Warm Adventures: Fall Break 2017

We took advantage of some cheap flights to spend the three week fall break in North Carolina. Erik had not been back in six years, actually since we moved to Switzerland, so it was fun to visit as a family again. I'll touch on some of the highlights.

Cousins

We arrived in Charlotte after a very long flight, where we normally have another 3 hour drive to my parents house. But my mom had a great idea that we would stay in Charlotte for a few nights at a fun kids hotel and get over our jet lag. My step-sister flew up from Florida, and my step-brother and his wife came over with their kids from Raleigh. So we had a mini family reunion to start our holiday. The kids, although tired, rallied and enjoyed all the excitement of hanging out with relatives they don't see very often. The Lodge had a huge indoor water park, putt putt golf and an arcade to name just a few highlights. I personally loved the breakfast buffet complete with biscuits and gravy, real southern grits and french toast - yummy. After two days of non stop stimulation (and food) we were ready to head to the peacefulness of the mountains.

Family reunion

My parents' mountain home is absolutely gorgeous, with the most stunning views of the area. We were graced with really lovely weather practically our whole trip. Although I think we did miss peak leaf season by a week or two. Honestly, it was great to just decompress for a few days and sort of relax as Erik and I have been super busy with starting our own separate businesses this year. That is what is great and sometimes not so great about the digital age of working for yourself - you can pretty much work from anywhere in the world but at the same time you can never really get away from it. Erik was also studying for an exam he would take in Florida, but it was still a nice setting to do all that "work". My parents are always great hosts, stocking the fridge and pantry with healthy food for us, as well as plenty of fun activities for the kids. I mean who else has an indoor bounce house and trampoline (outdoors of course)

Great day at the Cape

After a few days, we flew down to Florida for a super quick visit to see family and friends. We visited my grandmother (the kids great grandmother) in the afternoon and then Erik headed to Tampa for his exam on Friday. On Friday the kids and I spent the day with my brother and his wife, my cute nephew and my step-mom. We had so much fun going out on the lake for a bit. Saturday we visited the Kennedy Space Center with Erik's family and had a great time. I hadn't been there in decades and was really impressed, as were the kids. We had a nice seafood dinner after on the water. Sunday we had breakfast with some great friends before church and then I headed down to Jupiter to teach class #2 that weekend. Erik stayed and visited his friends and family for the rest of Sunday. On Monday we flew back to North Carolina. So yes Florida was a bit of a whirlwind tour but always great to see friends and family.

Enjoying some quality alone time in Asheville

We had a few more days at my parents place and then Erik and I scooted over to Asheville to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. I love Asheville and although we've been there many times, we usually only do day trips there. It was really fun to spend three whole days and nights there and really get to experience it. We went hiking along the Blue Ridge Parkway and saw two bears. Later that same day as we were headed to dinner, there was a huge black bear sitting in front of our cottage eating acorns from the tree. It was quite the day for bear sightings. We really enjoyed all Asheville had to offer and it was so wonderful to reconnect with one another. We had several outstanding meals, listened to some blue grass and drank some local beer. We also met up with some friends we hadn't seen in a long time and just enjoyed hanging out for a bit. It was a really great way to celebrate our anniversary. This month also marks our 6 year anniversary of moving to Switzerland. I can honestly say I never thought we'd be here that long but now I can honestly say we are pretty happy living abroad.

The last few days of our trip were filled with some last minute shopping. I always stock up on clothes for the kids and I. Miles and Ali also learned the fine art of chopping and stacking wood for the winter, which could be considered one of the highlight of their trip.

All in all a wonderful holiday. My apologies to those of you we missed while we were back. And thanks to all of you who hosted or helped with our transportation. We really appreciate it.