Sky Top Orchard

October's been flying by so quickly that I began to think we'd miss out on getting to Sky Top Orchard this year.  Well, we made it... too late to pick our own apples, though.  All of the trees have been picked clean, but there was still a lot for us to enjoy at this beautiful orchard in Flat Rock.

Look at how much Keira's grown in just a year!  She's shot up 6 or 7 inches.  She still loves pink!

 

I was looking forward to letting Keira play in Sky Top's large playground of slides, swings & club houses.  Last year, Keira was too little to play along side the big kids but this year I was sure she'd enjoy it more.

And she did for a little while, but her nose had been running and being outside didn't help!  Baby girl just wanted to be held, so we switched gears and headed to the tractor ride.  

It's 2 dollars per person, including the little ones.  It takes you through most of the farm.  The property is large so if you don't have the time to walk it or have a kid a little under the weather, this is the way to go!

 

Part of the reason I love Sky Top Orchard is the panoramic mountain view!  It's called Sky Top for a reason after all.  You can see for miles and the color this time of year is just beautiful.

Wouldn't you love to live in this house with that porch?  All you need to do is open a popular orchard.  Eh, simple enough.

 

Chickens, sheep, goats & peacocks call this barnyard home. We had no idea about this part of the orchard.  Maybe next year we can explore this area little more.  Keira did love seeing the animals from a distance.

  

 

After our tour, we headed to the main building to get what we really came for - apples & donuts!

 

 

The line for the apple donuts was not as long as I had anticipated.  Last year we waited for almost an hour.  This time we only waited for fifteen  minutes!  So here's the deal... if you want to pick your own apples come earlier in the season - late September, early October.  If you're in it for the donuts and don't mind buying a bag of pre-picked apples come towards the end of October!  They actually remain open until December 1st, so if you haven't made it you have some time to make the trip.

It was about this time that Keira really started getting sleepy.  Her poor nose was so red! 

 

She couldn't help but take a little catnap on daddy's shoulder as we waited.  I quietly snapped a family photo.

 We got up to the front and there they were - hot and fresh, the best donuts ever, a once a year treat!

 

Not only are these donuts delicious hot and fresh, they are also good the next day, so we got two dozen!  One dozen was not nearly enough last year.  Each dozen is $9.  It's a little steep, but hey, I totally get it.

 

We also got a small bag of Fuji apples for $6. I'll be making a pie soon!

 

Oh, by the way, they only take cash or check.  We didn't come prepared so we had to pay an extra fee to get some cash out of their ATM. Note to self.

 

Under the circumstances we decided to head home, but as soon as we were on our way we opened the first box of donuts. 

 

 I don't think we even made it out of the parking lot!

Even Keira perked up enough to get a bite! 

Yum!

Keira starts Preschool!

It seemed like this day would never come, and then it came all too quickly!  Ryan and I started looking for a good preschool when she was a little over a year old, so we had been anticipating and preparing Keira (and ourselves) for this day for quite some time.  We finally settled on Around the Son, which is a part of Skyland Methodist Church in South Asheville.  Not only is it a Christian school, but we had more than a few friends give it raving reviews, it's close to our home AND they provide early drop off.  We both work, so this was a huge need for us and an answer to prayer.  As soon as we found out they added 8AM early drop off, it was a done deal and because of Ryan's ever changing schedule we made her full time, five days a week, 9AM to 1PM, and 8AM when need be.  Based on how well it's gone so far, we are very happy with our decision! 

School started the day after Labor Day, Tuesday September 2nd.  We decided to spend Labor Day weekend in Myrtle Beach visiting Ryan's sisters for one last hurrah! It was the perfect weekend to end the summer... to mourn, err, celebrate the end Keira's baby years and the start of her school years. 

As soon as we got back, we started preparing for her big day!  I wanted her lunch to be special and fun, mostly so that she would actually eat.   I found this elephant sandwich cut out at Walmart.  I also have a puzzle cut out and when given the choice, Keira chose the elephant. I put cream cheese on both tortillas and put a piece of ham and cheese in between to complete.  It's one of her favorites.

