Get Ready for Christmas and Elf Yourself

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Apple Picking

This year we made what will hopefully become an annual trek to Sky Top Orchard in Flat Rock for apple picking. Patrick had grading to do, so Merrill joined us for the trip. Great fun!








We got our baskets (which apparently held half a bushel and a peck, respectively) and off we went!








Eli enjoyed sitting in the tree, but Sam cried.














Here's Sam next to a tree that looked like it was having some difficulty, but still was putting out apples like a trooper.











Here we are in line to get some hot apple doughnuts. You can see how crazy it was--kids running around everywhere! We had a great time and are looking forward to our trip next year.

Halloween in Black Mountain

Well, here it is, once again--Halloween in Black Mountain. Last year the boys made their WNC debute as Dr. Suess' Thing 1 and Thing 2, and this year we have continued with the twin theme and the boys were Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum from Alice in Wonderland. I'm just about tapped out for twin costume ideas now (after only two years!) so if anyone has ideas for next year, I'm all ears.

We met up with our friends the Joneses (Tinkerbell and Fireman) and had a great time. Sweet Eli kept wondering where the Halloween party was, and why we weren't going into the houses...We finally convinced him that the party was on the street, and then he really got into it.

Patrick couldn't resist taking a picture of this hotdog. Pretty hilarious. This costume was such a hit that it also made it into the Black Mountain newspaper... :)

We continued the Halloween tradition from last year and followed up our trick-or-treating with a visit to our friends Mark and Merrill's house, or, as Sam likes to call them, Guess and Metty.

And once again we concluded our Halloween with a visit to our next door neighbors' house, Ms. Paula and Mr. Alex. Unlike last year, the boys discovered that there was actually candy in their pumpkins and indulged in some lollipops. I'm guessing that by next year I won't get away with eating all their chocolate.