4th of July

I realize that I am using the same pictures over and over in my last few posts and that Hawkins is wearing his 4th of July outfit over and over, but oh well. At least I am blogging on my vacation.

We spent Independence Day in Cashiers, NC this year. A much different experience from our family tradition of going to the beach, but it was a nice change. Robbie was able to come up from Thomasville on Thursday and be here the whole long weekend! He was SO READY to see Hawkins! He even made it in time to see him Thursday night before bedtime. We were apart for a whole week, so I was nervous that Hawkins might not want to go to him, but he reached right out for his Daddy and would not let go! So sweet.

Friday we went out to lunch at Cornucopia and then went on a short hike after Hawkins' nap that afternoon. It was a good hike, but not too strenuous. Robbie bought this pack to hold Hawkins so that he could go along. Hawkins loved it! He didn't cry one bit and loved looking around while riding on his Daddy's back. Then we cooked steaks at the house and ate dinner outside on the deck looking at the gorgeous view.

Robbie and I started out our Saturday with a little 30 day shred DVD workout :) Virginia joined us around lunchtime and was also glad to see Hawkins - he is usually the hit of the crowd. I tried to get H to take a late afternoon nap, because we went to an early 4th of July cookout.

We went to the "Smokehouse" that overlooks a waterfall and lake on Bernie's property. No one even showed up until 7:30pm (H's bedtime), so we knew this was going to be a long night. Hawkins was occupied playing in the cooler and showing off. He was one of two children there, so everyone loved him. Mom and I headed home (leaving the boys and Va to have fun) around 8:30pm to put him to bed - he was so tired!

Hawkins with his Mommy

With Aunt Nina

All the girls

He LOVED playing with the ice in the cooler

I thought maybe he would sleep late the next morning, but oh no, he was up and adam at 6:15am. Why can't my son sleep until 7am - that's not asking too much, is it? We went out to lunch at the Orchard and then had some friends over to cookout hamburgers on Sunday night.

On Monday, the 4th of July, Robbie talked us into hiking again - this time Yellow Mountain. You might remember me discussing (or cursing) this in my Memorial Day post when we were up here with the Evans. It was the hardest hike of my life and doing it again did not make it any easier. We went slower this time around, but it was still super hard. I really don't know how Robbie did it with an extra 25 lbs on his back!

This view was worth it from the top though.

Please excuse the sweat and tears in this photo

Playing in Big Daddy's truck after the hike

My parents had some friends over and we ate delicious BBQ and watched fireworks from our deck. (The Farmer's Market in Cashiers has the BEST BBQ and potato salad on earth.)

Happy Fourth of July!

Robbie left bright and early on Tuesday morning and headed for Atlanta. He was able to work there all week and is coming back to Cashiers today - yay! That means Hawkins and I got to stay all this week with Honey and Aunt Nina. We have been shopping, made a day trip to Highlands, having lunch out and just relaxing. Thank you Robbie for letting us stay in the cool weather just a little bit longer. We will return to scorching hot temps next week...