Celebrating #5!

Beware..... this post contains way too many pictures from an incredibly fun weekend with my boys!  A couple months ago we realized we wouldn't be able to celebrate Maddox's fifth birthday the way he wanted... which was at Jump-N-Fun, an indoor inflatable playground where he celebrated his fourth birthday.  Knowing that indoor birthday parties are not possible at this point due to Covid-19 and not wanting to take a chance on the weather (since the Houstons are about 50/50 on having great weather for outdoor birthday parties), we decided to come up with a different plan to make our boy feel special as he turns a milestone birthday... a whole hand!!  So we booked a VRBO in the Brevard area and took the day off on Friday to give us a little more time to explore the great outdoors.  Maddox absolutely loves the mountains and thought it would be cool to see some waterfalls!  He really wanted to swim in these waterfalls but fortunately at the first touch of water, he realized that swimming at this time of year was not going to happen!  We were blessed with a waterfall guide book loaned to us from a co-worker and a spreadsheet of his recommendations for local waterfalls.  He photographs waterfalls all along the southeast and his recommendations were superb!  

We made a stop in the Old Fort area to eat lunch and check out Catawba Falls.  It was absolutely gorgeous!! Unfortunately a bridal party had decided to get to the top right before us, hogging all the great views for their social media posts.  Zack jokingly said that he didn't realize that "instagram models" would use a hike and some waterfalls for their photoshoot but that is exactly what happened!  Zack even made me chuckle when suggesting we pick a more strenuous hike for our next stop to discourage these "instagram models" from being on the trail! haha  You will just have to take my opinion that the view was amazing and we'll definitely have to go back when I can take a picture of the waterfall without so many people posing in awkward positions! haha

Next, we made it to Brevard! We decided to check out part of the Dupont State Park on the southern side of Brevard, stopping at Hooker Falls and Triple Falls.  Triple Falls looks like its name, three waterfalls cascading one after the other.  

Hooker Falls was probably my favorite of the whole trip.  This waterfall is seen in "Last of the Mohicans" and I love the horizontal aspects of it.  The boys also posed (unprompted) for the most adorable picture with their arms around each other!  It was an incredibly beautiful area and only about a 0.3 mile hike to get there!  

After fitting in three hikes and dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, El Ranchero, we headed to our home away from home for the weekend!  This two bedroom house was perfect for us and tucked into a neighborhood less than a mile from downtown.  The boys loved having twin beds and playing baseball in the fenced in backyard.  This was our first out of town trip just the four of us, ever!  It was special to make plans based on specifically what the boys wanted to do.  We also found time to be lazy as well so we were ready for the next hiking adventure!

On Saturday, we went to the Pisgah National Forest (north of Brevard).  We went to Moore Cove Falls and Looking Glass Falls (the most photographed waterfall in NC).  The boys again delivered sweet pictures with each other (actually asking me to snap the pictures I took below of them on a rock, hugging each other and Zander putting his arms on Maddox's shoulders)!  I just couldn't stop taking pictures of my boys so happy.... they love being outside..... with the ability to be loud, run around and lead the way on the trails!  The first collage is of Moore Cove Falls.  The three boys even walked behind this waterfall!

This collage is of Looking Glass Falls!  We had to turn around twice to find a parking spot but it was well worth it!

Then, we headed to the Cradle of Forestry where we were able to learn the history and importance of the forestry industry.  The boys loved the train, the old buildings and we even found a building with Zack's family name on it!

After two full days of exploring, we needed a nap!  Maddox crashed hard for our one hour nap!  Since we got home around 4:00 p.m., we didn't want to sleep too long or we knew we would have trouble at bedtime!  

We ate dinner at a local retro diner, Rocky's.  The boys asked if they could have ice cream for dinner! We said sure!  Zack and I had a delicious dinner food....  a Carolina cheeseburger and a pimento cheese hotdog!  We had our ice cream sundaes after dinner!  When we got home for the night, we watched "Ralph Breaks the Internet".  It was so much fun piling on the couch and relaxing together!

Today, we made our way home.  We stopped in Black Mountain on the way back to break up the trip.  I found a local park that had beautiful views so we decided to stop.  The lake was mostly dried up which made for a little different picture experience than I anticipated but we still had fun being sandwiched in between the mountains of NC and enjoyed seeing the fall leaves on the mountains one more time!  I think Maddox enjoyed his 5th birthday adventure!  The great news is.... he still has another week of celebrating at school and with family at home!

In other news from our week....  Linds and I ran a 5k last weekend that connected to the virtual half marathon we ran the weekend before.  We ran the 5k in 24:54  (8:02 overall pace).... a personal best for both of us!  We placed in 1st and 2nd in our age group and were able to grab our half marathon finisher medals and shirts afterward!  Races have looked different this year but I'm so thankful to have the same running partner through the years!  I'm blessed to be Lindsey's sister and the time we have together on Saturday mornings will always be a highlight of my week.... especially when the running part is over and we are walking to the car! haha

Maddox had orange and black day at school this past week.... here are some of his classmates and teacher, Mrs. Veigh!

I got to go out with my work friends on a school night!  We haven't been out in months due to the coronavirus and our busy schedules.  It was so nice to catch up!

I took the boys to vote on the first day of early voting.  We waited in line for 2.5 hours but they did a great job entertaining themselves playing bottle flip games, eating snacks, chatting with people in line (from a 6 ft distance) or running around the lawn area at our local library!  It was exciting to have them be a part of this process and start to understand the importance of democracy and how they can do their part as they get older!