Trip to Asheville

Carter had a Friday and Monday off school this weekend, so Dad decided to pack up all three kids and head to Asheville to visit Grandma and Grandpa's new home.

We arrived right at lunch, so after unpacking the car, we quickly headed to Asheville's most famous landmark, the Biltmore Estate for food and sights.  Parker and Carter had a good time exploring the house.  They really thought the indoor bowling alley was cool.  Avery was just happy to be out of the car seat!

After touring the house, we headed to the old dairy farm (which is now converted to the winery and petting zoo) for more fun for the kids.  There was also a fun playground in the area to let the kids get more of their pent up energy out.

The weekend continued with a fun children's play in downtown Asheville, a trip to the UNC Asheville Farmer's Market, and some hikes and adventures around Grandma and Grandpa's new neighborhood.

The neighborhood playground was a favorite of Parker and his matchbox cars

All three kids had a great time playing with each other

Avery taking Grandma on a curiosity adventure

Our last full day started with an early morning drive to the Blue Ridge Parkway and 9 tunnels for a breakfast visit to the Mt. Pisgah Inn.  The inn is right at 5,000ft above sea level and the views from the dining room and back deck were beautiful.  

After breakfast, we headed to the North Carolina Arboretum.  Here the boys checked out a discovery backpack and we were off for a nice hike through some mountain trails.  The boys backpacks included butterfly nets, insect containers, binoculars, and animal/plant identification cards and a nature scavenger hunt.  The boys were quick to get the scavenger hunt complete and we changed focus to finding insects and other items as we walked.  The boys really liked the two salamanders we found, as well as the large carpenter bee we caught and placed in Parker's insect container for a time.  For a rest, we stopped and watched the model trains get started up.

Avery blazing a trail

Brothers hiking together

Somebody didn't make  it through the whole hike on her feet

We capped off the weekend with another hike around the trails in Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood.  Had a nice dinner then went to the neighborhood lake for a community campfire complete with smores.  A great weekend was had and the boys left already planning how to have more and faster races with their toy cars next time.