Lake Junaluska- Final Chapter

Friday:

Bill, Jenn, and Olivia headed out this morning. :( After goodbyes were said, the house was awfully quiet! (Ok, who am I kidding? My kids make up for any lost noise).  For the life of me, I can't remember what we did all morning!  Geesh, that is sad!

The whole reason we went to LJ in the first place is for a wedding.  Meg and I worked together at CMS for years, and became fast friends.  Our bond really grew when we were roommates on the Washington DC trip in 2007.  I remember lying in bed at nights, laughing and laughing until 2 AM.  So, over the years, our families have gotten to know each other.  Meg and Manny have two adorable daughters, Blair and Aubrie.  They are a lot like Sydney and Taylor, just about 18 years difference.  Blair was getting married, and asked for both S & T to be the flower girls. 

So, Friday evening, we had the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner.  I have to admit, I was so nervous about the girls and their flower girl responsibilities.  Not so much Sydney- she's done this before, and she's almost 5.  But, my silly, off-the-wall 2.5 year old... you just never know what you're going to get with her!  The rehearsal proved such... she held Sydney's hand down the aisle only to sprint the last 10 feet of it.  Then, she wouldn't stand still.  Stephen and I schemed our plan for Saturday.

The rehearsal dinner was a blast! It was at a nice restaurant in downtown Waynesville, and we all had a great time.  Sydney and Taylor were mingling with all of the bridesmaids, especially Aubrie.  And Blair, of course.  It was hard to pry them away around 9:30 when it was time to leave.

Saturday:

The big day!!!  Mom, dad, and I hit up a flea market first thing in the morning.  Sydney went with the grandparental units to a museum, Stephen went to the gym, and Taylor, Parker, and I went to the playground and on a walk.

The rest of the day was just hanging out until about 1:45.  The girls and I headed to a salon to get their hair done.  I couldn't believe how much older they looked, especially Taylor!!!  They sat there like champs, thank goodness.

We headed home and got ready for the wedding.  The girls had to be there by 3:45.  The chapel was at LJ, so we didn't have a very long trek to make.  Pictures were taken, and we were trying to keep the girls entertained... and happy... until 6 PM!  Right before the bridal party went down the aisle, Taylor started losing it.  I'm not above bribing, people.  I'm trying to make this little bag of fruit gummies last to keep her happy.  I was breaking them apart into tenths just to keep something in her mouth and belly.  Luckily, after all of our preparation, talks, and food, they made it down the aisle... perfectly!!  Taylor sat with us during the ceremony while Sydney stood.  We had a bag of goldfish for Taylor to munch on during the ceremony (please don't judge me) and she walked back down the aisle at the end... goldfish and all.  It was GREAT!  Whew.  I could now relax.

The reception was a BLAST.  Seriously, the most fun wedding I've been to in a while.  It was at a picturesque country club in Waynesville.  Taylor only lasted about an hour before announcing that she wanted to go "night night", so Stephen ran her home.  Sydney danced the night away with us until 11 PM!

Some of my former (and soon-to-be again) coworkers!

What a week!  Sunday, we just packed up, ate breakfast on the way, and headed home.  It was an AWESOME trip, and I've decided that I could possibly move there one day.  Ok, if not that, at least visit it again.  Hopefully soon.

Lake Junaluska- Part 2

Wednesday:
We decided to do a day trip today.  We headed about 20 minutes away to Cherokee, NC, which is a big Indian reservation (with a lot of touristy/air brushed items everywhere- random combination).  We started off with a picnic at a local park.

We then headed to the Oconaluftee Indian Village.  Of course, it started to pour right when we got there.  Once the rain died down, our tour group began.  It was pretty neat- a tour guide showed us all kinds of historic Indian things, and we got to walk into replicas of how they lived way back when.  They also did a tribal dance show at the end.  Very interesting!

Watching the dancers.

We got to join in, too.

Once home, the girls stayed in the Indian mindset and danced around with their headdresses on.  

Thursday:

The girls (Sydney, Taylor, and Olivia) did a half-day daycamp at LJ on Thursday from 8-noon.  They got to play, do arts and crafts, do bible activities, etc.  Parker stayed with me and Stephen.  My mom, dad, Bill, and Jenn went to Asheville, and Stephen, Parker, and I ventured to downtown Waynesville to walk around a bit.  This is the cutest little downtown, and the view behind it is incredible! 

That night, me, Stephen, and the kiddos went to eat dinner at our friends' cabin in Waynesville.  The stay didn't last too long... they had dogs (the girls are deathly afraid of dogs) and even after they so kindly put them up, the girls were in a funk.  Plus, we forgot Parker's bottle.  So, we hung out for a bit and then headed back to the house.

Lake Junaluska- Part 1

Sunday:
OK, so, like I said in my last post, we all arrived in LJ around 5 PM Sunday evening.  The kids were so excited to be reunited.  We all explored the house, unpacked the cars, and then hit the streets of the camp to see what all there was around.  We eventually found the playground, and we...ahem, the kids... played there for a while before relaxing at the house for the night.

Monday:

Monday started off with the whole fam meeting a local photographer to get some family shots.  The weather held out (there was a chance of rain every day, especially Monday morning) and all went well, minus Taylor NEVER smiling.  That girl knows when a camera is on her and she won't budge a smile.

Stephen and I went for a run around the lake, which was about 3.5 miles.  He's in waaay better shape than I am, so he was sweet to slow it down a bit.  OK, a lot. 

We played on the playground, when a super headache hit me.  Holy migraine, Batman.  It was terrible.  I tried my best to suck up a trip to downtown Waynesville (a town about 5 minutes away with an adorable downtown) but I ended up sleeping in the car while the rest of the fam ventured out.  My sweet mom stayed back with me. 

Tuesday:

Stephen went golfing with some buddies Tuesday morning, and the rest of us hit up the happenings at LJ. 

Playground.  It just never gets old.

Paddle boats. 

Putt-putt.

Heading to the pool.

Kendall and fam had to head back Tuesday late afternoon (they had to do something called work on Wednesday... tsk, tsk).  Boo!  The rest of us headed into downtown Waynesville to a yummy restaurant. We hit up the country candy store, too.