Cashiers, NC

This year for Easter Mara, Blaine and his parents invited us to spend the weekend with them at their condo in Cashiers, a small mountain town about an hour from Greenville. We had heard a lot of great things about their new home, it's simply just not the same as being there in person. Their condo is on a beautiful 18-hole golf course in the mountains. The flowers were in full bloom and the trees were at their greenest! Once we were settled in, we drove the golf cart to a nearby fishing pond where we threw rocks into the water while Jered and Blaine fished. We left the boys behind for a bit (to catch dinner) and decided to take Caiden for a ride over to the clubhouse and waterfalls. On the way, we spotted a young little bunny and just had to stop! Aunt Mara hopped out with Caiden to see where the bunny was headed. They probably spent a good 10 minutes watching the bunny as he hopped around looking for clovers and other food. I love that Mara gets to spend these sweet moments with him! Ever since that day, Caiden correlates Aunt Mara with bunnies. Just a few days ago, I picked Mara up on the way to work and had Caiden in the back of the car. Once he saw her walking up to the car, in a high-pitched excited voice he says, "Mauna an da bunny!!!" meaning, Mara and the bunny! I just about died, especially because this was one of the first times he put more than 2 words together and Mara was NOT holding a bunny. Hilarious!!

For Caiden's 2nd Easter, Aunt Mara got him lots of delicious treats like organic fruit snacks and peanut free M&Ms! (Does she know me or what?!) After church, we had a mini Easter egg hunt. We put one piece of candy in each egg and scattered them throughout the yard. Caiden opens the first one, and BAM - and tiny little piece of heaven falls onto the grass. Not ever having a piece of candy before, he looks at it, looks at daddy to make sure he can have a bite and pops it into his mouth. His eyes get big with excitement - it was the most delicious snack he'd ever had in his whole (20 month) life. On to the next one, and the next one and the next until by the 4th or 5th M&M he looked like he was getting a little woozy from all the chocolate. I just had to snap a pic of this chocolate coma moment! This was about a 7 second pause before opening the next egg!

On Sunday Mara stayed back with Caiden during his afternoon nap while the rest of us went on a hike looking for waterfalls. We had a great time exploring some of the lesser traveled trails and spent some time relaxing near the river. Here's a photo of Keith and Julie, such a fun couple!

After the waterfall adventures, we took the golf cart out and drove around the course. We didn't see a single golfer so it was just us and the mountain views for hours! Good thing we took a fishing pole with us because there was one pond in particular that looked fishier than the others! We decided to throw a line in and within just a few casts, Jered and Caiden caught a pretty nice size blue gill - he says it's the biggest one he's ever caught, over 1 lb! Caiden still hasn't gotten over the scary frog incident, so he wasn't the biggest fan of this slimy creature that dad had on the end of his fishing pole! Hopefully he'll outgrow this slight fear of things that jump or squirm, until then it's quite hysterical!

It turned out to be a relaxing, quiet weekend in the mountains! We even captured a much needed family picture, one that is now framed and up in our living room :)

Thank you to Aunt Mara, Blaine, Julie and Keith for your warm welcome and hospitality! This was an Easter that we will never forget!