Carolina beach

We took a little day trip to Carolina beach. When we got there the sky was beautiful and not a cloud in the sky. After about an hour and a half a storm came in and it was raining so hard and we had to leave very quickly. Hopefully we can make it out there one more time before the end of summer.

French broad river

Vacation pictures continued. Maria received a water camera for Christmas. I finally figured out how to download the pictures from the camera onto the computer. We went rafting one day on the French Broad river. It took about 3 1/2 hours. Maria had a great time. Wesley was bored! Maria loved jumping out of her tube and swimming in the river. The first couple of times she had a problem getting back into her raft until she thought something touched her foot and she jumped from the water into her raft with no problem! :) It was a nice relaxing afternoon. We were able to bring our lunch and ate our sandwiches and we floated.   

Maria took this picture underwater. 

My little fish!

1st day of school

 It's really weird to say that kid's had their first day of school today when the last day was on June 30th. I thought it would be fun to compare the kid's pictures from last year's first day of school. They both of grown so much. They both had a great day!

2nd grade

1st grade

               1st grade

 Kindergarten

Sliding Rock

Sliding Rock is a natural water slide, except you are landing in very cold water. At first you have to scoot then the rock is very smooth and you pick up speed quickly. Maria had a blast. There were quite a few people there so we only went 3 times but I think Maria would have gone down it all day long. Once was enough for Wesley.

Maria swimming

Maria swimming at Skinny Dip falls. The water was about 50-60 degree's. At first she was a little nervous but once she realized it was just like swimming in a pool she was off! I think she swam for about 30-40 minutes.

Random photos from trip

Maria is 7

Wesley 5

Annaliese 5

Shiar 3

The kids had so much fun playing together. Maria is already counting down till our next family vacation. 

Craggy Gardens

We went hiking in a trail off the Blue Ridge parkway called craggy gardens.  I think it was called this because it's a very rocky trail.  The trail ended up being 2.5 miles.  The first half of the trail was straight up the mountain.  Sebastian and I were quite impressed with the kids. There was very minimal complaining.  When we got to the top of the mountain it was such a beautiful sight!  There was even a great climbing tree. I love the Blue Ridge Parkway. When we were done we were all starving!  You should have seen how the 4 of us destroyed some humus.  😀

Happy 4th of July

We are in the mountains this week. The weather has been perfect.  I have taken lots of pictures but the WiFi is awfully slow. The rest of the pictures will have to wait until I get home.  We watched fireworks in a small town called Hendersonville. It such a cute town.  We listened to music while the kids played with other kids.  It was such a nice relaxing evening.