Lake Lure, NC!

We had an amazing week with my family last week in Lake Lure, NC. We had no wireless internet and no cellphone reception, and it was absolutely refreshing. It allowed us to focus on enjoying our time together instead of fooling around on our phones to check on things that really don't matter. Caroline had a wonderful time and enjoyed spending time with her Memaw, Pepaw, and Auntie (and her Mommy and Daddy, duh). I'm terrible at remembering the days things happened or the order we did everything, so I'll just talk about some of the highlights and post some pictures :)

Lake Lure Farmer's Market was really fun. Caroline mostly walked around with her daddy while the rest of us shopped around. The view was gorgeous - the perfect view of Lake Lure! Afterward, we got some appetizers and beers at an italian restaurant. Italian nachos (made with italian sausage instead of ground beef) are the bomb, guys!

We also had great time at the swimming pool. Caroline was very unsure of the water at first, but ended up loving it. Josh was helping her "jump" off the side of the pool, she was splishing and splashing, and she was by far the cutest little thing there. And she definitely had the cutest belly at the pool, that's for sure!

The Lake was also a blast! We enjoyed a few wonderful afternoons on the beach at Lake Lure. Caroline, once again, was unsure of the water. However, by the time the afternoons were over she was trying to go play with the big kids, and Josh and I had to keep grabbing her to keep her from going out too far. Her favorite lake activity? Grabbing sand and throwing in the water (she didn't seem to notice that most of it ended up in her hair, and not in the water at all). There was a swing set on the beach which she found to be the coolest thing ever. I love my little beach babe so much!

Chimney Rock was one of our favorite places. It was a really charming area on the river, with a fantastic view of the mountains, with cute restaurants and stores. We enjoyed walking around the restaurants. We'll just pretend Caroline didn't have a meltdown at the restaurant, causing Josh and I to eat our lunches in shifts (there terrible twos can come early, right? please tell me the terrible twos can come early). We really liked the River Walk, where you can walk on the rocks and see the river. Caroline wanted to go swimming in the river so Josh let her stick her toes and fingers in.

We had a fantastic afternoon in downtown Asheville near The Biltmore. We opted to not tour The Biltmore itself because, well, it was too darned expensive. But we enjoyed an amazing lunch instead. I got one of the best grilled cheeses of my life, and a delicious IPA. The grilled cheese had cheese (duh), cream cheese (omg), bacon (YES), and avocado (nom nom). I need to recreate this sandwich. We then walked around and shopped for a bit and, much to my dad's delight, Caroline got to see a train go by! It was a lovely afternoon.

One of our favorite parts was the scenic tour around Lake Lure. It was Caroline's first time ever on a boat. She was not a fan of the life jacket, but she really seemed to enjoy the boat ride. It was a 90 minute ride and she probably stayed awake for about half of it and snoozed for the second half. The boat ride was fun, our tour guide was hysterical, and the views were breathtaking. We got to see gorgeous homes, amazing mountainsides, and filming sites for Dirty Dancing. I think it topped my list of favorite vacation moments.

We spent another afternoon in downtown Asheville. This time we went to the actual downtown area, had a great lunch (and a delicious porter beer) at a pizza restaurant, and walked around some very fun stores. Downtown Asheville is very pretty and has some very interesting people. I loved a bookstore we ended up in that is dog friendly, sells champagne and coffee, and is absolutely gorgeous. If we lived in Asheville, I think I would work from that store every day.

We loved spending time with family. We don't get to see either of our families often enough, so it's always wonderful to spend time with them. I am so glad we were able to spend the entire week with them and that Josh was able to work his schedule so he could come too (Caroline was such a #hotmessexpress at moments I don't know how I would have survived without him). It was so good being around my favorite people all week!

Thanks so much to my mom and dad for inviting us to the mountains. We all needed the "break from reality" and some quality time with family. I love you guys (and Allison, duh) so much and can't wait to hopefully get to see you again soon! <3

I must actually do some work now, shhhh. After a week off work it feels weird getting "back in the grind" again and is hard to get motivated. Maybe another cup of coffee will do the trick!