Fishing

We read about a trout farm in the Boone area and decided to check it out. There are two ponds...one with smaller fish and one with much larger fish. We opted for the smaller one since you pay by the pound and our kids don't eat fish. Of course Colin and Jason caught the ONLY 5-pound fish in the 1-2 pound pond. Since it wasn't supposed to be there, the guy only charged us for 3.5 pounds. Ethan then caught a fish (more appropriately sized) entirely on his own. They gutted and cleaned it for us, and Jason made us a very tasty dinner. Unfortunately we still had to throw out lots of trout, since we couldn't take it with us and there was no way to eat 6 pounds of trout in 2 days.

Mountains

We were supposed to spend the last week of September in the Outer Banks (for the third year in a row) with Ryan and Leanne and other friends and family, but Hurricane Irene made it impossible for us to get on to Hatteras Island. Jason still had the week off, so we decided to head up the mountains instead. I love the beach, but I prefer the mountains. In keeping with our normal overly aggressive travel style, we spent the first 2 nights in Boone. We went to Grandfather Mountain. It was windy and too foggy to see to the other side of the bridge, but that didn't stop us from crossing it. We were the only people up there...a very cool and slightly eerie experience. Ethan found a snake on one of the rocks, which made his day.

We stopped on the way down to visit the bears, deer, and otters, to grab and snack and tour the museum and gift shop.

After Grandfather Mountain we had lunch at a very cool general store, then hiked to Linville Falls.

That night we attempted to fish in the river behind the cabin we rented and attempted to build a raging fire for smores, both of which were made difficult by all the rain.

The next day we stopped to fish for trout on our way out of town, then drove the Blue Ridge Parkway (my all-time favorite road) and picnicked along the way as we made our way down to Chimney Rock.

Mud Run

I agreed to do a mud run with LaDonna and her family (team name: Mud is Thicker than Water) without really knowing what I was getting myself into. It was a 6 mile run with lots of (mostly fun) obstacles along the way. It rained so much in the days leading up to the race that it was more dirty water than actual mud. I was proud of myself for doing some things I normally wouldn't do, like jumping from a 10-foot platform into 7 feet of water. Heights and water are two of my least favorite things. I had a great time and can't wait for the next one! Oh, and we definitely had the best costumes there, thanks to LaDonna and her sisters.

Random

We spent a Sunday afternoon at Shelley Lake feeding the ducks and playing on the playground.

The kids, especially Colin and Madeline, LOVE the rain.

Train Museum

Jason flew to Salt Lake the last week of September to fly fish with Chris Moore, our brother-in-law Chris, and our friend Dave Hansen. While he was gone, I decided to keep the kids as busy as possible. It's not how I usually handle his absences, but it worked out great. On Friday, Ethan got out of school early so we went to Panera Bread for lunch, then to Chuck E Cheeses. I hate that place, but the kids have been begging to go for a while, and we hadn't been in over two years, so I gave in. It turned out to be a (dare I say it?) pleasant experience. It was pretty empty, the kids were really good, and when I said it was time to go, they happily left. Go figure. The next day we drove 2 hours out to Spencer, North Carolina, to the tiny transporation museum there. We rode on the roundhouse turntable, the train, and looked at all the trains and cars. Ethan was really into all the information about transportation. It's fun to see them growing up.

Yard Work

We are determined to get our yard under control. We weeded, dug up some dead plants, and ordered 3 cubic yards of dirt and 6 cubic yards of mulch. Jason built a raised bed and we planted pumpkins, arugula, broccoli, and mustard greens (for our lizard). Of course, we had the mulch delivered on a Monday during a week when Jason was gone every single night and a hurricane was headed to the NC coast that weekend. Let's just say I burned a lot of calories that week. At least the yard looks great!