Bubbles!

Dupont State Forest

We went hiking today in Dupont State Forest near Brevard. We hiked to 3 different waterfalls and had lots of fun. We stopped at each waterfall for little Dallas to have a snack. He did great and we only had to carry him some of the way! The leaves are just starting to change. We are looking forward to our first fall here in Asheville. It is such a beautiful place to live and I would not have wanted to spend today any differently!

Happy Birthday Aunt Kellee!

I know I am a day late, but we hope you had a GREAT Birthday!!

Volvo Day

Little Dallas has been sick with a virus since last Thursday. He is finally feeling well enough today(and not contagious) to go back to school. That is why I am just now getting to the blog. Anyway, we still attended the annual Volvo Day party at Camp Ton-a-Wanda in Flat Rock,
N.C. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed food, canoeing, rock climbing, horseshoes, face painting, and jumping in inflatables. We got home in time to eat dinner and search the internet for live feed of the USC game. We could not get in on television but we found a radio station out of Myrtle Beach broadcasting the game so we listened to it on the computer. I find it very difficult to follow football by only listening to it, so I finished my book while it was going on, but of course we were happy for a win!

First Football Game

We took little Dallas to his first football game last Saturday. We went with Noah, Bebe, PawPaw and The Potter's. We were just a few spaces from Reid and Steve so we got to see them too. He was very excited to go but after a few hours of tailgaiting, the awful heat, no nap, and the noise inside the stadium things changed! He cried and covered his ears and said he wanted to go home. We made it to half-time and he was asleep in my lap with my hands over his ears. He slept all the way back to Noah's house and then we watched the rest of the game. We will try again, but maybe a night game or something later in the season will work better. Here are a few pictures from tailgaiting--I did not take my camera into the stadium so I don't have any from inside. The black and white is just one I took recently that I really liked.

Trip to Kaua'i

We had a great time on our trip to Hawaii. We are happy to be back because we really missed our little man and he missed us too! I have had a hard time this week dropping him off at school and the gym because he thinks I am not coming back. We want to thank Noah, Poppy, Uncle Whit, Bebe, and PawPaw because we could not have done this without their help. Bebe and PawPaw had double duty once Dallas arrived as they had Brianne too! Thank you all so much for keeping little Dallas!! Here are a few of the 350 pictures I took during our trip. When we were not lounging by the pool/beach at our resort we got in the convertable and went sight seeing. We visited Waimea Canyon which is known as "Baby Grand Canyon." It was spectacular. If you click on the pic below to make it larger you should be able to see a waterfall over my left shoulder. We hiked 8 miles along the Na'Pali Coast to a 300 foot waterfall. It was a really challenging hike but it was what Dallas and I enjoyed most on the trip. I don't think Kellee would say the same! Justin overheard some people discussing a lagoon on private property that all the locals go to and jump off a cliff into a lagoon. That was what Kellee enjoyed the most. They both jumped as did Dallas. Justin and Dallas also did a rope swing into the lagoon. No, I did not jump--someone had to take pictures right?? We also went on a "romantic dinner cruise" that did not turn out to be too romantic Dallas and I. I suffer from motion sickness and even though I took a dramamine tablet before we left I spent the entire 2 hour cruise sitting on the back of the boat where there was the most breeze and trying not to get sick. I still got to see all of the beautiful landscape but I could not wait to get off that boat! We enjoyed lots of great meals and we all got lots of reading done. I think everyone finished at least one book except me. I am reading The Pillars of the Earth and it is over 1000 pages so that is my excuse. Thanks again to everyone for keeping the Grandbabies!














Waimea Canyon or Baby Grand Canyon















Before our hike















How the hike started (yes, that is the trail!)














One view during hike of Na Pali Coast

Waterfall that we hiked to















After hike (Kellee isn't smiling but she is really happy that it is over!)

