Winter Vacation 2012

Adam just returned from Alaska, so we thought we would take our very own winter wonderland vacation to the mountains of North Carolina.  It was a great opportunity for us to reconnect as a family. After you see the pictures, you will know we weren't really "roughing it."  In fact, it was quite the opposite.  Adam left me in charge of finding the cabin...next time he will know better :).

We stayed in Blowing Rock, NC which is just minutes from Boone, NC.  Originally we were expecting sunny weather however, Hurricane Sandy decided to hit and we benefited from the snow.  This was Gavin's first opportunity to play in the snow, since he was only a couple of months old when he saw it last.

Before our trip to the mountains, we took a mini-trip to Mike's Farm.  They have lots of animals, hay rides, and more for families.

On the way to Mike's Farm, we decided to teach Gavin about crops and cotton was the "crop of the day"

We thought it appropriate that Gavin wear his Carharts to the farm.  He automatically stood like this.

Pumpkin Patch

Even train rides...

Feeding the goats.  This wooden contraption raised the feed up to the goats on a platform.

We made it to the mountains!  Time to gather firewood for the night...

Some pictures of the home and surrounding yard.  Complete with a fire-pit..

And a creek.  Blackberry Creek!

Our humble abode for the week :)

It didn't take Tobiah long to let his hair fly in the wind.

Our first meal at a local diner, the locals were freaking out over the impending "blizzard"

The lemon fought back.

Need I explain...

Even Gavin got in on the relaxing.

He picked up a few chores to help Mommy out.

Snow's here!

Farm animals made the trip with us.

A trip to the local park...covered in snow!

A rare site...

A trip to the local Children's Museum.

Climbing a rock wall...

In typical Cromwell fashion, we took lots of walks in the woods.  Notice the new addition (yellow centipede), his name is 'Willard the worm.'  Naming compliments of daddy :0...

Gavin LOVED the hot tub!

Giant leaves to go with the giant hardwoods...beautiful!

Landscape Portrait.

On the way home, we stopped at a motorcycle shop.

After we got home, the leftover firewood had to be unloaded.  Daddy and Gavin took care of that :).

Gavin touched every piece of wood in this pile, bringing it from the front of the truck to the back for daddy to stack.

We had such a wonderful time, and it was money well spent!