Happy Halloween

My Little Scarecrow

Today is Scarecrow Day for all the kindergarteners and Book Character Day for 1st-5th graders. It is always a mad rush in the morning but we were able to throw some clothes together and put on a little makeup and do the best we could.  Evelyn picked Ramona from the Ramona & Beezus book series. The only thing that costume requires is red rain boots, but she decided to throw on on a witches hat since Ramona dresses up like a witch for Halloween in her book.  Tonight Ramona and the Zombie Bride will hit the neighborhood. Happy Halloween!

Halloween

Bunny was in a costume too

Time to go home!

Pie with Grandma

Making pie with Grandma with the apples from Sky Top Orchard.

Traditions

Every Thanksgiving we or a family member pick up a gingerbread kit for the girls to put together. This year was not different, minus a couple of our main helpers.  Apparently, Addy had a mini tantrum with the box and broke the roof before they even got started.  Never fear, Grandpa worked his carpentry magic and fixed it. By the next morning, the supports came off and the broken roof was history.

Gobble, Gobble Goes The Hands

       

Leaves

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came -
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.~George Cooper

Mountains

Our itch wasn’t fulfilled this year so in a last minute effort, we decided to make a road trip to the mountains. I jumped online Friday afternoon, found a hotel with our points for Saturday, and left the rest to adventure. That morning we packed up and headed West. With no specific plan, we headed towards Lake Lure. It was a beautiful day to be outdoors and when we got to the “town” Evelyn looked up and saw the mountain known as Chimney Rock (where The Last Of The Mohicans was filmed) and said “can we please climb this!” Addy on the other hand said NO!!!! Really, she said she was too scared and we were NOT going up there.  After a quick bite to eat at the cafe next to the entrance we headed up. Sorry Addy!  The trees were past their peak but what a beautiful day and view.  Brian and I had been there several times. Once with Evelyn when she was 10 months old (below).

Opera box

The elevator through the Rock was down for maintenance so we had to hike from the parking lot up. Not the best scenario with Evelyn and Addy but E was a trooper and had so much fun hiking and climbing.  Addy, not so much. Brian ended up carrying her the entire 3 hours we were there. At the end, she was asleep and Brian was lugging 40lbs of dead weight.

No fear, she woke up just in time for ice cream at the bottom.  After an amazing day, we headed to the hotel in Asheville. Expecting a standard room with two beds, the resort double upgraded us to our own house with a fireplace and two bedrooms, complimentary bottled waters, fresh cookies and chocolate covered strawberries and grapes. Guess this is how the other half lives.

The next morning after a wonderful breakfast, we headed in town to stroll around and hit up an awesome antique warehouse. Getting hungry we headed to Black Mountain for a late lunch and stroll through town. Of course we couldn’t leave without one last ice cream stop to end the trip right!  Last time Evelyn was in Black Mountain, she looked like this:

 

On top

Elevator closed!

Opera Box

The view on top

 

If only we had seen this first! 

In front of the Biltmore store