A Change of Scenery

Just before Halloween we flew out to North Carolina to spend some time with Mark's sister Julie and her family as well as enjoy some of the beauty NC has to offer desert dwellers like us.

Our plane went to Raleigh and we drove the Charlotte area 2 1/2 hours away to stay with family. Along the way we stopped in Greensboro to learn about a battle that took place during the American Revolution. We went through a little museum and then drove and walked through some of the grounds to see the monuments and learn about the event.

We spent an afternoon visiting the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte. Neither of us are fans, but we have a respect for the sport and found it interesting to learn more about its origin, rules, different tracks, legends, etc. They had so many neat hands on experiences for kids, it was sad that Collin is just too little to be able to enjoy them. Mark and Collin are standing in front of an original race car driven by Henry Ford himself.

Spending time with Julie and her family was definitely a trip highlight for us. This first picture is a little blurry but its Julie teaching a Family Home Evening lesson.

While Mark went golfing with Matt and the boys were at school, Julie, Ashlyn, Collin and I went to the park where Collin enjoyed a swing for the first time.

Mark playing catch with Mason in the back yard.

We took an overnight trip to Asheville, NC which was two hours from Julie's house. An hour from Asheville was a four hour train ride through the Great Smoky Mountains. We took in beautiful scenery and breathed in crisp, clean mountain air.

There was a 40 minute stop where we enjoyed dinner by the river and Collin fed ducks for the first time. Collin was worn out from the days activities.

At the exit we were directed through a train museum where they had this huge miniature train setup and wall after wall of collector trains.

A request of mine was to spend the day at the Biltmore. The Biltmore was built in 1895 and still holds the record for the largest home in America. With 125,000 sq feet and 250 rooms this house is a castle. I thoroughly enjoyed touring the house and getting some great photos on the grounds. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures in the house.

There was also a petting zoo on the property over in the Biltmore Village which served as the farm and dairy back in the day. Collin touches a horse for the first time.

The last morning before we drove back to Raleigh and flew home, we stopped for a couple hours at the Children's Discovery museum with Julie, Mason, Carter and Ashlyn. This place is designed for 8 and under and Collin had a good time. His first time in a firetruck.
Collin loves to climb on things so this was fun for him.

The BEST thing in the entire museum was this water station. Colin had such a blast, we had to change his clothes afterward...which was fine, we put him in his pumpkin suit and everybody at the airport melted!