Celebrating Mattie's 3rd Birthday at the NC Arboretum

On June 30th, we celebrated one of the most special days of our year now...our precious angel's birthday.  She turned 3 years old, and we can't believe it has been 3 whole years since we held her in our arms.  I can only imagine what a spunky little girl she would be today.  Daddy finished up his last teacher education business in Asheville in the morning and then the celebration began.  We went out to eat lunch and then picked up some balloons and cupcakes for the birthday girl.  I had given much thought to what we should do in the Asheville area on this day, and I could not find a better option than visiting the NC Arboretum which was just down the road from our hotel.  It is both an arboretum and a botanical garden so I thought we would see some pretty flowers and interesting trees too.  It was a hot day, but there was a lot of shade throughout the garden so we had a nice nature walk around the gardens.  I think any little girl would have loved running around in these gardens and admiring all of the pretty flowers.  We ended up with a little birthday theme this year with matching balloons and cupcakes.  I think Mattie would have liked it all.

A Minnie Mouse balloon and cupcake for the birthday girl. 

Big brothers admiring some beautiful flowers. 

This little setting with the little cabin was so tranquil and pretty.  It was completely natural and all about recycling and reusing. 

I enjoyed the day with Mattie's precious brothers. 

And this little guy loved walking around in the soft green grass. 

I think the beautiful butterfly quilt garden would have been Mattie's favorite, but I bet she would like hydrangeas like her Mommy too.  

The boys were sad that this miniature train set was not running.  They only run it on the weekends when more kids visit. 

This little bonsai garden was so sweet.  The picture on the right was the only part set up in Japanese style.  The exhibit showed mostly how we use the bonsai art on many native tree species. 

Brody and Evan made their own bonsai creations.  I watched Evan knowing his would turn out something like this.  He definitely likes symmetrical designs...a little something he gets from mom. 

A big statue of the American garden architect, Mr. Olmsted himself.  

Some special family pictures to remember the day with Mattie's balloons. 

We didn't release the balloons at the Arboretum because we didn't want anyone to say anything if it wasn't allowed.  We stopped in the beautiful mountains outside Marion, NC to visit with Papa in his new home on our way home.  He pastors that little church behind us and loves it.  We did our balloon release there.  

The 3 balloons sailed off into the beautiful blue sky so I hope Mattie received them. 

Back to the Biltmore

The boys and I decided to head back to the Biltmore with the teachers this year.  We didn't go until late in the afternoon so we didn't get the time to explore the gardens, but we were pleasantly surprised that there were plenty of new things to see.  There was a big display of gorgeous wedding and formal dresses used in many popular movies that were set up throughout the house.  You could picture Jane Austen's beloved characters dancing around in the formal rooms of this beautiful old mansion.  We were also surprised that they were allowing non-flash photography of the house this time so we did snag some pictures of these elegant scenes.

Oh the joys of taking pictures of brothers.  Loving quickly turns to play fighting and wrestling. 

Eddie and the big group of teachers he taught all week. 

A huge wedding cake completed the decorations this time. 

Brody posed with a gorgeous wedding dress and with Mommy and the cake. 

Keira Knightley's and Ralph Fiennes' attire from The Duchess.  

You may already know that I love Jane Austen and have read about all of our novels.  Sense and Sensibility wasn't my favorite, but it had its moments and definitely was one of her more risque novels of the time.   I need to see this movie adaptation though. 

An elegant dining room and sunny parlor. 

More wedding and formal dresses from various movies adorned the various sitting rooms.  I loved the additional wedding decor with flowers adorning the elegant mantles and candelabra everywhere. 

That dress from Frankenstein was quite stunning. 

The huge library is definitely my favorite room in the house.  I would have taken more pictures than my husband took of this room.  I could see myself spending all day lounging in here reading. 

I love that green dress although I haven't seen that movie. 

Of course, these dresses from my favorite movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice were favorites.  I just love Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. 

There is a newer painting displayed that shows the current house's owners.  The Cecil family is the direct descendants of the daughter of George Vanderbilt who married a Cecil.  Of course, none live in the house since it is now a business venture, but many have homes on other parts of the estate that aren't accessible to the public.  

The big red bed was in George Vanderbilt's bedroom.  The lovely wedding dress was in the dressing room of Mrs. Vanderbilt. 

Emma by Jane Austen is probably my favorite of her books. While Emma may be viewed by many as just a spoiled little rich girl, Jane did a good job of giving this character a sweet personality that really does care about others less fortunate than herself.  She has been a little spoiled by her sweet and doting old father after her mother died when she was a young child.  Mr. Knightley is also my favorite gentlemen hero of her books. 

Lucky Daddy and the boys got to ride the elevator with the stroller.  I didn't mind using the stairs because my claustrophobic tendencies do not really like small elevators. 