Justin and Kellee jumping off cliff into lagoon

Where I spent the "romantic dinner cruise" trying not to be sick

View during cruise (if you click on the picture to make it larger, look for the rainbow coming out of the moutain area right in the middle of the picture)

Enjoying a sunset at our resort

Dallas and Kat

Off to Hawaii

Dallas has continued to have a great week at school. We are heading to Columbia today to watch the first USC football game of the season and then we are off to Kauai, Hawaii tomorrow! I'm sure I will have lots of pictures to share when we get back.

First Day of School

Today little Dallas started at his new school at Fletcher United Methodist Church. It was raining this morning so he was able to use his Thomas umbrella that he got for his birthday. I snapped these pics before we got in the car. On the way he told me he wanted to hug his teacher and play with the kids. He went right in and put his backpack in the cubby and announced that he wanted to play. He then looked right at his teacher and asked her if she wanted to play! So that was it. No hug, no "bye mommy." I went ahead and left because even though I wanted a hug I didn't want to make him think about it too much and then get upset. I am happy that he felt comfortable enough to just jump right in. At pick up, he grabbed his bag and he told me that they had colored with crayons, ate snack, and sang, "Jesus Loves Me." He said he had fun and liked school! I hope the rest of the week goes as smoothly as today. Other than that, we are busy getting ready for our trip to Hawaii. We leave Friday. We are going to the island of Kauai with Justin and Kellee. I am so excited and I have told Daddy Dallas that he cannot take his Blackberry (or crackberry!) Once we get back we have plans for Gamecock football games, I am taking a photography class, and little Dallas will be starting swim lessons. And for anyone who may be curious how the potty training has been going---he is potty trained! I had to resort to bribery with chocolate and stickers but it worked!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Yesterday was Daddy Dallas' birthday. We baked him his favorite cake and took him to dinner in downtown Asheville at The Lobster Trap. We had a great time and hope he had a Happy Birthday!

Little Dallas 3rd Birthday

So I am several days late posting the birthday pictures but here they are. We had a great time celebrating at Bebe and PawPaw's house with Aunt Kellee and cousin Brianne. The theme of the party was Thomas and Friends and boy did he rack up on Thomas gifts! He got a Thomas jibbitz for his crocs, a flashlight, a carrying case (2 actually), a sleeping bag, shoes that light up when he walks, overalls, pajamas, and an actual Thomas train with tracks that he can ride on! Thank you to Bebe and PawPaw and Jusin, Kellee, and Brianne for all of the gifts. Thank you to everyone else who sent gifts. Aunt Beth and Uncle Jim--he loves the Thomas outfit--Thanks! There are also a few pictures of Dallas picking tomatos with PawPaw. He will not eat ANY vegetables except PawPaw's tomatos. Although I am not sure if tomatos are actually vegetables, I think some people say they are fruit. Anyway, he likes PawPaw's and they like picking them together.

Dallas and Brianne

We celebrated Dallas' 3rd birthday yesterday and I will try to get the pictures up tomorrow. Aunt Kellee and cousin Brianne were there to celebrate with us and little Dallas was very sweet with her. He asked to hold her several times and he was so gentle with her and gave her kisses on the head!

Litchfield Beach

We spent last week in Litchfield and had a great time. Daddy Dallas has been doing lots of traveling this summer and was able to spend a few days with us at the beach. Little Dallas and I have spent lots of time in Columbia while he has been away. We all returned to Columbia after the beach so we could celebrate our anniversary while Noah kept little Dallas and then Daddy Dallas headed out of town again. We will be going to Greenville this weekend to celebrate little Dallas' 3rd birthday! It is so hard to believe my baby will be 3 already! He is changing so much every day and is saying the cutest things. He is so loving and gives such big hugs and kisses. I am so happy every day to wake up to his beautiful face and experience life with him. He will be starting school at the end of the month and is already looking forward to that and making some new friends. Daddy Dallas has a birthday coming up too and then we have a trip to Hawaii with Justin and Kellee and the end of August. We have had such a busy summer. Daddy Dallas' extensive travel should be coming to a close by September and things should return to our "normal" by September. I am looking forward to that and getting back in our routines. These are just a few of the many photos I took at the beach. Enjoy!

Happy 7th Anniversary!