She also got some veggie straws, a bell pepper and some cut up grapes.  Keeping this up 5 days a week is going to take some creativity!

 

All the weekend fun tired this girl out.  On the plus side, it resulted in a great night's sleep and she was happy and ready to go bright and early.  Ryan prepared her a hearty meal of eggs and cheese.  Breakfast of champions!

After breakfast, it was time to get dressed.  I picked out this adorable polka-dotted Hello Kitty dress that her Anma bought her over the summer. I love it because it has a cute vintage vibe... a nod to the forties.

She was excited to say the least! After getting dressed, she settled down enough... a lot actually, to get her hair done. How could I not put her in pigtails?

Perfection!  It should be noted, she can FINALLY get down off our bed without assistance.

 

An outfit is not an outfit without the perfect shoes!  Army green Chucks... yes, please.  It's her first pair of lace up shoes and while she can be girly, she's definitely a tomboy, making the shoes and the dress a perfect match.

 

She gets a little help from Daddy with the laces! She's not quite ready for the bunny ears around the hole and what-not.

 

She takes a moment to check herself out!  She thinks she's hot stuff.

 

We almost didn't get the photo below!  I totally forgot to make a '1st Day of Preschool' sign.  Luckily, we still had plenty of time to spare, so I ran inside and rummaged through her art supplies and stumbled on a piece of black foam paper.  I grabbed a white chalk pen I use for our weekly menus and tada... instant sign.  I'm glad we got the photo.  The tradition has begun!

Off to school we went!  Five minutes later, we pulled into the parking lot, a little before 9AM as all the other families were pulling in.

They had donuts and coffee prepared for all the parents, but we were too busy doting on Keira to partake.  Next year though, totally grabbing a doughnut to go!  

Keira loves her "pack-pack".  Although she really doesn't need one, she insists on having it, so we put her lunch and jacket in it.

 

Yes, we each had to get our own picture with her!

It was time to say goodbye.  Weeks before this moment, just talking about it brought tears to my eyes, so I was incredibly surprised that I didn't feel like crying at all!  It helped that we had brought Keira to meet her teacher and see her classroom the Friday before.  She was so happy, that I was happy.  

As soon as she gets to her classroom, she grabs a the frog with her picture on it and puts it on the lily pad.  It's to help her realize that school has begun. Keira seems to like her teacher.  Ms. Amy is great!

She's all about it and goes straight to playing.  We barely get hugs goodbye!  Duh, mommy & daddy... my frog is on the lily pad.  School has started.  Our bad. 

 

 

I rushed to work and counted the hours until pick-up.  Ryan could have gotten her by himself, but I wanted to be there too.  We met in the school yard and practically ran to her classroom.  I peaked in.  And there she was, my baby not being a baby anymore!  Eating her lunch at the little table like a big girl, talking up a storm with her new friends.  I could have watched her forever had I not wanted to hug her so badly.

When we got to the door way and let Keira know it was time to go home, she barely moved and continued to eat!  When I walked up and knelt down next to her she said, "I don't want to go home, mommy."

Gah, heartbreak!  Ouch?  No, this is a good thing.  I'm so proud that she has a healthy sense of independence about her.  For most of her life she's been very clingy, crying if I left a room.  Less, than a year ago, we couldn't leave her in the nursery at church without her wailing for us.  She wouldn't go to family if Ryan or I were around.  I was worried that preschool would be the same.  In fact, it was the total opposite.  She is a complete social butterfly now.  I know exactly what contributed to her opening up, but that's worthy of a post all its own.  More to come on her transformation and its cause later! 

I told her not to worry, she would be back the next day and the day after that and the day after that!  Without knowing it, I told a half truth, though.  She made it back the next day, but then got sick with a cold.  Seriously... we had to call her in sick after just two days!  Oh well, such is life and our new reality.  We are praying her immunity builds up quickly.

