Blowing Rock

We spent the week-end with Matthew and Lindsay, who drove up to our house Friday night. Then we all headed up to the mountains for a fun filled overnight.

We drove up to the top of Grandfather Mountain and Matthew, Lindsay and I crossed over the mile high bridge and climbed on the rocks for the impressive view. The heights proved too much for Miran who waited for us in the gift shop. It was very windy and we were all a little nervous and not very sure footed. The weather was actually great all week-end, but it was quite chilly on the mountain top.

On Sunday Matthew spent the day skiing, which was the primary purpose of the trip. The rest of us kept busy by going on a short hike and by panning for gemstones. Below you can see Lindsay and Miran sifting through their buckets of dirt. And below that you can see what Miran found (in a large bucket) and what I found (in a small bucket). They had staff who went through our findings and identified everything. 

After identifying everything we decided to have a couple of the stones cut, including a not very valuable but pretty amazonite as well as a ruby and a amethyst. The ruby turned out a bit dull, but the amethyst is really lovely.

We explored the very close together towns of Blowing Rock, Boone, and Banner Elk and discovered a number of fudge shops, which seemed to be a thing in the area. We had great burgers for dinner Saturday as well.

Kitchen Updates

We've made a few small but important changes in the kitchen in the past few months. For Christmas we got a new ceramic smooth surface cook top. Miran installed it in January after enlarging the cutout in our granite countertop. Then last week we got a new faucet which is much easier to use, much prettier, and has also solved our crazy low pressure problem.

Here is a shot of them both ...

And an in progress shot ...

Chattanooga

For MLK week-end I met Cecilia and Margaret and their kids in Chattanooga for a sisters/cousins get together.

Of course we visited the TN aquarium where everyone had a good time looking at all the different habitats and animals.

We also visited the Children's Museum which had a lot of different play areas, including an archeology section where the kids could dress up and dig in the sand for fossils, as well as a bee exhibit where they could climb in the hive.

A lot of fun was had just hanging around the hotel. There was a lot of legos, stories, and pool time.

And once the kids were sleeping there was lots of sister talks, which were wonderful. Here is the only shot I got of the three of us. Its a bit blurry because taken by one of the kids.

New Year's at Myrtle Beach

For New Years week-end we went to Myrtle Beach. We just wanted to do something different and get away. It wasn't a fancy vacation and it was definitely off-season, but we had a good time anyway. The hotel's New Year's Party wasn't too fun, but we did get to bowl and enjoyed that. And we went for a very chilly walk on the beach after midnight and people were setting off fireworks.

Our hotel was right on the beach so we woke up to nice views. This shot is from the breakfast room upstairs.

On night for dinner we went to Medieval Times. We weren't allowed to take pictures during the show because it could spook the horses, but here is Miran at the gate and eating chicken with his hands. They really wanted to recreate a medieval dining experience! We had a good time but the show was very staged and geared for a slightly younger audience. Our knight did win the tournament, so that was good.

We spent one whole day and evening at Broadway at the Beach complex. We were impressed with the Ripley's aquarium there which was small but surprisingly well done. They had a really long tunnel through the shark tank which gave great views of all the animals as well as quite a number of touch tanks that Miran really got into.

 We also played a few rounds of putt putt while we were there.

And we thought the kids would get a kick out of this shot - this is the children's science museum. We didn't go in, but though the building was silly.

Christmas

We had a lovely Christmas in Staunton with Mom and Dad and Cecilia. The girls were with Harald so it was quieter than in recent years.

 We did see the girls at our house though on their way north from Florida. We gave them leatherbound journals with locks so they could keep secret diaries.

No new ornaments this year, but a new tree skirt and tree topper. It isn't as pretty as the one Cecilia gave us years ago, but that one ways about ten pounds and every year I fear its going to fall and impail someone with one of its points.