Zoe had been gone for what felt like an eternity, (to me anyway) I couldn't wait until she got home so we could do one of our favorite things... HIKE and enjoy some quality time together.
Zoe has been hiking since she was old enough to walk by herself and over the years has become pretty good on most any trail we tackle. Today we decided to try one of the harder trails and boy did we get a workout! After a few miles, we were sweating from head to toe. We had to stop at the creek on the way back just to dip our toes in the water and cool off.
On the way to our hike, we stopped at Fresh Market to pick up a few goodies. We got watermelon, trail mix, and spring rolls. It was the perfect snack after a long hike. It was hot but that didn't stop us from playing in the woods, climbing trees, dodging spiders, and trying to avoid poison ivy. We are all about the adventure!
There are just some things as a kid you have to do as part of growing up, and then when you look back at them 40 years later most of them seem so trivial, but huge memories, none the less. At 5 I remember learning to ride my bike, at 6 taking road trips in my grandparents camper or spending time at our mountain cabin. I remember my first trip to Disney, the year it opened in 1972! At 12 I remember my first solo trip to our family farm in Nebraska. All were huge milestones at the time but now just fond memories.
Last week, I had to go to California for work and we really didn’t want to keep Zoe in daycare all week. So in an attempt to create some memories for Zoe we packed up and headed down to Nana’s. Zoe was going to stay with Nana while I was out of town working. The plan was to take a trip in the camper to Cherokee, NC to ‘see’ the Indians (aka rite of passage moment with photo op with an ‘Indian’...see photo of me, Laura, Rusty, and my cousin Pam circa 1971) and watch the reenactment of the Trail of Tears, a play called ‘Unto these Hills’. In true Nana fashion, how could one go to Cherokee without a stop at ‘Santa Claus Land’, or as my grandmother would say, “Sandyclaws Land” (rite of passage moment). Santa Claus Land in itself is a place that can only truly be experienced by a trip there. I remember as kids we’d pile in my grandma’s car and take the 2-hour trip north. Awaiting us would be ‘Santa’ (and I use that term loosely), elves in a plastic display case that we were sure were real, ceramic reindeer statues hooked up to a sleigh that we could get in/on, AND all the carnival type rides you could ride for FREE (with the price of admission). What more could a kid take in one trip???
Well, now Zoe has officially had her rite of passage trip to Cherokee, AND ‘Sandyclaws Land.’ Complete with the photo op with the Indians! She had so much fun, and that is what summer vacations with your grandparents are ALL about. Thanks so much to Nana and Mr Ed for making Zoe’s first camper trip a fun one!Next up, Mamaw and PopPop will be here in a few weeks, I’m wondering what fun things they have up their sleeves?
Zoe enjoying a facial!
Last week I bought flowers and they have been sitting in the garage because it's been to chilly to plant them after work. Today was the perfect day to get out there and get them in the ground. Zoe had been asking all week because she wanted to wear her garden gloves and pull out all her garden tools. She takes this all very serious. She even has a Scooby-Doo foam mat that she uses to kneel on so she doesn't get her knees dirty. Once the flowers were planted, it was time to water them with her shark like watering can. I was lucky she let me join in because she was in total control and I just sat back and let her do her thing.
By the time we finished, we were both ready to lay down with the air conditioning on and take a little cat nap.
