Macbeth Family Vacation Part I

Our family hasn't gone on a legitimate just-us vacation in years.  There are lots of reasons.  Mostly because the idea of going on vacation while pregnant or with a newborn sounds like more work than fun.  Also, in the summer -- because of my heart -- I can't be on my feet for too long outside without passing out.  Also because of Ben's job.  While we absolutely LOVE his job, he is paid by the hour (which is great because he never works over 40 hours but if he does he's paid overtime).  But he doesn't get very much vacation time.  And what vacation time he does get automatically gets devoted to his calling in scouts.  A good portion of the rest of it was devoted to his appendectomy.

So when Ben and I had been feeling like we needed to get out of town, it wasn't a question of how many vacation days he could take, it was a matter of vacation hours.  So we knew this would have to be a weekend trip.  I like to be very careful with our finances.  And with all of our medical costs, I was wondering if it was worth it to spend money on a trip.  When I prayed about it I got the clearest answer that I needed to give up the family portraits we were going to have done and go on the trip instead.  So that's what we did!  And then I learned once again how much the Lord loves to make us take the first step in faith before he blesses us.  Because the week before we left, Ben was given a pretty decent raise with back pay.

The kids had been desperately wanting to go to the mountains and we decided to surprise them with a trip to Bryson City.  We really just wanted to go somewhere new and throw the kids out in nature.  Since Ben couldn't take off a whole Friday, we picked up the kids from school around 1 and surprised them!

The kids were fantastic in the car even though it took 6 hours to get to our cabin.  Miraculously, we didn't play a single movie in the car during the entire trip!  Instead the kids were just as happy coloring, playing with pipe cleaners, and wearing stick-on mustaches.  And I don't know if the kids were better than usual in the car, or if Ben and I have just gained a lot more patience in the past few years (probably both), but this trip seemed a lot easier than other trips in the past.

I had looked into hotels, but there weren't any that I could find that would allow 6 people to stay in the same room.  So I looked into cabins and they ended up costing the same as the hotel rooms I was looking at!  So Ben and I chose one that overlooked Lake Fontana, had a fire pit for making s'mores, a jacuzzi, and a foosball table.  The kids loved the cabin.  They wanted to "live there forever."  

I, on the other hand, still love my house that has a dishwasher and the world's best bed.

Lake Fontana in Almond, NC

The first night we decided to have Lily and Skyler share a bed with Ella in a sleeping bag on the floor.  The next morning Ben found them all in the bed together.  So the next night I put them to bed like this just to save time.  :)  We could hear their giggles outside while Ben and I were next to the campfire.

The first activity was gem mining.  We ended up at a pretty remote place next to a lily pond.  (You better believe that had Lily's stamp of approval).  The kids and Ben chose their buckets and went to town getting them cleaned up in their sieves.

Still too dirty to tell what they are...

Skyler got a little overzealous and ended up splashing mud all over his face.

Documentation that Thad really was there... on my back.  Poor baby -- I somehow packed an extra set of sweatpants for him instead of his jacket.  So we had to double up his sleepers to keep him warm.

Ella enjoyed watching and stealing the dirt from some old man's bucket and sticking it in Skyler's.  He chuckled over it and was really nice.  But as we were leaving that man found a 4 carat ruby.  I guess Ella just didn't steal the right dirt!  ;)

After the kids were a little tired of cleaning up their rocks, I took over Skyler's dirt and I ended up with the best haul (not that I'm bragging -- except I am).  I was most excited by my arrowhead, fool's gold, small rubies, and the bluish gem stones.