Grove Park Inn

We stayed at the Grove Park Inn for Thanksgiving. The Great Hall has a fireplace big enough to stand inside. Here's a picture of the boys in front of it (it's kinda dark, but the big fireplace is behind them).

Ben relaxing in a rocking chair in the hallway of the Grove Park Inn, looking out over the spa and the grated fires burning below.

One of the beautiful Gingerbread Houses - the National Competition is held at the Grove Park Inn each November, and the houses decorated all the hallways -they were incredible!

Me, looking at gingerbread birdhouses!
Me, in front of one of the many decorated Christmas trees.

Happy Thankgiving

I have so many pictures to post, it will definitely take me a long time once we're back home! The computer in the hallway, the only one where I can download my pictures from my camera, is having a problem connecting to the internet, so until it is fixed, no pictures ... ;-(

We went to Asheville NC for the holiday! We drove out here on Weds morning, and stopped at the Hiddenite Gem Mine along the way: http://www.hiddenitegems.com/
It's a very rustic place, and we had great fun sluicing for gems ... we found emeralds, garnets, florite, sodalite, and some others we haven't identified yet. Ben's very interested in rock and gems, and he's got a big dictionary at home, so we'll have lots of rocks to look up! He got a rock tumbler last Christmas, so he'll have lots of stock to tumble now!

Then we drove on to the Grove Park Inn in Asheville: http://www.groveparkinn.com/Leisure
No time for spa treatments as we brought the kids, but it was a wonderful holiday there. Lots of activities take place in the Great Hall ... live music, big screen football (Thanksgiving afternoon!), Santa's arrival, and lighting the big Christmas tree. The Grove Park is known for it's huge fireplace, and it was roaring with a grand fire the entire time we were there. The grand Terrace was heated, and provided breathtaking views of the Adirondack mountains. We sat out in the rocking chairs each night. We spent each evening strolling the halls, looking at the many decorated Christmas trees, and taking in the National Gingerbread Championship Gingerbread houses ... winners and losers were all amazing! Now the kids are motivated to make their own ... we'll see if we can find the time!
Thanksgiving Dinner was huge, and amazing. We had reservations in the Blue Ridge Dining Room, and sat right next to the large picture windows overlooking the mountains. It was just so beautiful ... and so nice to be here, so close to all the activity. We spent Thanksgiving afternoon at the Sports Complex, playing tennis, ping pong, pool and swimming. That night, we watched the Wizard of Oz on the big screen in the ballroom. What a tradition!

We've loved every minute of it. Today we spent at the Chimney Rock State Park: http://www.chimneyrockpark.com/
We took the elevator up to the top, had lunch, then walked around the Chimney Rock. We walked down, and Ben did some real rock climbing on some real rocks! (video coming soon!) Then we hiked out to the Hickory Nut Falls and back, then came back to the GPI. We're all a little tired from the hiking! But, Gary, Ben & Alek then went to the Sports Complex and played tennis. I stayed in the room and read. I'm readding 'The Story of Edgar Sawtelle', and I'm really enjoying it so far.

Tomorrow we head home via Linville Caverns: http://www.linvillecaverns.com/

Then on Sunday we pick Chloe up from her mom's house, and our new dog CHASE comes to live with us! The boys (all three of them) are really looking forward to having TWO golden retrievers, and I really like CHASE. He spent the weekend with us last weekend, and got along really well with the family. He's a one-year-old rescue dog, and is as quiet and polite as Miss Chloe is. I think he'll make a nice addition to the family. More on him later!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Alek is #1

Alek found out on Monday that's he's top popcorn seller in his PACK for the 2nd year in a row! Way to go Alek! He loves to sell popcorn, and loves to pick out his prize for doing it. This year he picked a sleeping bag (I think). We're so proud of him ... now he and Daddo have several nights of deliveries to do ...!

If you bought popcorn from us ... it will be coming soon!

Exercise Update

I'm still feeling well, and I went to water aerobics both Friday and Saturday mornings. This morning we took Chloe and walked the 2 miles around the Apex Lake. I jogged on the down-and-up hill parts, and it felt really good. The boys rode their scooters, so we weren't stopping every 2 minutes to throw rocks and pet dogs so it went fast!

