Great Smoky Mountains

It’s adventure time again! This time Groupon helped us decide that our destination would be Gatlinburg, TN and the Great Smoky Mountains for a mix of camping and hoteling. The boys were doing extremely well in the car on the ride up, so we pushed a little farther than originally intended and ended up at Elmont Campground just outside of Gatlinburg.

This put us closer to Cades Cove where we spent all day Monday exploring. The boys were happy that the ride to Cades Cove didn’t take near as long.

Isaac the compass…

We’re getting better at this family photo thing. (Watch out photogenic Blevins crew!!)

After our drive through Cades Cove, we had a picnic in the park and let the kids play in river for a while. Isaac insisted on wearing his goggles so he could look at the rocks under the water!

We knew Isaac would like the cold water, but we weren’t so sure that Lucas would. We quickly found out that throwing rocks trumps cold!

Mommy & her freezing mountain water loving boys.

Lucas taking a break. We thought he was stuck and set him up once, but he laid right back down.

“Seriously, what are you looking at?”

He’s just plain crazy…he asked his daddy to do this.

Just cute…

Another family shot on our after dinner hike around the campground.

The boys enjoy the thrill of danger...so our hike was more like watch the kids run through the woods at alarming speed over roots and rocks until they find a rock to climb and then try to catch up with them before they manage to climb up to the highest point and lean or jump over the edge! Life with little boys is NEVER boring!!! I love it, and I love these two little guys…

Monday ended with stories by the fire…

For those of you who are looking at these pictures and thinking “hmmm, Rachel (a Slivensky) has pitched a tent and is camping and it doesn’t appear to be wet like it has rained”. Well, up until the point when I put the camera away on Monday night to go to bed it had not rained. But no worries, the sprinkles started at 4am followed by a big crack of thunder and a downpour! Camping trip part 1 is complete!!

Worm School

When I was a kid, I spent hours every day digging the worms out of my neighbor Ralph’s garden. Day after day I dug them up, put them in a bucket, horrified Neenie with them, and then dumped them back into the garden at the end of the day. This activity never got old, and every time I go home and see Neenie and Ralph’s backyard I remember that garden and wish it were still there for my boys to enjoy. So last week when I saw an article about a worm class at NC State, I jumped at the chance to go…for my boys of course!

Today we attended “worm school” at the JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State. A local extension specialist and worm expert taught the kids (and their parents) all about composting with worms.

The kids learned how to make a worm box and what to feed and not to feed their worms. Isaac took his turn at the front of the class. His item was a hamburger bun which we learned that worms will eat especially if they’re wet and soggy!

Isaac is currently loving taking pictures with our little pocket camera. This is the picture that he took of his ball of worms.

Here he is playing with his worms so he could identify which end was it’s head and which was it’s tail.

Then it was on to decorating our own personal worm bin to take home.

Lucas was obviously a little young for the class, but he had fun tying himself in knots in the cords to the fancy blinds. He also enjoyed the fact that I fed him nearly 2 pounds of goldfish trying to keep him quiet. He was happy to pose with his brother beside our newest addition to the Raynor Farm! (Isaac didn’t get any goldfish, so he was a little past ready for lunch by this time!)

We really enjoyed the class, and we learned a lot. I was thrilled to hear Isaac telling Brian all the things that worms do and don’t eat this afternoon. It’s always nice to know your kids are paying attention!! We don’t have worms yet, but I told Isaac that we could probably order some for our nice new worm bin as soon as the weather cools down a bit! Shhh-don’t tell Daddy we’re bringing home more animals for the farm!

Volcano

During morning cartoons, the Octonauts (a show on Disney Jr) were working hard to save sea creatures before a volcano erupted. This peaked Isaac’s interest in volcanoes and gave Mommy a good idea for a morning project. So off to Pinterest I went, and found how to make the perfect volcano.

Step 1 – Cover a small bottle with homemade clay.

Lucas wasn’t into volcano making, but he did like the little bear that I made to keep him busy. Wripley, our dog, enjoyed eating little bear’s friend when Lucas set him down so Lucas was sure to keep a closer eye on his little bear.

Step 2 – Baking Soda, a little warm water, and food coloring into the volcano…then pour in the vinegar….and as Lucas put it “Wow!” you have an erupting volcano.

My two little scientists hard at work!

They both really enjoyed this project. So much so that we went through an entire box of baking soda and almost a full gallon of vinegar today creating little explosions!

Lazy Weekend

Yes, you read that title right folks! For the first time in what seems like forever, we had a lazy weekend at home with the cousins! The Blevins family came up on Friday night to retrieve their dogs and the goldfish from a week at Camp Raynor while they were off partying it up in Charleston. They were worn out from travel and we were worn out from the week, so we decided to just lay low for the weekend and let the kids just play around the house.

On Saturday, we did venture over to the pool for about an hour so the kids could swim before nap time.

On Sunday, the kids were very anxious to help me make homemade waffles for breakfast. Even with all the help, the turned out great!!

After breakfast, Uncle Mark took the big kids upstairs to play on the chalk board and dry erase board. He said he’d lay on the bed while they played. The little ones stayed downstairs with the rest of us. About an hour after they went upstairs, Aunta says “we should have given them markers to draw on Mark’s face because I’m sure he’s asleep.” About 5 minutes after that comment, Mark comes down the stairs with Isaac thrown over his shoulder and mumbles something about needing to clean him up. That’s when we noticed Isaac’s feet were bright red with paint! Aunta and I ran up the stairs to find Madeline and the art they had been working on.

Isaac’s work station. He was working on footprint art, and doing a fine job I might add.

Hard to see, but little red footprints that lead across the room to the bathroom where he’d gone to wash his feet off.

