Are You Ready?

We just got back from our annual VACATION!!!!!  Isn't that exciting?  :-)  I'm sure this news isn't the most exciting for you but it does mean this blog post is going to be long...very long and with lots of pictures, so beware!  Make sure you have some tissues on hand, okay, well I guess you really don't need tissues but a cup of coffee or tea would be just dandy.  Are you ready?  Here are the pictures of our amazing weekend!  

Each year we are extremely blessed to use a condo not far from our home.  Far enough to make it a true vacation but at least we don't have to drive all day to get there.  We got the condo for 4 nights which made for a long and delightful time together as a family.  

 One of the highlights for the kids is the pool!  

 Yep!  They wore themselves out!

 Maybe not!  They'd play all day if they could.

 The next day Taylor joined us!!!!  He had to work most of the time but was able to be with us for almost 2 days.  Here we are heading to the mountains to find some abandoned mines.

 A stunning valley

 We got way up in the mountains to hike the last little bit to the mines and we were shocked by how cold it was.  We tried to hike faster to get warm.  It didn't work.  

 But after a while we found the mines, or at least this is where they processed their find.  I can't remember what they mined in this area.  Gold I believe.

 This building was huge!  Heather and I went down a steep hill just to get to the bottom of the building.

 There were tons of pack rat nests all over the place and the kids saw 2 rats, thankfully that was before I got in there!  Actually, I've never seen a rat so it would have been interesting to catch a glimpse of one.

 The kids liked to climb.

 Hi Taylor!

 Mom and dad!

 Oh, Heather enjoyed romping about too!

 Isn't this neat?

 Mom took my camera and got my picture!  Thanks Mom!

 Gracie, that isn't going to work.  

 Family picture time!

 I don't know why but I really like this photo.

 Mom and dad again!

 Here is the actual mine.  

 We then found these kilns.

 After getting back in the car and taking a short trek down the road we stopped to see the cabins the miners lived in.  

 I love it!

The odd thing about this cabin was the doors.  They were about 5 feet tall or lower!  

 See the bark still on the beams?

 Must have been the kitchen area.

 The outhouse!  This isn't like any other outhouse I've ever seen, for two reasons:

 #1 it's painted pink (remember this is a miners outhouse...) and #2 ummm...it has two seats.....yeah!  Not sure what that is all about.  

  

 Not sure what this was but it stood right near the creek and was about 3 feet high.  Maybe something they put food in to keep cool?

 In another cabin that was nearly falling apart, I found Gracie, just chilling!

 I love this picture of our family!  Random!!!

 Headed back to car for a much needed lunch.

 There it is!!!

The next stop was Blue Ridge Mine.  The many layers made for an interesting walk through.

 Down the hill was this old hotel, The Four Horseman.  I just wish walls could talk since I'm sure they've seen many people come and go through the years.  

 The original wood flooring!

 Then we went back to the condo, all tuckered out and watched the Andy Griffith show and put together a puzzle.  But the kids still had more energy so they went to play in the pool.

 Dinner?  Well we planned food for the whole weekend but we planned to eat out one night.  We found this fun Mexican place that, when they saw our big group, took us to the back room as far from the other guests as they could.  It was actually very nice because we had too much fun laughing, talking and taking pictures.  It was really funny because the waiter could hardly bring chips and salsa fast enough.  We ended up teasing the guy and asking if we could just get a pitcher of salsa!  He thought that was so funny, but to our disappointment he never brought it.  

 Lydia digging in!

 Ben and Gracie (notice the chip bowl empty!  Urg!)

 The view from our bedroom window!  Isn't it lovely?

 Okay, so tradition has it that we always stop for some coffee and doughnuts.  Goodness, do we have fun!  We eat outside and take pictures!!!

 Sugar!!!!

 I love this one of mom and Lydia!  

 Coffee and sugar!!!!  You can only imagine the excitement levels that we reach after this meal....wow!

 Dad and I together!  

She is just holding it all back.  I took about 7 pictures just trying to get her to look normal!

 Sarah trying on my sunglasses!

 This funny guy and his dog stopped by and showed us the tricks "Zoe" could do and had Lydia try them.  He was a riot and loved to talk!

 Uh oh!  It's starting!  

 Yep.  There it is!  She's hyper!

 Us 5 sisters and best friends! 

 With our mom!  Okay, Sarah made Lydia make this funny face but all the other pictures didn't turn out as well as this one did, so Lydia is forever going to be funny looking in the picture with mom and us girls. Actually, she looks cute!

 Family picture...take 22.

 Sisters!!!!

 Aw!  Look who we saw.  This darling little boy was rocking in this huge rocking chair.

 We said good bye to Taylor after doughnuts and coffee since he had to head back to work and missed him the rest of the weekend. From there we went in search of a cave and found it.  It had a big whole in the ceiling.  It was much more lovely in person since I didn't have time to make the pictures perfect.  I kept getting left behind how it was.  Wait for me!

 Smiling into a flashlight and getting her picture taken...

 Yes, we had to watch our heads.

 While we waited for the rest of the group we got bored...so when one is bored you get out a flashlight and the camera!

 Heather and dad put on a show!

 Hahaha!

 Wow!

 There! We're done and happy to see the sun again.  

 "Go help your sister!"

 She was stuck in the brush....not sure how she got in.  Lol!

 Looking like they're having fun!

 Ford Excursion advertisement?  I think so!

 Right before we left I ran back with my wide angle lens to get this photo of the hole we climbed down to get to the cave.  It was interesting.

 The road home.

The next morning was pack up day....soooooooo sad!  We were able to relax all morning and even saw 6 deer walk right outside our condo window!  We see deer a lot but these were not at all afraid of us so I went out the door to get a closer shot but they had moved further away by then.  

After spending a nice quiet morning together, we began packing up and cleaning the condo.  It's aways sad doing this because we know it will be a whole year till we will be able to rest and relax like this.  But each year we make more memories and treasure the time we have together.