chimney rock view

Isn't it funny how a picture can take you back to a place and time. This is one of my favorite pictures from our recent trip to Lake Lure. We climbed Chimney Rock (more about our hike in a future post), and the view from the top is just amazing. You look down at Lake Lure and the entirety of Hickory Nut Gorge. It is beyond beautiful.

 

When we got up there, Dylan was a little unsure of being up that high. When our family visited there 7 years ago, he was running around wild like a little monkey. This time, he sat still.

 

He became fixated on a man that was standing on the very edge of the cliff. His back was turned to us, and Dylan was just watching him. I believe Dylan didn't know if the man was praying or thinking about taking a leap.

 

I think the man was just trying his best to imprint the memory of the view into his mind.

 

Dylan just sat there watching this man. His back was turned and all you could see was  his long robe. He looked like a monk from behind. After a few minutes, Dylan realized he wasn't going to jump and he relaxed.

Imagine his surprise when the man turned around, Dylan noticed they were wearing the same sunglasses. Dylan said, "I didn't know monks wore Oakleys!"

I guess we really aren't that different from each other, are we?

Wishing you all a peaceful weekend!

Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influences of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion. The potential for greatness lives within each of us.  ~Wilma Rudolph

lake lure--then and now

Way back when in the Fall of 2005 we spent Karsen's 4th birthday at Lake Lure! I just pulled up some old pics and sat here and boo-hoo-ed like a baby. I can't handle the nostalgia. LOL

Here was our birthday girl for the trip. Sassy as ever? She went through a phase where this is the pose she would strike when you said, "Cheese!" LOL

We had great weekend visiting the mountains. I remember we stayed in the most perfect little cabin and went fishing at the lake. I think I have shared some of these before, but please indulge me, people! I feel sentimental tonight.

I know this was my first year in Pharmacy school, because of my CAMPBELL shirt I am wearing. It doesn't seem like that long ago, but then again...it does.

Karsen's face kills me here. It is just too cute. And just look at Dylan's baby face and snaggle tooth smile.

 

 

It was a great weekend celebrating this girl's 4th birthday. Seven years later we went back to the same Lake for a week and had another amazing trip. We hiked Chimney Rock in 2005 when we were there, and the kids were such troopers!

Lake Lure, Fall 2005

 

And we re-traced our steps again this year. Here we are 7 years later. Same spot, same rock, same tree. Larger children. :) A different time of year. Fall instead of Summer, and a different time in our lives in many other ways.

 

 

Lake Lure, Summer 2012.

Then and now.

 

“If you are faced with a mountain, you have several options.
You can climb it and cross to the other side. You can go around it.
You can dig under it. You can fly over it.You can blow it up.
You can ignore it and pretend it’s not there.
You can turn around and go back the way you came.
Or you can stay on the mountain and make it your home.” 
~Vera Nazarian

wordless--the hammock

first day of school (2012-2013)

Somehow another school year is upon us.
Dylan and Karsen were both so excited to start school.
I hope their enthusiams lasts at least until the first report card ;)

8th grade

Dylan Hayes

8th grade

Your last year before high school.

You resemble that tree you're standing by.

Tall and skinny.

Algebra, Robotics, and Spanish II

You suddenly care about how you look.

Grooming is less of a concern for now;

typical 12 year old boy.

Boy on the brink....

 

 

5th grade

 

Karsen Grace

10 years old

Suddenly in 5th grade

not so much our baby anymore.

So EXCITED every morning for school

you bounce up and put on your outfit

that you laid out the night before

Lover of homework and being challenged

gymnastics, violin, reading 24-7

I remember when I was that girl too. :)

 

Alot of things change

but some things stay the same.

You both may be growing up and going into

the 8th and 5th grade

but your Momma still cried

on your first day of school.

 

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”

~Dr. Seuss

 



i carried a watermelon

One of my favorite things about Lake Lure is the fact that they filmed the majority of the movie, Dirty Dancing, there. I think I have mentioned this already, so y'all should know that this is one of my fave movies. It still hurts my heart that Patrick Swayze died so young. Seriously.

It is no exaggeration when I tell you that my sisters and I probably watched that movie ~711,000 times growing up. We shouldn't have been allowed to watch it, but we were! And it was our fave. Johnny was my first love.....

We spent part of a rainy day during our recent vacation there by taking a guided boat tour of Lake Lure. It was awesome to learn all the history of the area, and I was ridiculously giddy when the pontoon boat took us into a little cove and showed us this:

Those are THE stairs where Baby "carried a watermelon" at the beginning of the movie. Chris looked at me like I had lost my mind when I got so excited about this on the tour. LOL. I loved, loved, loved this movie! The tour guide also pointed out that the water there on the shore is where they filmed the lift scene in the water. Remember this?

It was a high point of our vacation for me. The kids loved riding in the boat, and it was such a nice way to spend one of the cooler days when we didn't feel like swimming in the water.

The stairs and this view are two of the sights that I will remember most about our week there. We were riding along when the tour guide turned the boat around and announced, "There's our million dollar view".

This is the most beautiful spot of the lake. When we were sitting there in the boat it was almost like we were in another country instead of in a small lake town in NC. It lit-ter-ral-ly took your breathe away. That's all I can say. This picture just does not do it justice.

The next day we rented a private boat, and Chris kept driving by this spot "one more time" just for me. I just love every-single-thing about this place. It was such a great week!

Stay tuned for a post dedicated solely to our week long attempt at catching a fish! Any guess on who finally catches one? And I'll have the pictures to prove it!

so long summer

 

                     

 

 

 

 

 

“All in all, it was a never-to-be-forgotten summer — one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going — one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends and delightful doing, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world.” 

~L.M. Montgomery

this

This spoke to me today....(and may or may not have me crying like a baby at Karsen's gymnastics practice).

What fills the space after a goodbye

You should read it too. But only if you have Kleenex within reach. And are not in a public place.