Here is her very first daily report!  I love seeing what her favorite activity of the day is.  On this first day it was coloring.  Since then we've seen dancing in the hallway, playing with acorns and pretending to cook in the kitchen. Her disposition is always 'smiley face'.  Yeah, that's my baby, I mean... big girl!

 

A weekend in the sun!

This weekend was great.  It included a lot rest and recouping, but we spent it mostly in-doors.  I had to work a little and we went to the gym and attended an awesome birthday party but much of it had nothing to do with being out in the sun.  

LAST weekend, on the other hand, we spent basking in the sun and couldn't get enough of it.  After a very rainy work week the weather was perfect and we were itching to take advantage of it. It was the type of weekend I wish I could duplicate over and over again in the summer months.  Here's how our sun-filled weekend went!

Although it's great to sleep in, the best Saturdays, in my opinion, are the ones where you wake up early.  You can fit so much more fun into your day!  My alarm was set for 5:45AM.  I had to be at the station to meet friends at 7AM to head to Asheville's very first official Color Run!  Unfortunately, I didn't set my alarm right and it never went off.  I found myself scrambling to head out the door.  There was no way I was missing out on picking up some coffee from Starbucks no matter how late I was!  I can't function this early without it.  Luckily for me, everyone was running 5 minutes behind, so all was well.  Whew!

Also, lucky for me, my friends had everything planned out ahead of time, right down to our outfits.  For a mere $20, Julie (in pink) found us matching tutus, gloves, headbands and tank tops.  We were rockin' it!

Tessa (in purple), even personalized our tanks with our team name, Color Us Badd (pretty clever, huh?) and our names using puffy paint.  Can you tell she's a teacher? 

Yellow was my color and I felt a little more like a sun-shiny ballerina than a runner.  I was totally fine with that!  I haven't been able to run as much as of late, so the idea of running that morning had me worried.

I took this picture half way through the run.  There were SO many people participating that it was more of walk and nearly impossible to run competitively, a bit of relief for me!   It was estimated that nearly 7,000 people showed up and when I saw this sea of white ahead of me, I believed it.

I didn't really get any great pictures during and after the the run.  It's very messy and the plastic bag I held my phone in didn't make it easy to snap away.  To read more about our experience at the Color Run and to see some great after photos, head on over to my friend's blog, Running In A Skirt!  She pens it perfectly!

After the run, I headed home to Ryan and Keira.  She was fascinated by my blue-pinkish hands and yellow hair! She's still talking about it.  I jumped in the shower and was quite surprised at how easy all the color washed away.  Apart from blowing blue out of my nose for awhile, it was like it never happened!

It was still early in the day (benefit to getting up early!) so we decided to head to the Biltmore Estate for a picnic lunch.  It was the first time we've been able to use our new annual passes!  Ryan and I get free media passes every year and we've never been able to upgrade them to annuals, that is until this year.  When we took my Grandma Emma in June, we found out that they changed their policy and that we could upgrade at a discount.  It was a no-brainer!  Co-workers take note!

The property is large and a little overwhelming.  I'm sure the more we come on the more we'll learn to navigate the roads.  We weren't really sure where we could stop to picnic.  We drove past Antler Village and ended up parking near a small pond where a couple other families were also fishing and lunching. 

I think we came upon the boat used in the Biltmore Estate commercials last year.  I was tempted to take it out but didn't want to cause any trouble on our first visit.  But really, it's just sitting there and it doesn't look tethered down.  It's practically yelling row me out!  I believe the grand building in the back ground is the Inn. 

We set up our blankets in a big open field across from the pond.  Even Dutchie got to come along!  I'm so glad they allow pets on the property, which was a huge factor in getting the annual passes.  It's fun for the whole family!

 

We picked up a foot long from Ingles.  Spicy Italian on honey wheat... yum!

