November

In November was busy. First, Chloe got an award at school for perfect attendance for the first quarter. That was crazy! They were not prepared for so many parents, which was silly b/c it was K-1st grades... of course parents are going to come if they can hack it.

Anyway, halfway through the month, we did our trip to Asheville. Last year, Chad and I went for his conference and were sorely disappointed. But we decided to go again anyway, this time knowing what to expect. Knowing to book a spa day and expect to spend a lot. We hadn't done any vacation all year. So it was our one splurge. But this time, when we asked the in-laws to babysit, they said, "Sure, we'll come with you." Um... what just happened?? Haha, honestly though, I had more fun with the kids. And we were still able to go to the spa, so it worked out fine. It's not a kid-friendly hotel. So I was grateful ours are well behaved. Anyway, the first day, I had planned to go to a pick a pot and paint kind of place called "fired up." But it didn't open until 11:00, so the kids and I had time to kill. We just explored the Grove Park Inn. Last year, we stayed in the historic part of the hotel. It was beautiful, but this time we wanted to stay in the newer section. It was just a run of the mill hotel room, but it was close to the spa, which was kinda cool. Just around the corner was a winding hallway full of waterfalls and geods. Chloe LOVED the huge geods! She's a bit of a rock hound, and a sucker for pretty sparkly things. What 6 year old girl isn't? ;)

Then we wandered outside and took some pictures. That was all the fun for me since I'd already explored all of it. Like I said, it was more fun with the kids b/c they were so excited to explore, and I was excited to have someone to take pictures of. Oh, that one needs some editing... oops. It was all such low light, it was tricky to get any good ones.
After our trek up the 3 or 4 flights of outside stairs, we hung out in the great hall, still waiting. We warmed up by the fireplace.
And rocked, and waited. They were getting bored by this time. What place doesn't open 'till 11??
And more pictures. Thankfully, they were pretty patient with me, and let me take them.

We explored the older sections for a bit too, until it was time to go. We drove into Asheville and wondered around until we found the place. It was in an alley. By then, my in-laws had shown up, so I dropped the kids with them at Fired Up, and went to find parking. The alley was full of these gorgeous yellow trees. I love Asheville in the fall!

So we painted. It was a lot of fun. But I was quickly reminded why I'd never done it with the kids. It is expensive! The next day we had some time before we could go to the spa. So we explored the shops on the grounds. There's an automotive museum, an artist's shop, etc. In the artist's shop (they carry all kinds of local artists' work including a furniture gallery) the kids were bored, but then they found a squirrel. We had so much fun for the longest time just watching these squirrels. The people that work there feed them. So they're really tame. One of the ladies came over and put a couple of peanuts out the window so we could watch them even more. It was so fun.

Then we checked out a glass artist's workshop. The pathway featured some of his work, so we went in. He not only does stained glass, but he etches some of his pieces to create optical illusions like this one. Then he works those into his pieces. He also does glass sculpture which was beautiful in the garden because it catches the sunlight almost like crystal. He wasn't working though, so we just looked around, visited, and played with his dog (the kids' favorite part.)

The car museum was even a few minutes of fun. There were these cool chandeliers carved with quotes and such. Enlarge this one to see what it says. The beams had quotes on them too.

And more squirrels. Only this time, the kids got to feed them, with a fishing pole. I wasn't quick enough to catch him on his hind legs pulling the peanut off of the string. But we all thought it was great fun.

After all of that, my in-laws took the kids out. They had a blast going to Walmart (not sure why, but it was part of the fun apparently :) Burger King, and a Zoo. This was while Chad and I enjoyed our spa day. Oh My GOSH! SO WORTH IT. It's A-mazing. I didn't think it was possible because I don't like to read, but we spent like 8 hours there. We were putty by the end of the day. The weather was perfect, chilly, but sunny. So this warm pool and the fireplaces were heavenly... and that's just the outside.

The inside had grottoes with 4 different pools. Two cool ones, one had glass above it, the other was more of a lap pool and had rocks with fake stars above it. And two hot tubs with powerful massaging waterfalls.

There were gender segregated saunas, aroma rooms, steam rooms, quiet rooms, and hot tub with a cold dunk tank. Chad and I both got a massage. And everything but lunch was provided, awesome products, hair ties, snacks, even razors, so you don't have to worry about anything but a swimsuit. I'm telling you people, putty. I'd never been to a spa before, but apparently this one is world renowned? I see what all the rage is about. We were not disappointed with our year's splurge!

The next day was checkout. So we spent the morning exploring the grounds, because Chad and his parents really hadn't had the chance.

The bored kids were this time kept amused by a silly daddy.

Then we went into Asheville to explore. We hadn't done any of that. It was fun! Asheville is totally hippy. We loved it! It reminded us of our college days in B-town. We sat for a while watching a group play... gaelic? scottish?, I dunno, music. The kids even enjoyed it! And they got to climb on rocks and light posts, so that was a plus.

There were so many unique restaurants too. We had lunch at Jerusalem Garden Cafe, mediterranean. SO GOOD!! We all tasted each other's. There wasn't a single thing that wasn't fantastic, and it was all very inexpensive. Oh, and we got to eat sitting on the floor. It was an adventure. Chad still talks about wanting another burger from that place. Ever since last year, I'd been thinking about a salad from this one pub right down from the hotel, Charlotte St. Pub. I was able to get that one night too.

A week or two later was Thanksgiving. We usually do Thanksgiving at our home, with our little family, a quiet little affair. This year, we went to my in-laws because it looked like Chad's brother was going to move across the country soon. It was... stressful, as I mentioned the past few months have been. Thanksgiving was a peak moment though (one of many,) so all those around me were miserable too, sorry in-laws. But I did cope ok with the first couple of days, and here's some of the fun we had... Chad and the kids like to hit golf balls into the woods and then go hunt them. I took my camera and joined them. It was nice. I love this "boy" picture.

And my little snaggletooth. I don't think that tooth will ever grow in.

Chloe wanted to try too. So she had me and Chad climb up on the tree where I'd been taking their picture. She got frustrated.

Our last night there, went to Atlantic Station. Once we got there, and met up with Chad (he'd had a guy's day in ATL)... it was pretty cool. The kids sat with Santa and rode the train; there was fake snow. We had dinner, and shopped. I forgot my camera, if you can't tell.

Anyway, that sums up November.