And The River Runs Wild In Bryson City, NC

The Watsons and the Woolies (not their real name but the real one is just too long) decided to go on a vacation together! Our older kids are great friends so we knew it was guaranteed to be super fun! We wanted to go try out this talked-about tubing place in the mountains, that turned out to be a bit further away than we hoped for but still definitely worth the drive. We rented a cabin that fit both families with lots of common space.

The first night we played a lot of games! 

And in the morning we headed out to the river that looked wild! We had no idea what to expect!!!

First, we rented our tubes $5 each just a few hundred feet before the parking area and then started the hike up to where you can put your tube in the water and "float". Even the hike up was strenuous and then we plopped our tubes into the water and jumped into the REALLY COLD MOUNTAIN WATER. 

Wow...what an experience! It was not a relaxing ride at the beginning as the water was carrying you quite fast (this particular day/week the water level was particularly high) so you had to watch out for the rocks and trees and everything else. Almost five minutes into the ride, I fell off the tube in a very deep place and couldn't stand up easily:)) It was funny but scary too. Good thing, our friend was nearby and he had to grab my hand to help me get my tube back and get in it. I didn't have any crazy falls or flip overs after that but my legs were definitely bruised. The kids were having a ton of fun! They did fall off multiple times and slid down rocks. It did take probably half an hour to go all the way down to where you have to get out of the tube and start your walk back up the river. We did the run more like 1.5 times as we got out a bit before the very end and did the whole run again. 

We were quite tired after a while, so some people in our party went back to the house to get changed and I stayed behind to take some pictures of the last survivors--Mark, Alex, Robert and Wes.

Yeah...it does look quite mild. But it's NOT:) 

I mean it was quite a bit milder as you approached the bottom of the river run.

Nope, Alex is not the tallest of them all:)

Late in the afternoon we got back to the house and got ready for dinner. We were celebrating Alex's birthday together! We went to a fancyish pizza place that took FOREVER to make our food:) But it was good. 

Here is a great picture of our group! The W's. 

We walked around downtown Bryson City enjoying the cool Western NC air. 

Katya took a bunch of fun photos. 

And goofed around with Cameron, wearing yellow t-shirts-haha. They are friends.

We thought of our friends, the Warners (the bee keepers).

This is Mark's scared face (after I told him to show some acting skills).

Sadly, the following morning we had to go home. We went to church in a nearby town and listened to fabulous talks directed to youth. Then we stopped by a Cracker Barrel (because they are sooo popular in the South) for lunch and drove home. 

Oh yes, and Chloe, the Woolies' pug got to come with us on this trip:) 

Lyana. 

Alex Turns FOURTEEN!

If you look at Alex and, especially, if you talk to him, you would think he is at least 17. But nope, he just celebrated his 14th birthday at the end of July! He is an easy kid to please. I mean seriously--how did I get away with this simple chocolate with cream cheese frosting cake and sprinkles as his birthday cake?

Alex had two pool parties this year--for two different groups of friends. He just has so many friends that it's always so difficult for him to figure out how to include everyone and not be overwhelmed-haha. 

The kids played a few games, including the infamous--swim across the pool relay race while wearing a huge wet t-shirt. 

Changing out of it is the hardest part. 

But most of the time, it's just a bunch of squeals, laughter and games. 

He has an awesome group of friends (and at least a dozen of them are not pictured here!)

For his actual BirthDAY, we were visiting Bryson City (more about it in another post) so Alex got to open gifts while on our mini-vacation. It's sweet to notice that Alex told us beforehand that Robert and I had really outdone ourselves for Christmas and gave him way too many awesome gifts...so he wasn't asking for anything big for his birthday. We loved that!

And here is Alex and mama (that is me, who doesn't know how to properly take selfies that look good) on his 14th birthday.

Alex is a great kid! He loves talking to people and makes friends with everyone. He is a big helper around the house as long as he has his music with him. Alex still loves to read and read and read when he doesn't have his phone for texting;). He is not as crazy about all the nature disasters anymore but still loves history (thus he is taking AP World History next semester!). Piano is his passion. Not math;) Alex is still on a rowing team and practices three times a week (he is very proud of his leg muscles:)).

