The Julianna Chronicles: The Mountains

Julianna and I have spent a ton of time in the mountains this summer. Our first trip there was with Grandmama and Granddaddy, second with Mimi, and third was with my bestie Katy and her kids. It is the most wonderful escape from the miserably hot and humid summers here that pretty much keep us indoors from June to September!! Julianna would move up there permanently if given the choice. Everyday we fed the fish (beautiful koi that will take the bread right out of your hand!), played on the ski slopes (just giant grassy hills now), hunted up woolly worms, and chased butterflies. We also went fishing several times, saw a huge deer with great big antlers, played putt-putt, made lots of trips to Fred's General Store, put together a jigsaw puzzle, sat out on the deck up in the trees and drank wine (or Sprite in Julianna's case), and spent some really great quality time with our friends and family. 90% of the above cost absolutely nothing, and the time with our loved ones was, of course, priceless! Thank you Grandmama and Granddaddy for allowing us to stay in your home. It really was wonderful! You are too good to us!

Pictures from our trip with Grandmama and Granddaddy:

Feeding the fish at the koi pond.

Fishing!

Love this picture of Jules and Granddaddy!! Just precious!

So cute in their sunglasses!

Julianna's first (and only to date) fish! She was so proud!

Our trip with Mimi:

Finding dandelions

This little set of pictures has to be my favorite. I swear she assumed a different identity with Mimi's sunglasses on. She instantly transformed into a super model! I did not pose her at all. This was all her! What a hoot!

Next stop, Vogue Magazine! Hee!

Trip to Blowing Rock. Seriously the cutest little town ever!

On the ski slopes. I just love this picture!

More fish feeding!

She loves to let the fish nibble her toes!!!

A few pictures with Mama on a cool evening!

I adore this candid of Jules and Mimi.

Our trip with Katy, Hannah, Jay, and Ansley:

Our first fishing attempt. We seriously had no idea what the heck we were getting into. We handed fishing poles with hooks on them to kids aged 7, 4, 3, and 2 and let them have at it! We are insane and lucky that we all left with both of our eyes! Actually, Hannah, the most coordinated 7 year old I have EVER seen, was a casting pro in minutes!!

Our daily afternoon swing on the ski lift!

Julianna and Ansley loved this activity best BY FAR!

Our second fishing attempt! We got smarter and took the hook off of Ansley's pole, and pretty much had the other kids taking turns. When there was more than one kid fishing, we separated them by GREAT distances!!!

Hannah's first fish!!! Yippee!!

Jules and Ansley. SOOO CUTE!!

Julianna and Jay really clicked this particular afternoon and they were playing with little plastic army men that they were pretending were surfing. They kept saying "Surfs up, baby!!" They were killing us!