Good morning; how are you? I either did something without realizing it yesterday or slept like a rock in the wrong position because my upper back and neck are quite a mess today, tight and painful. I’m hoping some gentle stretching and ice help, as I have a rather lengthy list of things I’d like to accomplish today.

We’re also diving back into more structured language arts. IEW and Fix it grammar for Hailey, The Good and the Beautiful for Kaitlyn. New spelling books for them both. Our homeschool has a pendulum feel to it, and we’ve been light on language arts while we focused on the fun of chemistry, but time to get back to it!

This weekend was a good one. Friday was wonderfully relaxed. The girls gave me a “spa” late afternoon. They love to do this and it’s something I’ll always remember fondly. Dry brushing and massages and braiding my hair and putting on my face lotion, all with spa music playing and essential oils diffusing; it’s so cute. We ate dinner, then had ice cream and watched Shark Tank, a show they’re very into the moment as David and I have been talking to them about the entrepreneur process, company valuation, stocks and equity, etc.

Saturday morning we took off to the mountains. Not sure where we’d end up we picked a new to us trail 2.5 hours away, right on the North Carolina and Tennessee state line. The ride was pretty and the trail was magnificent… except for one thing. We did not dress appropriately. It was way colder than we anticipated and the wind was whipping over the mountain top.

The trail, which is part of the AT, from Carvers Gap to Grassy Ridge Bald was supposed to be a 5 miler, but we only made it halfway before we waved the white flag and took our red, chapped faces and hands in search for lower elevations. Still, this trail was GORGEOUS and we will definitely be back when it’s warmer. It was so neat being able to see into both Tennessee and North Carolina.

Not fully satisfied with only 2.5 under our belt, we started heading home and looked up trails along the way. We ended up at Roaring Fork Falls, a small and easy trail to a gorgeous waterfall. It’s only .5 from the parking lot and was not crowded. It gave the kids (and dog) a chance to climb on some rocks. With our further exploring, we clocked about 1.5 miles and a big payoff of a waterfall!

On the way home David took us to his favorite BBQ spot, JD’s Smokehouse. It is only open on the weekend and was slammed, a good sign. He didn’t oversell it, the food was delicious and our hungry crew devoured it. With satisfied appetites we drove back to town and ended the evening with some friends at King Canary to end the day.

Sunday we went to church then changed to play clothes to spend the day outside. It was a GORGEOUS day. We mowed, pulled weeds, and cleaned up my plant porch to prepare for growing season. The kids took off with friends for the afternoon, David and I worked out, then I walked another 4 miles with my friends, Alison. If it wasn’t for Hailey’s itchy allergy eyes hitting her hard, it would have been a perfect day.

We all showered off the pollen and I made barramundi with rice and garlic parmesan roasted brussels for dinner, which were ridiculously good. I just tossed the halved Brussels sprouts with olive oil, salt, minced fresh garlic, and a hearty serving of finely grated parmesan then roasted until crispy.

Ok, now time to hit the ground running. We pick up our first RV rental ever on Wednesday and I’m spending some time today figuring out what we need to stock it for a weekend adventure. Can’t wait to tell you about it all. Thanks so much for stopping by today; hope your Monday is a good one!