We did a mini vacation Thursday-Saturday before Easter! This was the first road trip in the new van, and everyone was so excited! We went to Beech Mountain a couple hours away.
A few things we had NOT planned on... incredibly windy roads! Beech Mountain is the highest town in Eastern part of the USA, so we were really up in the mountains. I had to use my motion sickness glasses much of the time.
Another thing we had not planned on: SNOW and ICE! When we reserved a place for the weekend, we knew we would be in the mountains so it would be chillier than going to the beach, but we had NOT anticipated a cold front that meant the highs were in the low-20s and windy for Thursday and Friday.
Anothert thing we had not planned on: our "cabin" was a little more outdated than I realized. BUT, it was clean, the mattresses were comfortable, and we didn't spend a fortune. So overall, still a win!
Another thing we had not accounted for: Beech Mountian evidently lives and dies on it's ski resort. So once the ski resort closes for the season, the whole town kind of shuts down for a month. We got there 4 days after the ski resort closed, so just finding an open restaurant was a challenge! Good thing I brought groceries!
Little injured raccoon by the parking lot where we parked for our hike..
(The order of the pictures is messed up, but we definitely spent time in the hot tub and pool back at the cabin!)
Soon after arriving Thursday. Naptime, books by the fire, and puzzles. :)
Not exactly top quality... when you put the quarters in to release the pool balls, Ben and Micah would have to lift one side of the table to get most of them to roll out. Pretty sure the ping pong balls were from dollar tree too. 😆
On the way to Boone, we went to a "gem mine" and bought a bucket to mine through ourselves. Caleb especially liked this. :)
Candy barrels at Mast General Store was what Abby was most excited about. :)
EASTER! We didn't want to require masks, but because of COVID, that meant finding a place to meet outside. I couldn't find ANY place that was willing to let us reserve/rent an outdoor pavilion, so we decided to just "show up" at a pavilion near Riverwalk (that doesn't accept reservations), knowing that chances were no one would be there. It actually worked out perfectly... it was a BEAUTIFUL day right by the river!
The only thing that was kind of funny was that when we got there, there was a tarp on the ground with cones around it that said "BIG HOLE". 😆 We just avoided that spot. :)
Most people brought picnic lunches to hang out afterward. It was so fun!
Sunday evening fun at the Thompsons... Caleb didn't want to play a "running game" at first, so he hung out on the airplane by himself. 😄
The local wildlife:
Grandma and Grandpa came to visit on their way back from Florida!
Poor guy was tuckered out...
The black snake was back out, so plans were made to get rid of him.
We realized he was escaping back into this hole where the pipes came out of the crawl space. 😳
Micah was brave enough to go in looking for him. He couldn't find where he went though!
While Grandma and Grandpa hung out with Caleb and Abby, Micah and I had to go to a practice for Mock Trial.
We checked out out the new Ebenezer Park! It was very cool! Caleb brought his fishing pole, and Abby wanted to go swimming, although the water was COLD. I didn't realize public schools were on spring break, so it was more crowded than I thought it would be.
Cards while we wait for the fish to bite. (They never did! Or rather, they did, but took the chicken liver right off the line instead of getting hooked.)
In the evening, we went to Glencairn Gardens to see the azaleas blooming and (of course) tease the wildlife since Grandpa was along.
Finishing the night with Freddy's ice cream...
Getting our first COVID vaccine! It was a crazy well-oiled machine, getting hundreds of people through (while still being socially distanced.)
Our azaleas looked so pretty I decided to take some pictures "just incase" we decided to list our house for sale!
Helping the Ziebers work on their deck...
AND hauling huge logs up the hill...
Out to eat at Burgers and Barley!
Abby with her creepy dialated eyes at the eye doctor:
Trying on his suit for Mock Trail:
Goofy brother asking for autograph:
Mock Trial dress rehearsal...
End of Year program!
Abby's class presented memory work on the Louisiana Purchase and Boston Tea Party:
Singing John 1 in Latin and English:
Presenting for Essentials. The audience took a grammar quiz and each kid explained the answer to one question:
Singing part of the Timeline and the Preamble to the Constitution:
For the EOY program, each kid was supposed to make a box representing a different state. Abby did Ohio of course! (Caleb did Alaska, but somehow I didn't get a picture of it.)
MOCK TRIAL DAY! (The day after End of Year program... busy weekend!) Micah was a defense attorney and gave the closing argument for the defense. What an amazing experience!! Everyone did so well! The other team technically won (by a hair) in the courtroom protocol and procedure, but one of the jury members said they would have ruled in favor of our team's argument both for the prosecution and the defense. (The jury was made up of real lawyers and the kids presented before a real judge in the old York County courthouse.)
Micah learned how to tie a tie for Mock Trial... and then he could help his classmates!
Micah direct examed his witness, Isaac Shaw (aka Tatum Zillas)... they were amazing together!
Giving the closing argument (with his shoe untied the entire time.) 😆
There was still a week and half left of Challenge B left once Mock Trial was over, but it FELT like school was done. Time to party!
Roller skating with some other Challenge students...
Falling... tripping someone else... and then realizing you just got caught on camera. :)
A very quick photo shoot because I needed a close up picture for the board book I was having made for M&M:
The cover for the book we made for M&M (with their faces blotted out for this blog post.)
Teen group at our house again!
The craziest part of April.... WE BOUGHT A HOUSE! (Well, almost. We went under contract anyway.) We decided early in April that we really did want to get a house with a 4th bedroom before the twins came home. The housing market is INSANE right now because there is more demand than supply (thanks to COVID), so many houses sell before they even officially go on the market. Ben got pre-approved for a mortgage, then we contacted our realtor to let him know we were ready to get the ball rolling. We figured it would take quite a while to actually find a house that would work AND actually "win" it. One house was coming on the market that we went to see, but by the time we got home, it was already under contract. (It was a little too far out of town for us anyway.) That evening, two more houses went on the market that piqued our interest, so we scheduled to see them the next day, on Saturday. One house (305 Tradition Way) surprised us by how much we liked it and how many "boxes" it checked on our list even though it was in a "development" and super close to other houses. We decided to put in an offer $20,000 over asking price (because that's the only way to have a chance.) The sellers ended up having 11 offers, but after asking us if we would waive our appraisal contingency (and us agreeing), we found out Sunday evening that we got the house!! Micah and Ben were hitting golf balls with Wes, so I told Caleb and Abby. They were so excited!!
For Ben's 41st birthday, the kids went to the Kaufman's for the day. Ben and I got our second COVID shot, then to pick out carpet for the new house, then lunch at Pump House. In the evening, Abby had her spring dance recital... her class did two dances, plus one altogether with everyone at the end.
Abby's the second one in line:
Going to Ebenezer Park with the Zieber kids and Grandma and Grandpa while Ben and I were out for his birthday. Caleb comes prepared!
The soon-to-be-new house!
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