Chimney Rock

It was a beautiful day on Saturday, so we decided to take the kids hiking on Chimney Rock.  It was just under two hours from our house.  We took our little adventurelings on a tour of this iconic North Carolina site.  From the top of Chimney Rock, you can see the beautiful Lake Lure.  We had a great time exploring the mountain top.

      

We packed a lunch to eat as soon as we got to Chimney Rock parking lot.

    

    

We rode a shuttle bus up to the bottom of the rock formation.  From there, you can take an elevator twenty-six stories to the top!

    

    

The views from Chimney Rock were amazing.

   

    

    

    

    

Hello Lake Lure!

    

    

    

    

      

The Opera Box

    

     

     

Devil's Head

    

A very energetic hiker!

    

    

    

    

We took the lower trail to the waterfall.  Harper walked most of the way!

    

Then she refused to walk again.

    

    

    

    

We went out for dinner once we got back to the town.  We ate at a cute riverside grill. 

    

   

We love day-tripping! 

Our First Trip to Optimist Hall

We took the kids to Optimist Hall Friday night.  It is a food hall near our house with tons of dining options, specialty shops and chill vibes.  We loved it!  I know we will be spending a lot of time here.

    

 We got the kids grilled cheese sandwiches from Papi Queso and they actually ate them!

    

      

    

     

It was a fun night!

Riverbanks Zoo

We went to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina today with Kate, Sean and Fitz.  It was a beautiful day!  We received a zoo membership to the North Carolina zoo from the Ataleses for Christmas and it came with access to zoos all across the country.  We will be spending a lot of time with animals this year!
   

Our zoo crew!

     

   

   
Baboons 

 
Lions

   
This howler monkey was hilarious! 

     

 
Harper fed beautiful birds.

   

Ethan brushed stinky goats.

   

   

 
These tortoises were huge!

    

   

   

   

    

   

    

Fake Birthday

Harper decided that it was her fake birthday this weekend.  She wanted to make a cake from scratch to celebrate.  This was my first completely home-made cake.  It was amazing!  We used the Joy of Cooking cookbook.  The recipe for the icing listed a couple substitutes for milk and we decided to use our leftover coffee from the morning.  It was the best icing I have ever had!  Happy fake birthday Harper!

   

My little baker!