And now... Grandpa and Jaja!

I think I have done the last five posts with exclamation points in the title, but that is exactly how we feel about having family visit us and getting out to explore this beautiful area! Dad and Mom arrived the same afternoon that Rachel and kids left for Gainesville (and had about an hour to say hello and good-bye), and then we got to enjoy a long weekend with them, their first time to visit since the initial move in February.

The first afternoon, as soon as Mattias was up from his nap, we drove up to an overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Waterrock Knob (about 20 miles northeast of Sylva). Hard to believe we've lived here six months and this was our first time to drive along the Parkway. It was a beautiful late afternoon, with a mix of clouds and sun, and this overlook has a nice visitor center (which just closed when we arrived at 5 pm), a short, steep hike up to another overlook, and a large open area with picnic tables.

Both of the boys walked all the way up and down along the steep trail - and absolutely loved it!! Timo didn't want to turn around, and Mattias practically ran down, squealing with happiness and "down, down" all the way. I think we've got some good little hikers in the family.

Sorry, Timo, we have to turn around and go back down now!

Back down at the overlook, we had a hilarious series of "is it raining or not?!" for our picnic supper, but eventually the sun came out and dried us off and we got to eat our picnic and play a little bit of frisbee.

Classic brotherhood moment.

The next morning we went blueberry picking (of course! get it while the getting is good!) and then toured campus.

The boys must have remembered Abram and Adah Joy, because they finally worked up the courage to run closer to the fountain this morning.

Timo got to show Grandpa and Jaja his newest passion, his "quiet time" activity in the afternoon. He gathers all the Legos and cars and other toys and creates a huge town.

We also had fun just being together at home, visiting the library and taking short walks around town. On Saturday Grandpa and Timo weeded together in the yard for an hour quite happily, to Timo's great delight (he loves to work in the yard). Thank you for coming, Mom and Dad! And next time we will be sure to do some more hiking/tubing/waterfall visit!

"Hiking" down the driveway back to the car, since our driveway was very rutted after the previous night's thunderstorm

Frey cousins in town, huzzah!

Extra emphasis on the zeds for this one - huzzah! We were so happy to have Rachel and Asher, Adah Joy & Abram with us for three days last week. [Special thanks go to the Woodys for hosting them for sleeping, since we don't have a guest space!!] It's been only three months since they moved from Durham to Gainesville, but it seems like all of the kids have changed so much in that time and experienced a lot in their new locale. It was GREAT to share our home (books, toys, bikes, and t-ball) and favorite spots around town. The kids played so well together, and we adults even had a few spare minutes to drink coffee and talk! 

Frequent topics among the kids: Star Wars; Pokemon; Elsa and Anna, from Frozen; bicycles

Topics among the adults: making friends in a new town; best parks and splash pads; new jobs

sharing library books

 Abram and Mattias also took more notice of each other this visit, and on several occasions played together or looked at books, and even laughed at each other playing peek-a-boo.

Time for a walk around town, let's go!
 

yikes, heading down our crazy driveway! Hang on to those bikes!

One morning Jim took a half day and joined us for a walk on the greenway trail and then a picnic lunch on campus. Asher, Adah Joy and Timo were SO fast on their bikes, and the last half mile I was running hard trying to keep up with them (and couldn't). I think we all had an adrenaline surge of happiness after that!

Abram was so brave and excited about this fountain, and in the blink of an eye he had headed straight for it and started running circles around the fountain, squealing with happiness!
 

Of course, no visit would be complete without a trip to our favorite playground, in downtown Sylva. Adah Joy and Asher got to show us some great acrobatics, and all five of the kids climbed onto the tire swing for a ride together.

We love you, Freys! Thank you for coming, and next time let's hit up the sights of Gainesville! (but no alligators, please)

Folkmoot festival

Waynesville, NC (20 miles east of us) and surrounding towns host a ten day international festival every year, highlighting musical and theatrical cultures from around the world. While we weren't able to attend any of the events during the week, we did go to downtown Waynesville for part of the closing festivities on a Saturday morning, with street performers, food booths and vendors.

Of course there were food and vendors representing the area's culture as well! 

Just like his dad, Timo loved looking at all the carved wooden animals.

We ate our picnic lunch in front of the really cool police station.

Umm... well, no thanks but... wow.

Green, green indeed

We love having a nice long driveway and open space for play around the garage. The boys spend a lot of time riding bikes, pushing cars, doing sidewalk chalk, digging in the dirt and generally hanging out in the driveway - or "doing kudzu" as Timo likes to say, since we frequently go out and try to (unsuccessfully) cut back the encroaching kudzu vines. Because we are at the top of a hill, we don't have any adjacent neighbors, so it is very quiet and safe (except you have to watch out for poison ivy!).

Jim has set up a mini work-out space in the garage, since we park our cars in the driveway

Our first visitor - Joanna!!

We really enjoyed seeing Joanna and having a friend come to our house! Last weekend Joanna Harris come up from Rock Hill, SC (three hours southeast) for a night/day. She works in athletic administration at Winthrop University. Over the 15 (!) years since college graduation we have been able to see each other a few times, so it was wonderful to re-connect, chat about jobs, college students, family life, and how our perspectives about life have changed from ten years ago. Oh, and spend a Saturday picking blueberries and playing at the river (what else?!).
Timo was SO enthusiastic and barely let Joanna out of his sight. I think it all started after breakfast when she read the entirety of a HUGE Lego book to him.

And we're back to the blueberry farm for the second time this week! Yep, I think we've found one of our favorite spots in Cullowhee. This place is just a mile from campus, and the picking right now is good. SO good. The boys love it too and happily wandered around with their buckets, finding ripe berries and generally stuffing their faces.

After picking 7 1/2 pounds of blueberrries in an hour, we drove through campus for a quick tour and then down to East LaPorte park for playtime in the river and a picnic lunch. 

Mattias just got these sunglasses and loves them.

Look, Mom, I brought a cutting board and a knife and made the sandwiches AT the picnic!
 

 

Yes, Jim, ya gotta actually get in and swim!

In the afternoon while the boys were napping/reading in their rooms, we sat outside and drank coffee and talked more. Then together we walked downtown and had an early supper at Innovation Brewery and food truck. Great ciders and veggie burgers. All told, it was practically a perfect day. Thank you for coming, Joanna! And hopefully we will be seeing each other again soon now that we are practically neighbors.