Little Switzerland & The Blue Ridge 2017

This year Hamish's fall break aligned with Columbus Day, and so we got to extend our annual Blue Ridge trip. We spent Saturday through Monday with family in South Carolina. We read lots of books, played, wiggled Hamish's first loose tooth incessantly, and celebrated Aunt Kitty's birthday with a piñata stuffed with presents and treats.



On Tuesday we drove up to the Blue Ridge. For the past few years we've stopped for lunch in Little Switzerland, and this year we were thrilled to find a house swap in the heart of Little Switzerland: a little mountain cabin that made a great home base for exploring the Southern Blue Ridge Parkway.



Tuesday night we headed to the Inn at Little Switzerland for dinner at the Fowl Play Pub. The whole ridge was was covered in mist.



On Wednesday, we headed North, driving the Blue Ridge up to Boone. The colors weren't at peak this year. It's always something. This year big temperature fluctuations and rain amounts kept the leaves off "schedule", and when Hurricane Nate blew through, lots of leaves fell early. But it was still lovely to walk in the woods and see the trees changing. And we had the van packed with snacks and coloring materials and Adventures in Odyssey on the radio, so everyone stayed happy.



We hiked Linville Falls North of Little Switzerland. We got the most comments from other hikers on the Linville Falls hike. Several older couples commented on the "next generation of hikers" and remembered fondly bringing their own now-grown children to hike on the Blue Ridge.



Of course we also did some caterpillar-spotting.


We'd done this hike in 2013 when Hamish was about 16 months old. It's fun to sit in the same spot four years later.



Even though we didn't get quite the same color show as last year, the Lin Cove Viaduct was still our best view. Last year the kids stayed in the car while I walked along the path at the Viaduct. This year, they came with us, even climbing the rock face to get the best view.


We headed back to Little Switzerland after we made it all the way to Boone. We stopped at a playground by the river in Spruce Pine for a bit before dinner at a pizza place that our hosts had recommended. One of the best things about house swapping is getting inside suggestions for where to go and eat.



Thursday morning we woke up to a heavy fog in Little Switzerland. We took a quick trip to the shops in Little Switzerland. Hamish had some change burning a hole in her hot pink purse. She really, really wanted to "buy a treat for everyone in the family." Unfortunately, $1.21 won't buy much of anything, much less four of anything. Instead of spending her stash on a single piece of candy, she chose to save it until she can buy what she really wants.



Once the fog had burned off and we'd had lunch at home, we got back on the road to explore the Blue Ridge Parkway South of Little Switzerland.
 

Mount Mitchell was our first stop. We walked up to the summit for the first time this year; it's a short walk from a visitor's center. There were boulders to climb, and our kids love being "baby mountain goats".


Back at the parking lot we had traditional hot cocoa and hot apple cider. Kyle remembers always going to Mount Mitchell when he was a kid and the dramatic temperature change between the Blue Ridge and the summit. At 6,684 ft, Mount Mitchell is the tallest peak east of the Mississippi River. But the Blue Ridge is already at 5,100 ft at the turnoff into Mount Mitchell State Park. As we drove up, our car showed about a 3-5 degree drop. But when he was buying the  hot cocoa, the attendant backed him up, and said sometimes there's as much as a 20-30 degree temperature difference!

We worked on the loose tooth a lot on Mount Mitchell. Kyle thought it would be a good added memory to lose her first tooth on the peak. No luck.

We bypassed Craggy Gardens this time in favor of the Manimal's car nap, and drove down to Asheville before turning around and heading home.



Thursday night we had dinner at home on the porch, and then cozied up with popcorn and a movie: the 1974 Benji.



Friday we cleaned and packed up and headed home. Hamish left our hosts a thank you note and drawing highlighting all of her favorite activities.

We hit rush hour traffic right as we got into town, making the last hour and a half of the drive less that ideal. We made good use of the van's DVD player, watching many episodes of the Magic School Bus over the last 40 miles or so.

We were happy finally to be home Friday night. (Tooth still in place).

K+A Are Eleven

Less than one month late!!

The Bug is Three

Our Manimal is three!

You are scrumptious and we love to eat you up. You asked Daddy once if he'd eaten you all up. When he said yes, you burst into tears.



You conquered your fear of bounce houses just in time for your birthday. Now, you explain, you are "brave of bounce houses."

You are "brave of" most everything, especially water. You'll jump in with no fear or hesitation. You love music: singing, playing the piano, dancing, or drumming most of the time. Bek, Nowie and Cubbie are still your best bed friends. If you're hurt or upset you'll just as likely to turn one of them for comfort as one of us. In fact, once you accidentally poked me and quickly jumped up to get me Bek so I would feel better.



When you're in the mood, you are wonderfully independent. You happily entertain yourself with your magnet blocks and trains, playing in the sandbox and playhouse, or pretending with Nowie and Cubbie. Until we finally took your doorknob cover off, you'd wake up early and cheerfully sing and chat with your babies or lay on your bed and drum a beat on the wall with your feet until your light came on and it was time to wake up.

Now that your doorknob cover is off, you're more likely to wake up at 5am to go potty, and never quite make it back to bed.

You adore your "Sissy" and copy everything she does; you are best friends. You miss her so much now that she has started kindergarten, but a couple of weeks in and you're getting used to one-on-one time with Daddy and really enjoying it. But as soon as she's home, you are busy telling her all your things (usually when she's also telling her things). "Sissy! Sissy, I need to tell you something!"



You are very opinionated about your clothes and your shoes, more than Sissy, certainly. You love your Blue Batman shirt, your rain boots, and your striped "conductor" hat. You prefer anything soft. There's a too-small striped long sleeved shirt that is a current favorite. Your little belly hangs out, but you dig it out of the laundry to wear because it is so soft.



Speaking of belly, yours is disappearing by the day. Hard to imagine considering all you eat, but your shape is becoming more little boy and less baby by the minute (your new short haircut did not help AT ALL!) You still have slight mid-forearm creases, but those are stretching out each day.



At night, when we tuck you in, you love to request bedtime songs. We've long ago left any published collection. Now you ask each night for some original composition, "with a tiny cow and a big chicken and a stick to jump over" or maybe "Cubbie and Cheetah and Bek and an airplane and a big stick" or perhaps "a boy that went to the park and he found a ball and Cubbie liked the ball and also he ate a popsicle." Then often we need to do a tiny kiss, then a big kiss: MWAH!



For your birthday--a school day for Sissy--Aunt Jenn and Uncle Jeff came to dinner and brought brownies and a birthday book: If You Give A Mouse A Brownie. You adore Aunt Jenn, Uncle Jeff, brownies, and the "If You Give A Mouse..." books. You were a happy boy.



We opened family presents and ate birthday cake the night before: more magnets, a baseball bat and balls, books, and Paw Patrol bandaids. You may have been most excited about the bandaids. As soon as you opened them you dropped to your knees, hopped up, and wailed about your boo-boos that needed bandaids. You got one for each leg immediately. We are somewhat rationing the rest.



We spent your celebration day at the Williamson County Fair. You petted the goats, looked at the baby pigs, farmed, watched a show, built a birdhouse, and we all rode the Ferris wheel. The last time
we went to the fair, you were just days away from joining us.



Life really is so much better with you here.



We love you, Bug.