Whitney's Visit: Biltmore and Reynolda

We were soooo lucky in October to have my wonderful, fabulous friend Whitney come to visit for a week! It was perfect weather and the absolute, most beautiful part of fall. Everything was just starting to turn all red and orange. You can really tell in the pictures that we took on the balcony at Biltmore. We went on her first day in town (Saturday):
I was super happy that Dan was able to come. I'd been hoping to go there with him and Whitney ever since the last time she came to visit in 2005. We hadn't been able to get a trip together at the time. I guess we thought that going 5 years later with 2 small children would be better. :) Dan got us all discount tickets at the hospital and we had a perfect day!

I love them. They were so good during the tour. We were in the house for about 3 hours. Elena listened to the self-guided tour on her headphones for the first 2 hours. Kevin was good as long as I kept him entertained with new toys or held him. It worked out well since I'd been to Biltmore once before.

I tried so hard all day to get a pic of both of them smiling and looking at the camera. Impossible. This was as close as I got:
This is a side view of the house. Whitney and I walked over to the gardens while Dan entertained the kiddos at the toy store. There's a picture of Whit in the amazing gardens below this one.
I wish that we'd been able to take pics inside, but of course, that's not allowed. Plus, if we had been able to, this entry would be even longer!

Everything was beautiful and I'm so grateful that we went!

When we were all done with our very long day (right before she and Kevin passed out in their car seats), we asked Elena, "What was your favorite part of Biltmore House?"

Her response: "The [shuttle] bus ride and playing in the dirt."

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Dan had Tuesday morning off, so Whit and I were able to visit the Reynolda House while he watched Kevin and Elena. I cannot even express how great this was. I was out of my house with one of my very best friends at a museum with no kids!
During her trip we also shopped, drove around town looking at leaves and gorgeous houses, we talked, watched movies, and played a TON of Skip-Bo. It was the perfect week! Come again anytime, Whit!

Preschool Fieldtrip #1

We went to the Homeland Creamery on September 30th with Elena's preschool class. It was a lot of fun and a beautiful day. We had a great time on our hayride, the kids loved feeding a baby calf, and running around.
I loved seeing how their cows are treated. I once toured a giant dairy farm in UT and I couldn't believe the difference. It almost made me tempted to start spending $5 on a gallon of milk. Almost. Maybe I will be able to support such great and small companies in the future!