Summer and Road Trip!

Hey loyal fans-
Thanks for sticking with me through the summer. Secretly I complained that the rest of you bloggers weren't posting anything, and here I am, the worst offender. Oh well, it was a busy summer and fall, so here is my epic blog.

First of I'll just go through some highlights of the summer:

Logan got his first haircut. He is so handsome! Of course he already needs another one, so the second haircut will be coming very soon.

Sarah took part in 3 different summer camps, two were held at the NC Arboretum and one was held at her school, Veritas Christian Academy. The picture above shows her during an exploratory hike into a local stream. She was more excited that she could get her clothes wet than anything else...you can see the boys in the background were actually trying to find critters in the water. Her cousin, Finn, is the one in the red shirt. We try to get them in at least one summer camp together, because they really enjoy each other.

Here we are at Dollywood's Splash Country water park floating down the lazy river. We had an absolute blast here! One tip: Go after 3PM the day prior and you get access to the whole next day for the price of just a one day ticket. It gave us a chance to find out exactly what we wanted to go on the day before.

This was a really fun 2-week trip to Seattle. We celebrated Sarah's birthday in Mom & Dad's camper on the rainy, windy, cold coast (in retrospect, a somewhat forgettable trip) but had a blast at my brother's house-warming party as depicted in the picture above. Relaxing at Mom & Dad's was also a highlight and we were not ready to go home. You might wonder what Logan is holding...they are the stakes for the horseshoe game, not rockets.


And here is Sarah on her first day of first grade...looking so grown up.

That's the summer highlights. The rest of the pictures were taken just a few weeks ago. We attended the 2nd biennial Rhinehart Reunion, celebrating my maternal grandmother and her 2 sisters, plus the many relatives belonging to each. It was a really, really fun time even though I constantly found myself following a 20-month old around and not partaking in all the lively discussion. It's okay though, hopefully we will continue to have these get-togethers every other year. I am the oldest of the third generation, so it's been neat to see how all the second cousins have grown. Most of them I hadn't met before or they were too young to care. The majority of them are in college now and several have gotten married. Sarah & Logan even have a handful of third cousins which makes it fun to see little ones around too.

So, without further ado:

Rhinehart Reunion
held at King Freeland's Ranch
in Hico, Texas
(about 2 hours southwest of Dallas)

Logan loved being on the four-wheelers, either riding or just crawling all over it pushing buttons and moving levers.
Sarah fell in love with a "Pom-Chi" (Pomeranian-Chihuahua mix) named Tex. He was actually for sale...it's a wonder he didn't find himself hidden in the back of the truck on our way out of town! ....Okay, mommy liked him too!

Logan on the see-saw. A favorite spot for the littlest ones.

The 1st generation: from left to right, Jane Freeland and her husband, John, Babette Simpson Brandon (my grandmother). Unfortunately the third sister, Vernel Murphy, passed away only a month prior to the reunion. She was sorely missed, but we had a touching celebration of her life that day, culminating in a rousing 'chicken dance'!
Logan and Mommy on the four-wheeler.
Grandma Brandon with all her great-grandkids. Foster & Granger Stimpson in back, Sarah McCartney and Bella Simpson on either side, Logan in her lap.


Sarah and her second cousin, Bella Simpson. Bella's mom is of Iranian descent, but there is plenty of "Simpson" in her too! Can you see the resemblence?


Prior to the reunion, the kids and I flew out to Dallas to meet up with my parents, while Steve drove the camper straight through to meet us. After the reunion, we all headed east for a road trip through the south. Our first stop was Shreveport, LA where we stayed at Barksdale AFB and took a quick tour through the 8th Air Force Museum.

Here we are in front of an SR-71 Blackbird. A high-altitude spy plane. The outdoor static displays were really nice and well maintained.

Our second stop was in Jackson, MS where we camped out in the driveway of a friend whom we'd known in Asheville before they moved. Unfortunately, we got in late and only visited for a very short time. Oh well, sorry Cat & Porter! We'll plan better next time...better yet, come up here and see us.

About an hour or so east of Jackson is the little town of Meridian, MS. They hold claim to a carousel over 100 years old. Over the last decade and more, they have meticulously restored all the wooden carousel animals to their original splendor and it is a sight to behold. We thought we were out of luck when we found out that they are only open on the weekends outside of summer, but luckily we called ahead to check. I am so glad we did! Not only did they let us see the carousel (it's housed in a specially designed building), we got a personal tour and got to ride it not once, but twice all by ourselves. IT WAS SO COOL! (Can you tell I was impressed?) You can see how much Sarah liked it...

The animals didn't go up and down, but we didn't care. In fact, it's one of only a very small number of stationary carousels in the world built by this particular German designer.

Our third stop was at Montgomery, AL where we stayed at Maxwell AFB and took advantage of shopping on base. Sarah was blessed with a new bicycle, training wheels and all! Sorry, I don't have a picture of that...it was dark by the time the bike was completely put together.

Our last stop was Atlanta, GA where we actually stayed in a hotel so we could be closer to downtown. The last day, we took the MARTA rail into downtown and saw the Georgia Aquarium. Supposedly, the largest aquarium in the world. Really neat place too.

Sarah is trying to pet a sting ray as they glide by.


Just this week, Sarah decided she wanted to jump into a pile of leaves. So, nice mommy that I am, I raked all the leaves on the porch into a pile and let her and Logan have at it. In this picture, Sarah is in the background sweeping all said leaves back into a pile. Logan has decided that this leaf-jumping/throwing thing really is a lot of fun.

And the last shot of the hill side just up the street from us. It's hard to describe such beautiful color in words...You've got to see it in person! Come on out for a visit in October and see for yourself. It is truly stunning when it is at its peak.

So that was the last 4 months in a nutshell. I'll try not to make such a long break the next time...yea, I know, I always say that....