Day Three On The Mountain

The third and final day at the mountains meant packing up for one last trip before heading home. But before we did, it was goodbye to the room and the river and the boardwalk overlook view we called home for a weekend. Of course we needed a few pictures.



And because I couldn't decide which one was cuter: exhibits A and B.




As you can see we kept most of the pictures a little ways away from the water, what with us holding two small children and a camera all at once. It's there in the background, though. Up next, proof that you can either get two babies to look at a camera or smile, but seldom both at once.




As promised, after checking out we headed to Hillside Orchard Farm, a place with more jellies, jams, spreads and locally made food items than a Wal-Mart warehouse. They also have animals, tons of pumpkins and gourds in all sizes, shapes and colors - pretty much everything you might expect from a large, commercial family farm. Even old farm equipment, a performance stage and small gem mine. I just hope to go one year when Buxton is old enough to race through the corn maze, or maybe even try out the haunted maze they have at night in late October.



Those rabbits were everywhere, which was fun to explain. We also saw baby goats, hens, turkeys and this mule, which Buxton not only tried to touch but out-"hee haw."



I'll admit I'm as prone to hyperbole as the next person, like when someone says that this or that is so big it's as big as just something incomparably bigger. But this place honest to goodness had mountain apples as big as a person's face. Don't believe me?



So many pumpkins. Where to begin?



We let each of the little ones pick out their own pumpkin, which Aunt Anna may still need a little getting used to. Especially when a little girl becomes enthralled with a green pumpkin with a scratch mark.




We even found out that both pumpkins bounce, a fact perhaps not lost on Buxton who by all appearances felt this pumpkin needed prayer and the laying on of hands.



And just as our trip came to an end, something even more remarkable than all our adventures and two babies who never once cried for home, arrived. Well look at that. Maybe you can get a baby to smile for a camera.

Day Two On The Mountain

So not nearly as many pictures from day two as days one or three, but not for a lack of fun things to do. Part of the fun in vacations is that first morning waking up in a new place, at least if the beds are comfortable. It also was something we put a little thought into in advance, with Eve's parents warning us that she doesn't always venture off to Sleepytown easily. Luckily we wore both babies out pretty well on day one with the activities, so hitting the sack the first night was a breeze. Both babies slept about 12 straight hours, and I had to wake them up for breakfast.



Check out Buxton enjoying the pack and play, while Eve got her own bedroom. Because Anna will read this post, I dare not mention it might be Buxton's last year in the pack and play, but compare and contrast here.





Once we did wake the babies up, they were ready for breakfast. One of the thoughts we had upon getting a griddle for Christmas was cooking pancakes, and at least I imagined doing it in the mountains. We woke up to eggs, pancakes, grits and sausage at the inn. We needed a big breakfast for a big day ahead.



When we found out about the Georgia mountains last year, and found out that one of the places featured on The Travel Channel that Anna and I wanted to go see for some time is less than an hour drive away, we knew when we came back we were going to the gem mine. The Sheffield Mine in Franklin, N.C. is known for native rubies and sapphires, along with special kid-friendly "rainbow buckets" enriched with easier to find, non-native stones. We spent several hours there, with Anna calling it something along the lines of a "redneck spa" or "hillbilly spa" or something because you get mud all over yourself and, after running your hand over rocks for several hours, become quite exfoliated. No, I probably didn't spell exfoliated right but I'm a man and I'd be more worried if I had, so let's move forward.

We took a fair amount of video, but only the one picture. It was pretty muddy and we didn't want to ruin the camera. The nice gentleman helping us scour for rubies did take the one, though. The irony is that Buxton spent more time feeding his lunch to the gem mine dog than panning for treasure, while Eve got her hands dirty and talked about "rocks" and looking for "honkers" (what they call large ruby finds) most of the time we were there. Then in the picture he looks like a mountain man and she like we drug her there with car battery cables. Oh well. You'd have to see the video I guess.

