Girls' Getaway...

On the weekend of May 11 - 13, I had the pleasure of going on a girls' getaway to Brevard, NC.  My dear friend, Margaret, had access to a friend's cabin for free, and she invited 6 of her closest friends to join her for the weekend.  All 7 of us packed into Margaret's van for the 4 hour trip and I never knew a 4 hour drive could be so fun.  We talked, laughed, ate a lot, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.  I guess part of the reason the drive was so fun is that we did not have kids fighting and whining in the back seat, demanding potty breaks, and asking "are we there yet, how much longer?"  However, I do have to admit a few of us in the back seats were asking "are we there yet" when we hit the winding mountain roads and were feeling a little car sick. :)  We stopped in Asheville, NC for dinner and fell upon a neat little, family owned since 1974, Greek restaurant - thanks to Siri on my iphone - and had some amazing Greek salads and pizza.  We had a great weekend being completely transparent with each other, sharing, laughing, crying, praying, relaxing, hiking, running, shopping and of course lots of eathing!  It was the best getaway I have even been on, very much like a women's retreat but way more intimate since there were only 7 of us.  I came back a better mom, wife, friend, and follower of God.  I am so blessed by these women in my life and look forward to many more getaways with them in the future.  We hope to make this a yearly tradition and get together here at home at least every other month.  And I have to thank my wonderful husband for taking the time off to keep the kids so I could go on the much needed weekend away!  Love you Tony!!!       

 Our cute, little mountain cabin.

 Margaret's family friend, Carolyn, owns this beautiful home down the road from her guest cabin, where we were staying.

 Carolyn has a beautiful, landscaped yard.

 Here is the view of our cabin from Carolyn's house.

 The gorgeous, breathtaking view from Carolyn's backyard.  We went back there and just sat for a while, listening to the rushing water of a waterfall down below those trees.  I could definitely live here! 

A closer view of the mountains...

 We went hiking/running at Triple Falls in Dupont Forest, supposedly this is where part of the "Hunger Games" movie was filmed. 

 The crew (Left to Right: Margaret, Kim, Robyn, Jackie, Amy, Me, and Dana.) 

 A beautiful view of Triple Falls...

 The water was really rushing because they have had a lot of rain in Brevard lately, according to Carolyn.

 I did not know Amy very well before this trip but we are SOOO alike and became fast friends.  She is Robyn's sister (the one I co-direct with in Children's Ministries at Grace Hill) so I knew of Amy and knew a little about her from Robyn but did not realize how alike we were until we were together for the weekend. 

 Not only are Margaret and I best friends but we also think alike.  We can read each others' minds, complete each others' sentences, and we always seem to wear the same clothes on the same day!  Everyone was laughing at us because she and I both put on this shirt to go running (not planned) and then that evening we went to dinner and she and I both had on jeans and black shirts (not planned again).  We must have been separated at birth! :)  Another funny story, Margaret and I went shopping about 3 years ago and bought the same dress.  I have not worn mine in about 2 years but thought about wearing it to church on Mother's Day, I didn't because I thought to myself, "I bet Margaret will wear the same dress to church today."  Sure enough when she arrived at church she had on that dress, which she too had not worn in over a year!  Like I said, we read each others' minds! :)  I am so blessed by Margaret's friendship and all the memories we have shared together!!!

 Margaret, Jackie and I climbed all the way up to the top of the falls.  It was a rather challenging feat and somewhat crazy.  No one else would go with us but we were determined to get to the top.  We made it and were so thrilled with our accomplishment, but then we had to get down. :)  That was quite funny and took several of our friends to hoist us down some of the rather large, slippery rocks.  We were pretty dirty and I had a few scrapes but it was well worth it, the view was amazing!  Plus, I am a Rugged Maniac - right?! :)   

 Making our way up the falls...

 Here is the view from the very top of the falls...

When you turn around this is what you see  right before the falls, it amazed me how calm the water was.

 A neat, covered bridge we ran to.

 After hiking and running, we freshened up and then went shopping in downtown Brevard.  There were so many neat shops but this shop, The Eclectic Cottage, definitely grabbed our attention and we spent over an hour in this shop.  It was a consignment shop and had a ton of really cool things.  After shopping, we went to dinner at a neat restaurant called, Hobknobs, and sat out on their porch.  We had amazing weather the whole weekend so it was so nice to be outdoors so much.

 The cows grazing in the backyard of our cabin.

 Posing with Bessie the cow...

