Fun Times in The Brown House

I think the definition of an addict should involve me at this point. I just handed Jamey a crying Cooper so that I could come up to the computer and put a new post about our trip on this! He was happy to let me do it so I guess I shouldn't beat myself up over it, but I still feel the need to rush through it and post some pictures! (So for those of you that have your own blogs, please tell me how to organize your pics in the order you want them, add captions, and put your text above them - I've been trying for way too long so I've obviously given up and just submitted my post! I tried cutting and pasting but that just wasn't getting it done!)

I can't begin to explain how much fun we had in the mountains! We stayed with my brother and sister-in-law in their new "brown" house, as Carter likes to call it. We couldn't have asked for better weather as it was low 60s during the day and upper 40s at night, perfect for a little jacket and fire but not cold enough to have to stay inside. Brian and Lawson built a fire pit (which was awesome by the way!) so we had indoor and outdoor fires! We had great food and great times with family and I'll definitely be adding a few pictures to prove it. Unfortunately we are realizing that we have to "break Brian and Sarah's house in" so to speak, as both football teams (App and Carolina) lost games they should've won. It's always nice after a loss to have kids running around that don't know the difference between a win and a loss because it definitely makes it easier to take. You don't have time to sit and sulk because they just keep going like nothing has happened!

Carter was so cute on the way to Brian and Sarah's as he kept asking us inquisitively where the mountains were and when we were going to be there. I guess it's hard to grasp as a 3 year old but he was definitely persistent in his questioning! I think once we were close to Grandfather, he was able to see what we were talking about and he kept telling us he was going to be excited when we got to the mountains. We went to the top of Grandfather thanks to some passes from Sarah's dad (shout out to Mr. Hugh) and saw all the animals, but Carter has decided the "stinky" otters were his favorite. He kept asking us why they were so stinky as we stood and watched them play. We saw 4 bears begging for food, a bald eagle, 2 cougars, and some deer (which we learned each poop about 22 times a day, by the way!) as well as the otters. After we had some lunch and saw all of the animals, we went to the very top to check out the swinging bridge and hopefully get some good pictures. My mom is petrified of heights but we were all so proud of her as she kept it together and let us all check out the bridge, even with the kids! She decided to stay back but was so good to not "freak out" about everyone else going across. It was definitely a milestone if you know my mom at all. She was such a trooper to come out on the rocks for the family photo courtesy of Lawson!

We had so much fun and can't wait for our next mountain trip. We are just excited that Nunu and Pop will be coming to see us in a few weeks and then Brian will be here for another Carolina football game!