First Day On The Mountain

Ok, so too darn much happened on our mountain getaway furcation (took a furlough day, made it a vacation) to put into one post or several, so like any good sports team we'll take it one day at a time. Anna, Buxton and I left just after work on Thursday and picked up Buxton's cousin Eve. We headed out toward the mountains and a funny thing happened.



On our way we ran into the most wonderful woman, who let us spend the first night at her house (at no charge!) and even baked us biscuits on our first morning. Geography sure handed us a gem with that one. For my money I'll take the Georgia mountains with a stop in Craytonville over mountains in just about any other direction.

After we left Baba's house, a short drive and we were in the Georgia mountains. We checked into Tiger Creek Falls Inn and made a quick trip out to the local Chick-fil-A. There's something both beautiful and exasperating about watching two children celebrate at a fast food play area like you drove all this way just to bring them there. We just took it as another good sign for a fun weekend.




After lunch, which included our only run-in with a cow housing a person inside, it was back to the inn overlooking several waterfalls. But before we arrived, we thought the kids might want to take in Goats on a Roof. It's a general store with goats living on the roof, grass and all. You can feed them, take pictures of them, walk beneath their overpass bridge at your own peril. We thought the kids might get a kick out of it.



Buxton keeping lookout for the goats:



Mommy keeping lookout for the apple pile:




Eve keeping lookout for the wild bunny rabbit we just saw, "in nature:"



There it is!



Of all the attractions at Goats on a Roof, the kids most enjoyed two wooden boxcars they could play in, which despite what the pictures might indicate we did not intentionally dress Buxton to match.




Here Eve shows us that she and her cousin, who she sometimes calls "Buton Thomas Choo Choo" are in fact inside a "choo choo."



I can explain neither why in this picture Buxton thinks he's Elvis nor why I'm leaning in closer to the metal bear than toward my own son.



Did I mention that, like most everywhere else on our trip, they had gynormous mountain pumpkins?




We spent the rest of our first day in the mountains shopping for supplies Oregon Trail style, and enjoying the peaceful calm of the inn (more pictures forthcoming). We cooked dinner in and enjoyed the company of a beautiful little boy and girl that most everyone in several Georgia counties wanted to stop and tell us about. A great start to a great trip, even if getting toddlers to stare straight and smile wasn't the easiest part of it.

At Home At The Zoo

For Buxton's cousin Eve's birthday (today) we spent last Saturday at the Riverbanks Zoo in Coumbia. For anyone not familiar with the area, it's beside a river. Anyway, we got a few family shots with some of the wildlife.





Buxton did want a few shots of his own, which he rather enjoyed.









Buxton also loved the carousel (notice how few pictures there are with actual animals). He particulary wanted to ride the Kung Fu Panda, no doubt to celebrate the end of a surprisingly entertaining baseball season.





It was a great day, hopefully one of many to come with cousin Eve. Up next, a trip to the mountains this weekend. Check back soon.

How Much Do I Love My Boy?

This much.



And this much.



These pictures came from a recent trip to Baba's house, where the livestock are plentiful. The view from the front yard:



And Buxton sharing his new favorite word, one that brings tears to daddy's eyes. Not only can he tell the difference between a basketball and football when asked, but now he can say football.

Infectious

I could go my whole life without knowing the texture of it. At least I always hoped so, before fate and improper planning so viciously stole that possibility from me like an unattended laptop in a Silicon Valley ghetto. There I was, fishing it out of the bathtub with my bare hand. The size of a dinner portion chicken finger, complete with several smaller submarine gifts whose birth I witnessed from the most horrifically perfect angle only moments prior. Slick rubber. Rather like a sandblasted garden hose.

So naturally it happened this week. The week some unfeeling strain of flu - oddly enough not the swine variety, given her unique preference for the animal - imprisoned a husband and son to opposite ends of their home from an ailing woman. A week where that same beautiful boy refused any attempts at confinement from the germs, and where any fluids his mother succeeded in keeping down poured out like jungle rain in tears for a lad spending his first two nights apart from her - two full hours from home.

He is away now, leaving nothing more than questions between his parents as to who set the satellite to recording every episode of Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Of course it was the boy, but he is away now. I remain here, worse than alone. God help us all.