Since John's birthday was on a Saturday this year, we made plans to go to the mountains as a family and spend the day in our favorite spot. I think it's absolutely my favorite place to go. It is so beautiful, and the kids are entertained for hours in nature. There is no technology (mostly because there's no service, but still.....), just fresh mountain air, bazillions of butterflies, and lots and lots of laughter and exploring. It's my favorite way to spend a day. Or days. Except I couldn't sleep there, what with the bugs and all.
The kids jump right in. They don't care that the water is pretty icy cold, they love playing in the stream.
See how happy Ansley is? And Christian said "I just love this. It suits me!" I love that they love these mountains so much - especially because we live in them but mostly because my Dad loved them so much, too.
There were butterflies EVERYWHERE. I mean, seriously, tons of them. So of course the kids, but especially Ansley, loved that.
There was exploring time with Daddy. The kids can be heard calling "Daddy! Look!" or "Daddy! Come here!" It's so cute how excited they are about exploring everything. (And they found a snake and a huge millipede today. Which is the part of the mountains I don't love as much, but I take it because the rest is so beautiful.)
Look at that face! She can certainly be sassy. She enjoyed walking around (on land) for the first half of the day, picking up rocks and staying right where we were. We enjoyed a yummy picnic lunch - hotdogs on the grill, fruit, chips and key lime pie. Avery enjoyed sitting in her perfectly sized chair.
Then after lunch we headed to the perfect spot to play in and everyone joined in. Avery kept wanting to get in the water (determining she has more Ansley's personality instead of Christian's) so we took her to this spot. It's surrounded by rocks so there's shallow water in the middle, which is perfect for Avery to play in. She had such a great time, but unfortunately I didn't bring my camera out there, so I don't have any pictures. You have to rock hop a little to get to it. The kids built a dam, searched for rocks, hopped all along the rocks and splashed in the water. So fun!
Christian showing me his favorite rock. "Take a picture Mom!" he yelled.
We came back to find another butterfly on Ansley's shoes. (Well, they are really mine but Ansley wears them. Crazy, I know.) She was thrilled!
A sweet shot of Mimi and Avery while we were packing everything back up and getting the kids changed into dry clothes. I love that Avery is so familiar with Mimi so she doesn't fuss or put up a fight - she loves for Mimi to pick her up and hold her.
I got Avery some sunglasses because she's constantly grabbing at mine and trying to put them on. She actually wears them. This picture cracks me up - this one is sure to be trouble in her toddler years! But she's awfully cute.
We got home around dinner time, but we totally skipped dinner and went straight to the birthday brownies. You can do that when it's your birthday. I got these super expensive way overpriced brownies from Williams-Sonoma (the kids picked them out, so how could I refuse?) so I made those when we got home. They were really good! We made them more into sundaes, of course, since John loves nothing more than chocolate, ice cream, and more chocolate.
A great celebration of John and the wonderful husband and daddy that he is. A day in the mountains with family, and wrapping it up with chocolate with family. What could be better?
I'm glad that John had a happy birthday! I know y'all enjoy getting away and splashing around in the mountains!
Posted by: Renee | May 23, 2012 at 10:19 PM