Cartner Christmas Tree Farm

We always have a real Christmas tree.  In fact, we even cut it down ourselves.  I don’t know why… it was a tradition in Craig’s family when he was a kid and it just kind of stuck.  And now that we’ve got kids of our own it’s kind of become our family tradition instead of just his.  For the past several years we have visited Christmas tree farms that were just around the corner (Fall Branch Christmas Tree Farm and Roan Valley Tree Farm).  This year we decided to go just a little bit further from home. 

We drove over the mountain and a little over an hour to Newland, North Carolina to Cartner Christmas Tree Farm. 

The kids enjoyed exploring the tree farm and playing in the last little remains of snow from earlier in the week.

Once our tree selection was made we headed back to the barn to ‘cozy up’ for a few minutes while we waited on the fellas to cut down and load up our tree.

We also got to visit (from a safe distance, of course) with Santa.

And when asked by Santa what she wanted for Christmas, Bailey leaned in and whispered her request in my ear… asking me to play the messenger.

We had a great day at Cartner Christmas Tree Farm!  We spent the day out in the sunshine and fresh air.  We were able to continue our little family tradition.  We brought home a ‘perfect for our family’ tree. And we may have even snuck in a quick little Christmas card photo shoot (complete with props) while we were there!  All in all, I’d say that was a pretty successful day!

Fall Leaves!

One of the things I’m most thankful for this time of year is fall leaves…

…and a couple of sweet little someone’s to jump in them with!

Martha Rivers Park

Spending the morning at Martha Rivers Park never seems to disappoint!  There’s so much to see and do…

…and everyone always leaves happy!

Strawberry Picking!

While in South Carolina visiting family last weekend we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go strawberry picking.  This was Bailey’s first time picking strawberries and I was really excited to get to do it with her!

After a little instruction from Nanny (my mom) on which berries were best and which ones to avoid, Bailey got right down to work.

She worked steadily, filling her bucket with lots of beautiful, ripe strawberries.  I was truly amazed how, even at 3 1/2 years of age, the activity kept her interested.

Definitely a morning well spent with a couple of my favorite ladies! 

Maybe next time we’re in South Carolina we’ll try out blueberry picking.  Or better yet, maybe we’ll try peaches!

Fun Fest-ivities

Every summer the city of Kingsport hosts a week-long, city-wide festival called Fun Fest.  Basically, every day during the week of Fun Fest different events are held all over the city.  The best part is that most of the events are family-friendly and free… two of my favorite words!

Unfortunately, the timing of Fun Fest has never really worked out well for us in the past.  So, we were very excited this year to get the chance to check out one of the festival’s largest attractions… the hot air balloons!

Every year, one of Kingsport’s busiest streets is shut down to make room for dozens of hot air balloons (from all over the South East) to be set up and launched over the skies of Kingsport.  Unlike other hot air balloon rallies I’ve been to in the past, this event was unique in the fact that the public is not only invited to come out and watch, but they are welcome to touch the balloons and even climb into the baskets for pictures.  While Bailey wasn’t quite brave enough to climb into one of the balloons, she still seemed to really enjoy herself!

We spent a couple of hours just walking around, watching the balloons being inflated, and taking in all of the sights.

There were so many beautiful balloons to look at and enjoy… with the exception of the Clemson balloon that was inflated right before our eyes, of course (Go Gamecocks!).

And as the evening went on and the sun began to set it was really beautiful to watch the warm glow of the balloons as they lit up the street!

Definitely a fun way to spend an evening with the family.  Can’t believe we’ve never made it to this event before.  You better believe we’ll make it back next year!

Summer Gardens

Early summer is by far my favorite time of year!  I absolutely love it!  And who could blame me when I get to sit out under the pergola, enjoy the wonderful weather, and see the “fruits” of my gardening labors!

It makes all of the afternoons I’ve spent stooped over in the garden with dirt caked under my nails totally worth it!  Oh, how I love this time of year!