Our awesome new favorite

We have a lot of favorite activities in our house right now... Reading is at the top of the chart (both boys spend countless hours reading every day), and of course playing with cars, building Legos, wrestling with Daddy, digging or pushing trucks outside - but riding bikes is the one that has risen to the top lately, especially with the mild weather we've had this winter!

I am really enjoying it as well as I watch them riding together and growing in their strength and confidence. They encourage each other and really do love to race & crash & ride alongside each other. These boys are becoming best friends, and it's great to be in this time of life with them when they have the same interests and are both quite capable. Of course there are still meltdowns and some fighting... But I'm also aware of the special moment it is with them right now before a new baby comes and our routines shift. So we are taking full advantage!

Last week after our usual bi-weekly workout at the Waynesville rec center, I brought the boys' bikes and we went further down the trail and discovered that another huge section of the park was just across the creek - and includes a skate park. It's quiet during the weekdays so I've been letting the boys ride around on the ramps. They LOVE it and squeal and yell with delight and adrenaline: challenging themselves but in a mostly-safe setting. It is SO fun, and they really do go fast! Here are some photos from today's excursion.

Final Charleston post

Whoops - I had these photos ready to share and forgot to publish the post! So here, you go - our last day in Charleston was a sunny, windy Saturday. First thing in the morning we drove over the river (out of the downtown) and to the closest beach area, Sullivan's Island. It was AMAZING to see the open expanse of water and sand and smell the salty air. "Jim!" I exclaimed. "We have got to live near the beach someday!" (Afterwards I realized that four of our six combined siblings do indeed live very close to a coast.) I wish we had brought our jackets because it was still very windy; also it would have been nice to have some beach chairs so we could have sat and read our books into the afternoon... Instead we just enjoyed a slow stroll and watched all the dogs running around and a huge cargo ship slowly approaching the port.

took this picture of a stranded jellyfish to show Timo

Afterwards we visited Fort Moultrie on the end of the island (with a view toward Fort Sumter, which you can see over my shoulder in the photo). This fort was in use for the defense of Charleston from the Revolutionary War through World War II, and is now property of the national park system. We didn't even realize what we were getting into when we pulled in to the parking lot - we were just looking for a place to eat our picnic! But in fact it was really interesting to walk around and read & see the history of the fort during each of the wars. And then we sat and looked out to the canal while we happily ate our lunch. Oh, and Ft Moultrie flies a 15 stripe, 15 star flag (used 1795-1818)! Isn't that cool!

Our last evening we took another meandering walk around parts of the historic downtown and along White Point Gardens. We were 'joined' by quite a crowd of tourists, but I suppose that is normal in Charleston, even in February.

A little bit more baby belly to see on my in this photo below... and now, these legs are tired, let's go home for supper, and tomorrow back to Sylva to our boys!

More getaway (what can we say, it's picturesque!)

Scenes from walking around all afternoon in Charleston, and down to the water's edge of the Battery and White Point Gardens, and then back up - stopping finally for dinner of pad see ew and sushi (because we can't get Thai food or Japanese food in Sylva!).

Four Corners of Meeting (representing city law, state law, federal law and religion)

Yes, I can't button my coat all the way down anymore!

cannons and flagpoles line the park, harking back to when Charleston was under siege during the Civil War

Oh, to smell the salty air and see the water!!

this cemetary at Circular Congregation Church is the oldest in the city, with graves dating back to early 1700s!

Getaway to Charleston (yes, we did!)

Yes, we really did get away - just the two of us - to Charleston, SC for three days! Thanks to Mom H for staying with the boys for 3 nights, and to Dad & Mom G and some other friends who helped with the expenses. We were able to stay at an AirBNB rental right downtown, and just walk or ride the free city bus to get around. Perfect location! And did I mention it has been 6+ years since we had gone off by ourselves overnight, and the first time to leave the boys?? Also, it was my first time to see Charleston. Much of the time was pretty low-key, as we simply enjoyed wandering the streets and seeing what we could in a short time without running around like crazy trying to do it all. (And enjoying not having to keep up a mealtime and naptime routine as usual.)

Jim took off Thursday and Friday, so we got to town midday. We walked around that afternoon and ate dinner out. It was pretty chilly & windy on Thursday and Friday.

front of the house - we stayed on the 2nd floor in a full apartment

along King St.

This house is a typical example of an historic "single house" with a side piazza/porch (fronted by a door) with entrance to the house along the side. Many of these homes are now split into 2 or 3 units.

along Cannon St

The next morning we got up and hoofed it over to a cafe for breakfast. SO awesome because it was 100% vegan! Wish we could have gone back for lunch. More so, wish we had a place like this closer to Sylva!

Despite my expression from the uncomfortable chair, I was quite pleased about the breakfast.

We stopped at the visitor center in the old railroad station, where they also have this small (restored) steam train from Charleston's early days of railroad, circa 1830. I loved the quote on the wall describing the train's first journey: "The one hundred and forty-one persons flew on the wings of wind at the speed of fifteen to twenty-five miles per hour, annihilating time and space…leaving all the world behind." Had to take a pic to show the boys.

The one historic house that we toured was this one (below), the Aiken-Rhett house, c. 1820. It was a family home for almost 150 years, and today serves as a "conservation museum" which displays the nearly-empty house as it was left in the 1970s. (Rather that "restoring" it to period grandeur.) Portions were quite dilapidated inside and there are remnants from each of the eras of the families and the changes they made, though no indoor plumbing or indoor cooking, as far as we saw.

Phew. Let's stop and rest our legs on the way home. How about a snack next to this neighborhood fountain?

Back to our rental, and a few hours of reading in the sun on the piazza.

We discovered that our house was a half block away from Emanuel AME Church, where a tragic shooting took place last summer. We could hear the chimes of the bell tower throughout the day.

birthday!

I had a really nice Feb 8th birthday this year, mainly because Mom arrived midday for a visit! It was fun to be looking forward to that all week - and she arrived with a car load of goodies and supplies. Jim made me a birthday meal earlier on the weekend but saved the dessert and presents for the day (on Wednesday). I only wish that Dad had been here too to celebrate his 70th, but by the sounds of it, he rung in the new year with great enthusiasm (and not on his own), to the tune of a multiple birthday celebrations, a bike ride, birthday poems sent by us kids, and chocolate custard for dessert. 

A rousing "happy birthday" and scattered presents!

Jim made an amazing chocolate mousse!! The best part was that it wasn't made with eggs - it was made with 'aquafaba', the brine from canned chickpeas that mimics egg whites in baked goods and when whipped. Really tasty and very rich. We are excited to try out aquafaba as an egg substitute in other recipes, too.

With a little help from Dad

T, T, T, TIMO!