a little trip

In the not too distant past, Bob and I made a trip to North Carolina.  Charlotte, actually.  The Ballantyne area, southern outskirts of the city, is where Ben, Brita, Ian and Jack are working on creating a new home.  It's a long ways to go for our babysitting gig, but so wonderful to visit them there.  It has been a big move, and it's not over yet because they are in an apartment temporarily.  That means there are a lot of boxes still packed and stored in the garage.  And one of them holds the Christmas tree stand!  We ended up sending Bob and Brita out to get a tree and new stand so the decorating could begin.  

We all got to go on an overnight trip to Asheville.  A great area, getting into the mountain region of the state.  Some beautiful scenery, good food and drink, and much more sightseeing than we had time for on this trip.  Here are Brita and Ian on one of the patio areas of the Grove Point Inn, a fabulous historic hotel.

And here's a good shot of little Jack, he had just learned how to get up to sitting from laying down, and started to get up on hands and knees, too.  A couple days ago Brita sent me a little video showing Jack actually making synchronized crawling movements!

We were eating out at a Mexican restaurant (excellent!) and Ian was trading hats around and gave his grandpa a smooch.  That puts a big grin on Bob's face!  Ben was a bit under the weather, so he had to kind of take it easy.  Mexican food, and most other kinds of food, held no appeal for him!  But about 48 hours later things were back to good again.

The Asheville area seems to be a gathering place for artistic and creative minds, so the town reflects that free-thinking spirit.  It was a young mindset that I enjoyed.  The "arts" extend to the craft of brewing, and we enjoyed a delicious local brew at the Wicked Weed taproom.  That name relates to the hops plant, sometimes known as a weed, that can transform into beer.  So clever!   

Jack thinks so, too!