House of Estrogen

A Little Extra Testosterone

Our vacation lodging was mostly a Cabin of Estrogen. The girls outnumbered the guys 7 to 3. Still, that ratio was a little better than what J.C. is used to, so he enjoyed the male company. When we were out hiking,

 

the boys had fun doing those things that boys do, like having leaf races in a stream,

 

and jumping off of stumps.

 

Then we came across some cool beaver work.

 

When the boys saw this one, their eyes bugged out, their chests puffed up, and they had testosterone pouring out their ears. "Do you think we can knock it down?", "I bet we can.", "We really should. It is a safety issue." "Yeah, it is our responsibility to knock it down so the trail is safe." "And I could tell everybody at school I pushed down a tree!" "We can totally knock that down." "Let's do it." 

 

There was no stopping them, so they pushed and pulled and kicked and scraped until that tree came down. Then their heads exploded from the pressure of the giant egos.

 

Here is their handiwork.

 

Then there is this picture. I'm pretty sure J.C. just couldn't contain all the testosterone in the air. Its a good look for him, eh? Or, uh, not?

 

 

 

Thankful, The Vacation Edition

We spent our Thanksgiving holiday near Boone, NC, with our favorite travel companions and good friends the B family. Despite the chilly temperatures, we had a wonderful vacation with so many blessings for which we were thankful. My friend over at Brightenthecorner posted her Thanksgiving A to Z where she went through the alphabet naming all the things she was thankful for. I loved her post, so I'm taking inspiration from her with this post... Thankful, the vacation edition.

On our trip, I was thankful for...

Sweet little A, a fabulous playmate for Addison. I loved this picture of the two of them with their morning juice watching Dora. The poor little thing was battling pneuomonia on our trip, but she was a trooper!

 

Foosball and...

 

Ping Pong...

 

for the days when it was too cold for hiking.

 

Loving sisters and beautiful views from the Blue Ridge Parkway.

 

Happy, healthy kids.

 

The perfect Thanksgiving dress...

 

which was apparently just right for collecting rocks.

 

 My dear friend J who is an expert turkey preparer (which was key to our Thanksgiving dinner since I have NEVER cooked a turkey!), and a wonderful Thanksgiving feast with all the trimmings.

 

Sweet babes who loved "iking"...

 

in their backpack carriers

 

K, my partner in crime in photography...

 

who miraculously was able to capture this picture of ALL SIX kids smiling and looking at the camera. I have trouble getting three kids to do that. He's my idol!

 

A hot tub where the grown-ups could relax after all the smalls had gone to bed and where the kids could laugh and have fun.

  

(It was about 25 degrees when these pictures were taken!)

 

Free hot chocolate in downtown Blowing Rock when the wind chill was in the teens... brrrr.

 

This insane brave bluegrass band that somehow managed to play their instruments despite surely having no feeling in their fingers.

 

And lots of smiles!