The Great Smoky Railway in Bryson City, NC does multiple train tours. They range from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! to a tour including the history of the train itself.

At Christmas time it turns positively magestic and does The Polar Express.

As soon as we found that out, we knew we had to take Michael. A train and Santa Claus? And not just any train-- The Polar Express train (as Michael calls it).



When Michael found out we were riding the train, he was overwhelmed with wonder.



As the train ride continued, however, and he realized he had to sit still for an hour... not so wondrous.




Over all, I'd say he did an extraordinary job. The hot chocolate and cookies distracted him enough and then Christmas carols came into play, and then, of course, there was Santa Claus.


How is it that little kids just know who Santa is? Michael has watched the St. Nicholas Veggie Tales enough times, perhaps, but even in that he's not referred to as "Santa Claus".

Now whenever we go out he asks if we're going to see the Choo-Choo Train (as Clark called it), and then tells me all about how he rode The Polar Express and Santa sat with him and gave him a bell.

So, my friends, in the end... it was completely magical.

Michael's cardigan is from The Wishing Elephant. Not only does Carolyn make these, but tons of other creative looks for babes and toddlers. Make sure to check her out!

It's the last day of September. Can you believe it? It's cooling off here and the leaves are hinting at turning. I'm so excited. Michael and I have already had loads of fun playing in the leaves. See what I mean?


When Clark was home, the last thing we did was go to the Western North Carolina State Fair. I'm not sure if this is the proper title. I read somewhere that it was considered the "Agricultural Fair"... so don't quote me on any of that.

We had so much fun. Michael wasn't a huge fan of the rides (hoping he comes by this way of me and we can sit them out together in the future... that's me being selfish, though). But he definitely enjoyed all the sites, and, of course, the animals, tractors, and helicopter the most.











That sign said, "Keep Behind Fence"... luckily, Michael can't read. And he was, for the most part, behind it.

This is the LAST weekend of September. How crazy is that? I can't believe October is just days away. Today definitely called for a jacket in the morning, and most days have in the past week. I'm so excited for it to cool down to sweater weather. It just gives me an excuse to buy some, since I really only have maybe one good one. No exaggeration there, honest.


Dear Michael, It has been a week of mischief. I wish you'd take a nap every day instead of this two days off, one day on thing we have going right now. I know you're so excited about our days together and all of our adventures... but mama needs some more down time. At least most some days you let me sit on your bed and read while you play with your trains.

Dear Friends, You make time go by so much faster when Clark is away. Thank you for all your love and support. I don't know what we would do if we didn't have y'all to spend time with!

Dear Readers, In case you don't follow me on Instagram and haven't gotten the notice, fall is HARRY POTTER TIME. Yes, I'm one of those people. If you aren't, please forgive me and know that I forgive you in return. This coming week promises some treats (see below) from the book, as do the upcoming weeks as I continue to reread the books (Yep. I'm on #4 and shooting for all seven by Halloween) and watch all the movies.

Things to look forward to:

Treacle Tarts

Meet Me At The Fair

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cookies
The idea for this post came from Ashley over at The Sweet Season.

We decided Michael turning two was the perfect occasion to finally get his haircut. It took some convincing Clark (see this post and scroll down to number 16 to read about that), but eventually he finally saw the light and agreed we could take Michael to our local barber shop the day before his birthday.








He really did so well once we convinced the barber he didn't need the cover/cape on to protect his clothes and such from falling hair. It was the only thing that really freaked him out. Afterwards we walked downtown to our local gelato shop and got a special treat. I mean... come on... it was his first haircut!

Three days following the haircut (with his birthday and our friends' wedding in-between), we went apple picking. It probably wasn't the best idea on my part to go after we had a few eventful days in a row as it was, but in the end Michael had a blast. He enjoyed the animals more than the apple picking... but we can give him a year or two before he starts enjoying the challenge of getting apples from the top of the trees.












There always seems to be food at the end of our adventures. This orchard had freshly made apple cider donuts (as well as other apple treats) ready for you before or after your picking. You also had the option to just buy apples and not pick them, which we also ended up doing since Michael was super enthusiastic about the actual apple picking part (did you sense my sarcasm there?).

More fall adventures to come! We definitely have a lot I want to check off of our Fall Bucket List this year.

OK... this was only two weeks ago. But I've been struggling to post as of late so I thought this would be the way to go for throw-back-thursday, since that's when my slacking started.

Having hubby home is always wonderful, but he made sure my birthday was extra special. After my morning Bible study where some wonderful women gave me well wishes and sang to me, Clark piled us in the car and wouldn't give me a clue as to what we were doing. He actually made it seem like he didn't have a plan. Michael fell asleep so I told him we could just do something quick for fast food if he wanted, not knowing what his plans were. He said we could just drive for a while and let Michael sleep, so he took us up on the parkway.

We talked and just hung out and enjoyed the drive while Michael slept. At one point I suggested we turn around since Michael's nap was only going to last for so long, but Clark said we could loop around (which I knew we couldn't unless we took a really long time).

As Michael woke up, we pulled off to a spot on the parkway to have a fabulous picnic (which Clark had planned, obviously) and when I began to take pictures he whipped out a brand new Nikon 1500 for me to use instead of our point and shoot camera. It was SUCH a surprise. Apparently he had a lot of people pool in to get it, since that definitely wasn't within the budget I gave him for my birthday.

The day continued with more driving on the parkway and picture taking, and once we were home Mama got even more time to be a shutterbug.


The evening ended with my homemade cake falling to pieces (literally) and Clark having to run out and get a grocery-store-cake. But it didn't ruin anything. He even bought champagne to toast me.

Yep. I'm pretty blessed with one AMAZING hubby. And I had one OUTSTANDING birthday. Now, be prepared for some recipes and fabulous pictures to come!

This is more than a little delayed. At this point Easter was two weeks ago... oops.Needless to say time sometimes slips away from me all of us.



Easter


We really kept his Easter basket simple *although the Easter basket itself came from his grandparents, Marmee and Papa!*. Bubbles, two Easter books, a balloon, two activity packets (restaurant friendly), and a few plastic eggs with goldfish or puffs in them.


We had an Easter egg hunt at Michael's favorite friends' house... Clark and I think they're pretty great, too ;).


We tried to take a family picture and came out with this personality-focused beauty.


Our friends with their beautiful daughter Makenzie, who is two months younger than Michael.

The Zoo


Michael got the most excited about the giraffes. Nevermind that he was "hissing" for ten minutes after the snakes or making monkey voices the entire time we passed by a primate, Michael would not let us leave the giraffes. We stood there for countless minutes as he pointed and shrieked and laughed and "danced" in excitement.


Michael checking out the lions.


"People of the Forest". My fave picture of the boys from the day.


Successful family picture!

Hiking


Hydrating while riding with style. Michael thought it was extra funny to spit water all over the back of Dada's head/neck/back.


Enjoying the view. We live in such a beautiful area. I feel so blessed that Michael gets to experience nature and its finest. He kept saying, "bubbles!"


The best family shot from the day... never mind that Michael isn't even looking.


Explorers.