Keira got a Lunchable.  Of course she went for the Oreo cookie first.  I didn't realize they were in there or I would have hidden them until they she finished her meat and cheese! 

We really do love picnics! It was awesome to step away from the television, the computer and our phones and into one of the most amazing backdrops we've even seen. There is so much we have yet to explore on the Biltmore Estate and I look forward to all the memories we'll be able to create in the coming year.  While I don't wish summer to leave, I am looking forward to Fall & Winter here!

 

 

There weren't a lot of people around us after we finished eating, so we were able to let Dutchie off her leash for a fun game of fetch.

These are some of my favorite photos of the day!  We have a small yard and Dutchie HATES dog parks.  It was awesome to be able to let her stretch her legs and run around without feeling intimated or scared.  She is very good at playing fetch! 

Like me, Dutchie wears her emotions on her face.  You can totally tell when she's happy and on this day, she was very happy!

After we tired Dutch out, we decided to explore the pond and the road around it. Just a few minutes into our stroll we came across this little fella!  Ryan is terrified of snakes, so this is the closest he let me or Keira get to it.  It was probably harmless, but we quickly moved on!

 

While we were eating lunch it felt like we were the only family around, but as soon as we starting walking along the pond we passed nearly half a dozen families or friends fishing, eating or swimming in the French Broad River, which was on the opposite side of this little road. Everyone was very friendly and complimented our little girl on her cuteness.  I have to agree, she's pretty cute.

 

Of course, we had to take a selfie.  Not the easiest to do with a DSLR but I think it came out ok.  A little artsy!

We headed home, but their was still a lot of sunshine left in the day - again a benefit of getting started early, coupled with a long summer day!  Keira took a quick nap and then we headed to our neighborhood's pool.

Keira's not a fish by any means.  I wouldn't say she LOVES the water, but she does enjoy going to the pool.  She likes to splash around and push Ryan below the surface from the safety of her floaty, but God forbid you try to put her under water!  After a lot of coaxing we did get her to plug her nose and dunk, a huge step forward.  Lots of high-fives were made, but we could not get her to do it a second time! Oh well, baby steps.

You work up an appetite being out in the sun all day!  Before the Color Run, my friend Holly (in blue) had mentioned blue cheese burgers she had made the night before.  Suddenly I had a craving! I had to try her recipe out for myself.  I picked up some blue cheese and cream cheese which made up the topping.  It was perfected with caramelized onions and a side of sweet potato fries.  It was like summer in your mouth!  Thank you, Holly!  We will definitely make it again.

 

After church the next day, we hit up the Farmers Market in search of peaches.  Score!  I wasn't sure if her tastes had changed since last summer, but Keira loves them just as much as she did the year before.  It's like catching up with a best friend you haven't seen in awhile, but carrying on like you've never been apart. Southern peaches = heaven.  She could eat them all day.

Sunday turned out to be just as beautiful as Saturday, so I brought out Keira's mini pool. (Well, the day was just as beautiful.... the night was a different story.)  The pool is really too small for her now, especially after she fills it with ALL of her toys, but she enjoys it none-the-less.  Most importantly it fits on our back porch and I can watch her while I work in the kitchen.  Peaches, after all, meant I NEEDED to bake a peach pie!  I pulled up last year's blog entry with the recipe.

Reading last year's post made me realize that time really does fly, making weekends like this all the more important and valuable to me.  Keira's grown so much since last year.  She could barely talk then!  Now she talks constantly and insists on helping me roll out the dough for the pie.  Such a big girl, especially in comparison!

Yes, sometimes it's best and necessary to rest from the craziness of the week, but other times it's even better to get out and just do! In many ways it can be more rejuvenating then a quiet weekend at home.  Luckily summer's not over yet and we have many more weekends to fill before the cold comes.  I say, bring it on!  It's what summer is all about... lots of sun and lots of family!

Btw, here is the pie. We didn't get enough.  A second one is in our future!