Evan and Daddy explored the basement while I took Brody and Mattox outside to get ice cream and wait.  The basement is a little unusual and has a room called The Halloween Room which I still don't get.  It has weird paintings on the walls and was actually decorated for a New Year's Eve party I believe.  

There is a private bowling alley and an indoor swimming pool and exercise room.  The pool no longer holds water as I can imagine the tiles would deteriorate after years of holding chlorinated water.  

The basement also contains all of the household staff's quarters and pantries for the food. 

I could just see Mrs. Patmore from Downtown Abbey cooking away in this kitchen. 

And of course, Mr. Bates, Mrs. Hughes, Mr. Carson, Thomas, Daisy and other staff hanging out in the servants' dining room. 

The servants had nice quarters as well.  Eddie and I imagine that since this was just a vacation home for the Vanderbilt's, the servants of the house had free reign around the whole estate most of the year.  Sounds like a pretty good life to me. 

Evan and Brody love relaxing on the balcony and enjoying the beautiful view. 

And of course, our tour would not be complete without an ice cream treat at the end.  Can you tell Brody enjoyed his? 

Back to Asheville, NC

As part of our now yearly summer trips around the state with Daddy for his work, we headed back to Asheville for a week after our week in New Bern.  While Daddy was working and teaching our state's teachers all about forestry for the week, we had to find ways to occupy our time.  Much like New Bern, I didn't feel capable of doing too many adventures alone with three young boys so we paced ourselves and just did what we could handle.  I do think the boys enjoyed their week although we didn't get to utilize the pool nearly as much as they would have liked because the weather didn't always cooperate.  We would try to wait until later in the afternoon or evening to swim when it was cooler, but then a summer storm would come up.  I am looking forward to these trips when the boys are older because there are a lot more adventures and things to explore in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina when they are old enough.  I foresee lots of whitewater rafting, tubing, hiking, waterfall exploring, and more.

For our first day, we decided to just check out the Asheville Outlets and explore the big Field and Stream store there.  Our hotel was just across the parking lot from these stores.  I was still on the hunt for more back to school sales for the boys.  My little redneck man Evan wanted this redneck plunger.  Haha!   He always wants to be prepared for those plumbing emergencies.  Yes, that would be a plunger on the end of a shotgun.  

After we left Field and Stream which is a much higher priced version of Bass Pro Shop, we saw someone with a Rita's cup.  We were on the hunt for the Rita's store and found out that although there wasn't a store in the outlet mall, there was a cart selling their Italian ice.  We all enjoyed some yummy mango ice. 

Evan insisted he needed this new jacket from Gap, and since it was on sale and majorly marked down, I obliged.  Little brother Brody can inherit his old jacket.  Brody loves loves loves a photo booth.  If he sees one, he simply must climb inside and say cheese!  At some point, I know I need to actually put money in it and let it take his picture for him, but for now, we settled for a selfie on the camera phone.  I am sure his actual photo booth pics would have been pretty cute and funny. 

This little guy entertained himself in the hotel room with his car boat which has been a favorite with all of our boys at this age.  We bought it for Evan for the pool, and he would just sit in it and caress it lovingly while saying "my car boat" over and over.  

The boys and I felt more adventurous the next day after lunch so we decided to check out this section of the Blue Ridge Parkway by the Visitor's Center.  There was a little one mile hiking trail that I felt confident we could manage.  It did say no bikes, but it didn't say no strollers so off we went.  The first half of the trail wasn't too bad and actually went mostly downhill.  Then, we started climbing.  The trail got pretty steep a few times and was kind of narrow with lots of tree roots across it.  I had to take Mattox out and carry him up the hills and let Evan hold him at the top while I went back for the stroller.  Besides that, I was pretty proud we accomplished this hike.  I think it was good preparation for our future hikes.  The boys had a little nature scavenger hunt to do as well. 

Later, we rode with the teachers on the bus over to Biltmore Village for a little walking tour given by a city arborist to talk about the tree planning for this pretty little community.  It was planned and designed by Frederick L. Olmsted  who became known as the father of American landscape architecture.  He was hired by George Vanderbilt to plan and design the gardens around Biltmore Estate as well as the adjacent Village.   Olmsted is also famous for designing New York's Central Park, Brooklyn's Prospect Park, and the country's first municipal park.  Evan sat and listened to the arborist talking through a headset.  It was too hard for the arborist to be heard by everyone in the crowd so Eddie supplies all of the teachers with headsets to listen while walking.  Brody enjoyed seeing some beautiful flowers.  

Forester Eddie talking to the city arborist about the trees planted in the Village. 

The boys and I enjoyed lunch at this fun little cafe.  If you ever visit Asheville or are just passing through on Interstate 40, you simply must stop at the Moose Cafe for some good old country cooking. 

These boys enjoyed their corn bread and homemade biscuits.  

For dinner, we met the teachers again at Pack's Tavern in downtown Asheville.  Brody was enjoying a little dessert of strawberry shortcake.