Gray Fossil Site

Who knew such a cool place was practically around the corner from us! We headed down to Gray (about 15 minute drive) to their Fossil Site Museum they have there in town. I guess some years ago, they started doing construction on a new development and someone noticed a few fossils/bones as they were digging the earth. Turns out, there were quite a few skeletons that date back to the Miocene-era (after Jurassic and Cretaceous but still about 5 million years before today). They had all sorts of creatures that were related to todays species but still looked very different. Apparently there was a sinkhole that became preserved by limestone and held these fossils in place until recently discovered about 15 years ago. And they are still finding more fossils currently in the same spot! It is still an active dig site. I wish it wasn't raining so we could go out to see it, but the balcony was closed that day. Still, so awesome to see! Science is amazing!

Easter

For Easter this year, we decided to stay home instead of travel so we could do some more exploring in this area before moving away! Easter morning, my kids woke up, found their Easter goodies, and then had a grand ol' time with the Mustaches in Marshall's basket. Haha! They loved the other things the Easter Bunny brought but I think this little item takes the cake! Started our morning off with some pancake art by dad (T-rex and race cars, even I was impressed!), then took a gorgeous drive down to Pisgah Nat'l Forest to find a place called Max Patch that we'd heard of. After a long dirt road (thanks Apple Maps for taking us a horrible way), we found a trail that led up to the bald! I didn't get a picture of how many other people were up there but it was a big bald! About the length of a football feild! Lots of people were picnicing and throwing frisbees, etc. It was a fun place! And the view was unbeatable. Appalachia is really breathtaking!

These next two pictures were right after Marshall headbutted me in the mouth. I was spitting blood! It was terrible. Thought I wasn't bleeding anymore until I saw the family selfie. Still blood in my mouth. YIKES. Yes, it left a fun purple bruised lip for a week or so afterwards.

Love these cuties. Later that day, we drove home and gave the kids an Easter egg hunt around the house outside. They thought it was so fun but were both too distracted to smile for the picture. Ha! Then we headed over to some close friends' of ours to have Easter dinner with them. Thanks Kait and Greg for having us! So grateful for amazing friends who make us feel so welcome! We had a great time. Hope everyone had a wonderful day with family and friends on this special day!

Virginia Creeper Trail!

We decided to head up to the Virginia Creeper Trail one Saturday because Sam had a free weekend and we thought it was finally warm enough. It was quite the experience! This is a 17 mile (mostly paved) trail that is downhill and absolutely beautiful... You rent bikes from a local place in town, then they bus you to the top of the trail and ride down all the way back to the bike shop in town! Little did we know it would be a good 20 degrees cooler and raining just 30 minutes up the mountain. UGH! Well, I did bring jackets for all of us just in case but when we got out of the car there in the town, it was very warm and muggy outside so I left them all in our car! Boo! Anyways, they dropped us off and it almost simultaneously started sprinkling. So the first hour or so was quite cold! Warm blooded Sam and Ivy seemed totally fine but I was freezing! Luckily, they had a little stop along the way that had snacks and plastic ponchos! Hallelujah! So I wore a plastic bag the rest of the way down and felt better. Especially once it started to warm up and we started seeing the sun! All in all, it was such a fun experience! Kids thought it was amazing. The entire trip down took about 3 hours or so. Ivy rode tandem the whole way with Sam and practically pedaled the entire time for him! Haha.. Marshall was happy to ride along and snack and enjoy the scenery (and mud) in the trailer. Love that my kids are adventurous and have positive attitudes, even when elements are not totally ideal! Ivy loved that she was getting so dirty. Kept wanting me to take pictures! lol So glad to check this one off our ever-growing bucket list!

Ice cream break along the way:

Easter Egg Hunt with Marshall

The Friday before Easter, Marshall and I met up with the Mom's club for the brunch picnic and Easter egg hunt! Pictures say it all. Weather was perfect, and kids had tons of fun!