Funny story:  this cow, that we named Bessie, came right up to the fence where several of the girls were standing.  I decided I wanted to say, "hi" so I walked over to the fence and said, "Hi cow I am your friend, I own a Chick-fil-A and we endorse eating more chicken."  At that, the cow immediately turned and walked away.  We all got a good laugh and I said, "well I should have worn my cow costume!"  Then, I was telling Margeret the cow does not like me and she insisted that it did.  So, I walked back over to the fence, without saying a word, and it quickly walked away - far away - from where I was standing.  We got such a great laugh out of this and Margaret replied, "you are right, Bessie does not like you!" :)  I was the only one Bessie would not get near. 

 On our way home we drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway and saw this pretty waterfall right along the roadside, it was called Lookout Glass Falls.

 The sky and clouds were gorgeous this day.

 All of us at Looking Glass Falls.

We had a picnic lunch at a park with this stream.  The girls would have had fun playing in this stream, there were all kinds of beautiful rocks.

Mother's Day 2012...

I had a great Mother's Day weekend with the girls and Tony.  We spent the first part of the weekend at Great Wolf Lodge and Tony surprised me by putting the "Hunger Game Series" in my luggage.  Then Sunday the girls made me breakfast before church, we went to get wings at my favorite wings place after church, I had a long nap in the afternoon and we went to Tutti Fruitti yogurt in the evening.  It was a fun day!  The girls also surprised me with homemade gifts (frame from Riley, hot plate from Reece and a picture from Regan she drew).  My big Mother's Day gift was a weekend away with 6 other girls to Brevard this past weekend.  Tony was sweet enough to keep the kids from Friday - Sunday and I had a fantastic trip!  I am very blessed to have such a loving husband, amazing girls, a wonderful Mother and Mother-in-law and other moms to share the journey with. 

 YUM!!!

Reece and Riley like wings too...

Reece's Kindergarten Play...

Reece's Kindergarten class put on the most adorable end of the year play.  They sang many cute songs, shared about what they learned throughout the year and enjoyed every minute of it.  Reece's teacher, Mrs. Eva, made an amazing slideshow of the year that she showed us after the play.  It was a big tear jerker.  She was gracious enough to make everyone a CD of the slideshow so next time you are at our house or we are at yours, we will have to show it to you.  I can't believe our youngest has completed Kindergarten!!!  It has been an amazing year for Reece for of many great memories and great friendships!  

 Saying the "Pledge of the Allegiance."

 Singing an adorable song about thanking God for all He made.

 All the kids saying "Goodbye" to Kindergarten.

Mrs. Eva and Mrs. Perkins Kindergarten Class 2011 - 2012

The Great Wolf Lodge...

On May 11th and 12th we took the girls to the Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte for their birthday gifts.  It was a belated birthday gift because we had to find a weekend where we were available and the rates were lower.  The Great Wolf Lodge is a hotel that has a huge, indoor waterpark and can only be used by the guests at the hotel.  We arrived around dinnertime on Friday night and spent about 2.5 hrs. in the waterpark that evening.  The lines were very short on Friday night so we wore ourselves out going up stairs and riding the slides.  We enjoyed a big buffet breakfast at the lodge and then headed back to the waterpark for a full day of fun.  We stayed until about 3:30 on Saturday and then grabbed dinner at Texas Roadhouse and headed home.  It was a great weekend and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it.  Tony and I were a little worn out afterwards but we agreed it was really fun.  

 Reece and I enjoyed the storytime on Friday night.  Regan and Riley stayed in the waterpark until it closed while Reece got on her PJ's and met Oliver Raccoon and listened to a story.

 Reece loving on a bear in the giftshop. 

 Here is one of the view's of the waterpark.  This is a huge fort the kids can play in that has slides, water squirters everywhere, and a huge bucket of water that dumps 1,000 gallons of water about every 10 minutes.

 Regan and Riley were both tall enough to ride all the rides.  We were so proud of their bravery and that they rode the most thrilling ride called the "Howling Tornado."  It was quite the waterslide with a dark tunnel, very steep drop, and a funnel that you end up swirling around in and getting splashed.  They both did it twice and we believe they would have done it more if the line was shorter.  Tony and I enjoyed it too.  Reece was not tall enough to do the "Howling Tornado" but she could do everything else, which she did. 

 Here is the activity pool and another view of the kid fort with slides.

 Riley enjoyed going across these very slippery lilypads.  Tony dared me to do it too, so I did, luckily he did not get any photos or video. :)  It was challenging especially since the height was set for kids, but I made it across without falling. 

 Reece gave it a try too with some help from Daddy.

 No need for daddy's help anymore...

 This is the lobby of the lodge.

 Here is the stage for storytime.

Here is the 1,000 gallon bucket dumping water on Tony and the girls.  They LOVED this bucket.