Friday my on-line shopping paid off! I had decided to get the Dante Bellefleur faucet, and found that a couple showrooms in Raleigh had them. So, armed with my internet shopping pages, I trekked out to the showroom. Indeed, they had the Bellefleur in stainless steel, indeed it was impressive - much bigger than I thought it would be. Retail is $455, and the showroom was offering it for $359. HA! I asked if they would negotiate on the prices, and the saleswoman said that they usually don't. Ok, I said, thanks for letting me see it. I can get it for $273 and free shipping on 3 different web sites. She made a note of that, and we parted ways. I kept looking around the showroom, because they had really cool sinks and other faucets and stuff. Then she came back and said they'd sell it to me for $250 plus tax. I took it! I feel so proud of myself, I don't normally ask for lower prices. So, I came home with it. Oh, and I found some knobs I really liked there, so I'll probably go back and get them when it's time. So, now they have a loyal customer and their going to make a big profit from me on knobs, I'm sure.

Saturday night we had a spaghetti dinner with the Cub Scouts. They were supposed to go camping, so they'd made all the meatballs, sauce, salad, garlic bread, etc so we all went over to the church and had dinner together. It was very nice. We hadn't planned on going camping because Alek's Viper Challenge football tournament was supposed to be on Saturday, but it was postponed due the all the rain Friday. So Ben and Alek have spent Friday night and most of Saturday playing with their friends, which has been very nice.

Right now all 3 of my boys are outside raking & blowing leaves, and trimming bushes. Ah, the benefit of boys! I'm off to shower and then head to my friend Rhonda's Dove Chocolate Party. Sounds interesting!!!

Halloween

I know I've been missing for a while now ... I'm getting well! Last night I downloaded the Halloween pictures onto the home computer ... but then discovered that something is wrong with it's internet connection so I can't upload the pictures nor email them to my computer here in my office. So, you'll have to wait a bit longer for the pics.

We have a fun night tonight ... it's Alek's end of season football party at the pizza place. I think he'll get his trophy tonight so I've got to remember to take my camera!! Gary's out of town tonight so Ben and I both will go ...

Tomorrow I'm not working (yes, I'm not supposed to be working any Tuesdays or Fridays but things have been so busy at work for the last few months that I've been working parts of each day) and I'm going two places: 1) to look at kitchen faucets at a few showrooms in Raleigh (we're re-doing the kitchen counters and need a new faucet) and 2) to the going-out-of-business sale at the Rug store in Raleigh (I want a new colorful rug for under the kitchen table for Christmas). Let me see if I can upload the color of my new countertops here ... oh, I can, and here are the faucet options too ...Giallo Fiorito Granite for the countertops and the kitchen walls (our kitchen is mostly open, so there's just a small wall behind the stove, between the countertop and the cabinets)

Price Pfister AshfieldDanze BellefleurKohler Clarinette

Which do you like best?

They each come in crome or stainless steel, each have a pull-out sprayer, and each have a single lever controling temperature and water flow. So far, Dad likes the Clarinette, Andrea likes the Bellafleur, and Mom doesn't like any of them. Gary and I like each of them, so I need to see them all in person, if possible. I saw the Ashfield at Home Depot, and it's large and impressive. I won't be installing the soap dispenser even if the faucet comes with one, so don't let that be a deciding factor. The Bellefleur is a bit more obsure, and the Danze company is a little more upscale (sold only through distributors, not Home Depot or Lowes), but surprisingly not more expensive. Well, I guess I should say I was completely surprised by the cost of ANY faucet, and when I got over that, then I wasn't surprised that the Danze wasn't more than the Kohler or Price Pfister.

Another weekend ...

Another weekend has come and gone and still no blog from me ... I've been sick all week, even stayed on the couch all day Friday and did nothing. I'm feeling better, but haven't had the time to sit and catch up on stories and photos and such. We just got back from seeing Madagasgar 2 - very enjoyable. We took a hike around the Apex lake this morning, and that about did me in. I've got a ways to go to get my stamina back after being sick last week. But, I think I'm feeling better ... have a good night!