Snack time at a picnic table along the way…
Just hanging around: Kate was the tree monkey of the group…there were several low hanging trees and she would just latch on and dangle for what seemed like forever…very impressive Kate Kate. Aston and Mia gave it their best try… 
and Mei hung from me…she was in this position for most of the hike:)
“How much longer Babs?” It looks like he may be saying this but he would have walked another 2 miles given the choice
Fun times! For more great photo’s see Kate’s blog…
5 comments:
Kate - these pictures are great!! Looks like such a fun trip. Here are my favorites --
You and Stellyn on porch - love her little smile
Babs & kids at fireplace - love it
Mia splashing - hilarious
Women w/ kiddos on hike - so true, does look like that!
Jeff & Aston in car window - love it
Jeff w/ Aston & Kate hiking/Kate in the background
"Mama Jeff" - that kills me; hilarious; hope it sticks. haha
Babs & Aston finishing the hike - can envision
PS - Meant to say I can envision future year's pictures of Aston and Babs finishing hikes (w/ Aston getting bigger each year). So special.
oh i love it all. you did a great job as always of doing documenting the whole trip. so many photos to comment on...love the first one/look on mei's face is perfect & nice blur on you, glad you got me with the smore licking :), snuggly willettes cute cute, good idea with mirror shots, now i see where you were talking about kate not being happy in bath...maybe because mia was splashing her? ;), love the two shots of us me and bru swinging kate and mama jeff holding asty and kate's hand, will have to copy those, love the monkey swing storyboard and the mama pics copied as well. fun fun trip!! glad you finally posted already!! j/k
looks like such a relaxing trip. so many great photos. first one of you and stelly is precious, love the angle on that. and gosh the one with jeff and aston throwing rocks....aston= mini jeff totally.
what fun pictures of you and Stellyn alone..loved the ones of Kate, Mia and Aston in their Halloween jammies and the women and children hiking while the men were out hunting and gathering!!! great caption! So fun to have s'mores...does BeBe have a secret Chinese s'more ingredient!!
I am so glad Chuck and went to Asheville so we can really picture where you are wwhen your visit the Mountains..love, Gram
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