What the dickens?

-Posted by Isaac

It was the best of times,

it was the worst of times,

it was the age of wisdom,

it was the age of foolishness...

...a little recap on our tale of two vacations.

Three days in the NC mountains and three days on the SC beach. Both fun, interesting and memorable. Both exasperating. Eden decided that this was the trip where under no circumstance was she going to let herself be photographed with the family. 

This is the best we've got:

In recent years, the Carolinas have been our go-to spot for a quick and easy vacation. The beaches, the mountains, the forests and the history-- all within a day's drive.

But it's never quite as easy as you think. Aside from the usual difficulties of keeping the kids from killing themselves or each other, aside from the predictable moments of me wanting to strangle one of them... this time there were other more specific obstacles. Like getting both burnt and eaten alive on the beach. The temps hovered around ninety, and the no see ums (also called sand gnats) were out in force. We camped, and they seemed to come straight through the mesh of our tents. Each morning we woke to find ourselves covered red with bites. Then spent the day itching. It was fun!

When we weren't ducking the hot sun and darting the biting bugs, we were dodging the heavy rain. It rained every day.

This made hiking somewhat difficult. But I have to say, our kids really turned a corner on this trip. For the miles we covered, there was very little complaining. A real change from past hikes. It gives me hope. 

The three days in NC area were spent surrounded by art. While the mountains and mist provided a perpetual artistic backdrop, the town gave it up close and personal. Asheville seemed every bit a hub of interest and culture. Music, murals, food and events everywhere you turned. Even the people are works of art. From Wayne, our highly decorated Airbnb host to the nice lady serving coffee at the farmers market.

If the Asheville market has anything over Worthington, it would be the body art. (Except for Jess at the Honeyrun Farm tent. Nothing could top our Jess!)

Art was everywhere. We took a lunch break at the famous Woolworth's Lunch Counter,

and while our hotdogs were being made, we had some time to meander through the gallery section of the building. The kids quickly found their style.

And I found some stuff to my liking. 

Silly or profound? Depends on your frame of mind...

I got flipping though a box of painting copies, and found this.

I laughed and called Eden over. "Look Babygirl! It's me and you when I get mad. See, I'm the big ugly monster and you're the little kitty."

She looked for a second and shook her head. Grabbing the next one in the box, she said, No Daddy. "It's this one. See. I'm the girl and you're the bird."

The title of this-- STEALING BEAUTY FROM STRANGE ANGELS.

I stared at the picture a few seconds.

"You know what, Babygirl? You're right."