It's not everyday you get to arrive at a mountain cabin, nestled between autumn woods and an active creek, to find a warm meal awaiting you. Plus, Sandy knows my fondness for Starbuck's pumpkin bread and she had a loaf of fresh homemade pumpkin poundcake awaiting us in the freezer.
We arrived Saturday afternoon. We enjoyed a day and a half with Matt's parents and then they headed home to Georgia Monday afternoon. We left their cabin on Friday afternoon.
Postcard worthy
One night last week I was tucking Simon in bed and attempting to have a serious discussion with him. It went something like this.
Mom: Simon, let me tell you a secret.
Simon: What is it, Mommy?
Mom: Well, buddy, a lot of people think that having a lot of stuff and money will make them happy and they work really hard for it. And guess what? It doesn't make them happy. Do you want to know the secret?
Simon: What?
Mom: Well, what do you think will really make them happy?
Simon: You go to a store and buy lots of food and your tummy gets really big and then you are happy.
....
Mom: Well, I was going to tell you about the pearl of greatest price, but ...
Picture from inside the cabin
Evie chilling in a basket/bag my grandmother in SC gave me. A treasure from her attic. And these are some flowers of hers that Simon picked for me ...
We were sitting on the couch one night and all of a sudden it sounded like a drive-by shooting. It was acorns falling from the very tall tree above the cabin.
Matt: Now, that's a drawback. Especially if you are prone to heart-attacks.
The road next to the cabin.
The icy-cold creek behind the cabin.
The view from Pisgah Inn just up the mountain where Matt and I went for breakfast one morning while the grandparents were still around to watch the kiddos.
Leaves we picked on a walk.
I had a friend who wanted me to bring back some leaves, so just in case I forget, here is a picture, Cheryl!
The McDonalds in Biltmore Village. We drove by it on our way through town and thought it was comment-worthy. I guess they have regulations in such towns. I remember in Vermont all of the McDonalds were just as picturesque.
Simon's "Cabin" Plate
The side-yard and view from the cabin.
Simon: Do you know what the acorn says? Help me! I'm stuck in this shell.
Matt and Evie having some quality time on the porch.
This was Evie right when we turned on the gas flames. Matt picked her up and she felt pretty hot. I guess she thought we were trying to cook her or something.
This was Evie BEFORE the gas flames.
Simon saw more than his fair share of cartoons and commercials over the last couple of weeks. He wanted almost every toy, but interestingly enough, he wanted them for EVIE.
He'd say, "I want Evie to have that toy. I want Evie to have a lot of toys."
Maybe because her birthday is next week??
The following pictures are from a hike we took starting right behind the cabin. Matt and I were going to switch off carrying/wearing Evie, but I ended up carrying her the two plus hours. Mostly because I felt like I might be a little more sure-footed with extra weight in front (you know, from pregnancy practice.) Of course, Evie weights 16 pounds now, but still ... Sometimes I'm a little protective.
I also kept imagining a bear coming. We'd watched a bear movie earlier in the day, so my imagination was vivid on that end, and I had several plans of survival in place, just in case.
Evie yawns as the hike interferes with an afternoon nap.
End of hike pictures.
Simon choose the face-design from an article at the cabin on how to carve pumpkins.
View from the road of the back of the cabin.