I asked the other two kids to describe Alex in one word and Katya said that the only way to describe Alex is in seven words, "I am kind of a big deal"😆. Mark was nicer and just said right away, "Talented"!

Here is the annual update:

Height: 6' 1 1/2''
Favorite sport to watch: football
Favorite sport to play: basketball
Favorite book: "Boys in the boat"
Favorite movie: "The Blind Side"
Hobbies: piano and singing and basketball
Future profession: singer or business manager

Happy birthday, Alex!!!

Katya's Sweet Sixteen

This year we celebrated Katya turning SIXTEEN!

I know it's cliche to get a little sentimental and say I can't believe she's so grown up now...but I will say that anyway! I can't believe she is sixteen!! 

Here is baby Katya maybe 6 days old (remember those first digital cameras of the 2000s?)

And at sixteen years old.

I love taking pictures with our kids on their birthday too. 

Katya's birthday fell on a Saturday this year so we all were able to be home and celebrate her all day! 

It was fun to take pictures of her and her gifts-hahaha. First one was Davidoff Cool Water, what I thought was perfume, but for real it was a men's cologne! Well, we exchanged it later. But every teenager has to have a Cool Water something, right?:)

I gave her this book--Enough As She Is. Teenage years are tough especially when it comes to self-esteem...

Katya still loves llamas and socks...or is that alpacas?

Mark gave Katya a cactus plant (not trying to hint that she is prickly or anything;).

And Alex went out of the way to go shopping in downtown Apex to get Katya a sloth coin purse!:) 

And then Katya opened her best gift. She was asking us for a year for a new phone as the ONLY gift she wanted. So we figured we'd give her our old FLIP PHONE, Motorola Razor! I mean, she asked for a new phone, but didn't say the newest model, right? 

Yeah...cruel, cruel parents:) She wasn't happy at first but either acted well or totally believed that the flip phone is what she is getting. 

But for real we actually got her a newer version of the iPhone. The one she owned at that moment was the phone she purchased with her own money and it'd been working just fine for a couple of years. But Alex also needed a phone (as he jumped into the pool with his phone in his pocket!!!) and thus it kind of made it easier to justify getting Katya her coveted gift and then giving her phone to Alex. So that definitely made her happy. Not sure why the cactus plant didn't evoke the same kind of emotions;)

For lunch, per Katya's wish, we all went out to get some tacos from our taco truck in Apex and ate at the park.

Katya's actual birthday celebration continued a week later when she had a massive birthday party! It was the party of all parties for our kids so far--in other words, it required the most preparation from me:) But easiest cake ever--pretty much no cake but an ice cream bar and brownies!

This was super fun to make! I had thousands of pictures to choose from, but good thing all of my pictures are pretty organized on the computer. Sorry, my numbers are crooked;)

The main part of the party was a Scavenger Hunt/Amazing Race type of activity. We had maybe fifteen kids divided into 3 teams, each having to do a set of ten challenges, record it and send me videos, all in different order from each other. They had a blast! Let me know if you would like me to share the race's blueprint. The remainder of the party was in our awesome basement! 

The kids had food, karaoke, games, etc.

Everyone had a fantastic time! And most importantly, Katya was very happy and grateful. 

I couldn't say enough of wonderful things about Katya in this post to paint a real picture of her. Katya's personality is so bright, so strong and so full of emotions--there is never a dull moment talking to her, that's for sure:) She works so hard at school, is a wonderful positive friend to others and just brings sunshine to people's hearts. She is indeed an exemplary young woman who so wants to do the right things. Her newly found independence with being 16 (and driving) is refreshing to her as she is learning new things like using a debit card and self-control. She is definitely learning to be more street smart with each year and sometimes utters such words of wisdom from the depth of her hart that it makes me stop and think in awe at how perceptive she can be. We love her and are so excited for the next couple of years as she is getting ready to leave for college. Oh my goodness! Just TWO YEARS left...

Happy Birthday, Katya!!!

And as usual:

Height--5'7'' but actually TALLER than me. She grew!

Favorite sport to watch--soccer

Favorite sport to play--juggling her life (her words)

Favorite book--The Book Thief

Favorite movie--The Proposal

Favorite color--sunset orange

Hobbies--anything to do with music and hanging out with friends

Future profession--something in communications