We asked Madeline a couple of questions. (I love that these kids are at the age where they just tell you what happened.) The story went… “We found the paint in the art drawer. Isaac opened the package with the kid scissors. I did this art (pointing to the blue paper on the table). Isaac did all that (pointing to the red on the carpet). Oh, and I glued those papers to the wall. (pointing to the opposite side of the room where we hadn’t even looked yet)”

Blue walls….art glued to them. Thankfully only a couple pieces.

You’d think I’d be upset, but really what can you say? They were having fun, and Isaac was doing art which I have to beg him to do. We did discuss asking an adult first next time, using the paint trays,  and how glue is forever. But in the end, the carpet came clean, no one was injured, and it’s an amusing story!

We ended our weekend with a quick dinner for the kids (the adults ate a late lunch).

And then a trip to the ice cream store.

I think everyone thoroughly enjoyed our relaxing weekend! We always have a fun time when the cousins come to town, and miss them as soon as they leave.

Swim Lessons

Our big activity for this week was Isaac’s swim lessons. He has been talking about swim lessons since the pool opened at the end of May. He seemed so excited, that was until he realized that someone other than his mother was going to teach him to swim. On day 1, he walked right to the edge of the pool, and I counting my chickens before they were hatched, thought “hot dog he’s just going to do it!”. Well, I celebrated too soon…he did go right over to class, but he then refused to do anything but be dragged back and forth across the pool by his poor swim teacher.

Day 2 – Well we talked it up…all the rewards he’d get for participating in class and he was set to go and very excited….until we walked through the pool house. Then he turned into a crying mess (and yes to all my critics, I am aware he is acting just like me!!!) I was frustrated to say the least, but thank goodness for the head life guard/angel from heaven. She dragged him into the pool screaming (Mommy was ready to throw him in) and MADE him swim. If he didn’t kick they didn’t move. And within 5 minutes he was laughing and was perfectly fine. He participated for the rest of the class and everything.

Day 3 and 4 – He did amazing. He did all the activities including diving to the bottom of the 5 foot section to get a toy.

I learned on Wednesday from one of the girls in his class that all the other kids in his class were 7 and 8. She was such a sweety to inform me that “the 4 year old class is over there in the shallow end”. (Oh and is your mommy here or can I dunk you smarty pants? My kid is swimming circles around you!)

And he got his BIG reward at the end of the last day. Isaac has been dying to go off the diving board and slide all summer. He has loved this part of the pool for the past 2 summers (yes, he jumped off his first diving board at 2 years old), but this pool has different rules than the others about having someone help you swim back to the side (the only part he can’t do). But on the last day, the life guards got in the pool and he got to try out the cool slide and the diving board. He was SO excited and SO disappointed when class ended. I really think he would have done this all day!

What started out a bit of a rocky week turned out to be a great one.  I couldn’t be more proud of my little man!

Kid Fun!

While mommy was out racing, the boys stayed with Oma and Opa. I’m not exactly sure who entertained who, but they had all sorts of stuff to tell us by the time we got back at lunch.

Isaac and Opa worked on his barnyard garden. They painted…

detailed…

arranged…

and perfected their garden project.

Oma was busy running a triathlon of her own chasing Lucas from room to room and toy to toy!

He rode his horse….(he rides this thing like a mad man. I’m almost certain that one day he will bounce it right through the floor and into the crawl space!)

drove his train…(his passengers are the awesome new frogs, complete with capes, that Opa’s friend Nikki made for them!)

and I’m thinking he fed the dogs some cookies. I’m not sure who looks more guilty in this picture the dogs or him!!

On Sunday, Isaac helped Opa check on his bees. Isaac was happy to report that Opa has been doing a great job and his bees are right on track to produce a TON of honey this summer!

Lake Hickory Y Triathlon

This past weekend was spent in Hickory working on Mommy’s bucket list. In early spring, Erin Sipe posted on facebook that she had signed up for a couple triathlons. Doing a triathlon had been in the back of my mind for quite some time, so I emailed Erin and after talking and a couple months of training we decided to tackle some of our fears and the Lake Hickory Y Triathlon together.

For those of you who don’t know Erin, well to put it mildly you’re missing out. She is one amazing woman, mother, wife, friend and above all a strong Christian. She’s the type of person that makes you feel right at home, and I’m honestly not sure that she’s ever met a stranger.  Erin was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 34. She fought a very public battle sharing her stories, experiences and faith in God every step of the way. Erin Sipe beat cancer and  inspired so many people along the way. So let me just say that being on “Team Erin” for the triathlon this weekend was an absolute honor!

Erin and I were up bright and early on Saturday for the race.

Just seconds before the start. I can honestly say that my nerves were in full swing here.

Finishing up the bike ride.

The big finish.

My goal for my first triathlon was to finish. That I did. It wasn’t pretty, my time wasn’t great, but I can’t begin to tell you how great it felt to cross that finish line knowing that I pushed myself to my absolute limits and past the “this hurts so bad, I’m going to throw my bike in the woods and quit”…I swam 400 yds, biked 16 miles, and ran/walked 3.1 miles and officially marked triathlon off of my bucket list.

And I couldn’t ask for a better team mate!

Thanks Erin for a great day and a wonderful experience. I look forward to teaming up for another one in the future!!

I dedicated my first finish to another inspirational young lady, Miranda Eckard. She was the flower girl in my wedding almost 10 years ago and now at age 15 she is waging her own battle against a rare form of cancer. You can read about her story here. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of Miranda and her family. Her fight and her courage has changed my life in so many ways. So this one’s for you Miranda…I only wish I could do more. Keep up the good fight. My thoughts and prayers are always with you!