A mountain getaway at Black Thorn Farm & Kitchen!

It's been over two weeks since my last blog post, but better later then never! I have 4 kids, what can I say? Things almost never happen at the times I plan them. Just getting everyone out of the house on time is an experience not for the faint of heart. Sometimes it goes smoothly and sometimes....not so much.

After our new year's day trip to Savannah, Georgia, we headed out to North Carolina. What a fun trip! A couple weeks beforehand, we pulled up several VBRO rentals on the laptop and sat on the sofa with Serena for awhile after the kids went to bed, and narrowed down our top choices of where to stay. We wanted it to be somewhere in the mountains with a great view, and not near other houses. We had it down to our 4 top places and ultimately settled on Black Thorn Farm & Kitchen. The description of it being a working sheep farm and culinary destination ultimately won us over. Definitely an advantage over the others. We figured the girls would enjoy watching the sheep, and we love food so why not?! Hank loves lamb and I loved the idea of fresh baked goods delivered because I'm a carb addict like that. 

I mean just look at this bread! It really is what dreams are made of. So delicious.

Before I get ahead of myself though, let's get back to the farm. The "high house" where we stayed had everything we could of possibly needed. From cookware, to toiletries, books, DVD's and basic necessities, all our needs were met. We went to the grocery store the second day we were there and just had so much fun cooking simple country meals like steak, meatloaf, and pan seared lamb. I loved cooking in the kitchen, and the house was clean, charming, and comfortable.

It was cold outside but we still enjoyed being out on the deck at times looking at the mountains, and also exploring the grounds and petting some of the sheep. It was really nice to just unwind and unplug from the world. Sure I still did two loads of laundry, and made the beds, and tidied up but it was different than if I was doing those chores at home. Much to Serena's dismay, she was still on kitchen duty for the most part and had to do after dinner dishes.

We also went to a local ski resort in search of some snow. The girls had a great time snow tubing!

It's been a few weeks now since we settled back into the hustle and bustle of daily life, but I will always have fond thoughts of our tranquil stay at Black Thorn Farm in the basin of Sandy Mush. It was definitely a unique farm to table vacation experience and we'd love to go back sometime.

Have a great weekend!

Life Lately

It's been quiet around this blog lately but we've been busy. What am I saying!? It's usually always busy around these parts with a full household. My best friend and her family came to visit us and they stayed for about a week. We all had a great time and it's nice to get a break from daily life. We went to Miami, West Palm Beach, and ended the fun with 2 days at Marco Island. I'll be doing a full post on Marco Island, but here are some quick pics from my phone. In other exciting news, Ava was cast for her first commercial! It shot this past Saturday for Nature's Sleep, and I was able to snap a few quick pictures. It was for their new ghost bed pillow. I was a little worried about how she would do since she's been teething and extra clingy, but she did great! It was fun and thankfully wrapped up quickly before the babies got too fussy. I can't wait to see the commercial. 

Hi!

I didn't blog at all last week because we took a little vacation to Texas! We drove there to go visit our family and friends. Surprisingly the drive with two toddlers wasn't bad. Layla and Mariam did really well. Serena stocked a tote full of toys, books, colors, and they each had a tablet so they stayed pretty occupied. They also slept a lot which was good. Mariam would get a little frustrated at times being strapped in a car seat, but still she did good. She did lie to us like three times about pooping in her diaper so we would have to pull over at rest stops a lot more than we would have liked, but I've got to give her credit for being smart enough to play us haha! Btw, we are going to be working on potty training next week. My goal is to have her potty trained before the baby comes. Back to Texas though. It was so nice to see my dad again, my in-laws and our closest friends. Also yay for not having to cook, clean or worry about work! I took my camera but can you believe I did not take one picture with it!

Today H was back at work so it's me and the girls again. We did some shopping today at Home Goods, Hobby Lobby, and then Target. I brought back my old bedspread that we had left by accident in Texas before we moved and after seeing this picture by Joss & Main, I'm totally inspired to update the master bedroom using it as inspo.

I already have the bedspread, but I spent some time last night scouring the Internet for similar pillows. Didn't find anything so I'll just make them myself. It will be cheaper anyways and I found similar fabric at Hobby Lobby. I also picked up some fabric to make more things for baby #4.

I've been needing a bath mat for the master bedroom and more towels so I found these at Home Goods. The candles are from Target.

XOXO

Beachin' It

I'm by no means an expert on living by the beach, but I thought I'd share what worked for us, We stayed in Florida for a week and thankfully nobody got a sunburn. With the girls we were diligent about applying Babyganics sunscreen 20 minutes before they got in the water and then reapplying after about 2-3 hours.

 

 

I bought both Layla and Mariam sunhats from Old Navy but I only got them to wear them for a little while before they would just tear them off.

 

As far as floaties, I was very happy with the puddle jumper arm floats we bought for Layla. It held her up really well and made her comfortable in the water. Most times she didn't even want us to hang onto her. We should have bought a set for Mariam. With her we used a speedo floatie and it just didn't work with keeping her balanced in the water. It floated fine but it would quickly flip her over. One other thing I highly recommend for taking little ones to the beach and bay are water shoes. You can find them for really cheap at Walmart.

 



I was also pretty diligent about wearing my sunhat and keeping my sunglasses on--hence why I ended up with my face much lighter than the rest of my body.

 

 

I also thought it would be fun to bring our collection of Ella+Mila nail polishes and we all had fun painting our nails one day. I wore the color "pool party". Oh, one thing that I wasn't crazy about that happened is my hair turned super brassy. I didn't even wet it that often, but just washing it daily and exposing it to the sun so long really did a number on it. I plan on buying some toner next week and seeing if I can fix it. I'll do a post about it if it comes out successfully.

 



Have a great weekend!



 

 



 



The Bay

For two days in a row we went to St. Joseph Peninsula State Park. It has an abundance of wildlife, nature trails, a bay and beach side, and a variety of other fun things to do. The park is located right at the end of the Peninsula on Cape San Blas. On the first day we got there we had lunch near their playground and then somehow I let H convince me to wade out into the water with him and the kids. That all sounded lovely except for the fact that we had to first pass up swamp areas on both sides where there were signs indicating there were alligators and to swim at your own risk. 

 

I was terrified! What was I thinking!?

 

We didn't go out terribly far, but I kept seeing little ripples or something jump out of the corner of my eye and I really just wanted to high tail it out of there with Mariam in my arms, but you're supposed to walk slow as to not cause too much commotion. So we sloooowly made our way back and I was literally praying the whole time. H thought I was being a chicken, but being attacked by an alligator was not on my vacation to do list--thank you very much. I admit though since having kids, I'm definitely not as adventurous as I used to be when it comes to the outdoors--and heights.

 

 

After that we headed to the nicer area where a lot of other people were. There were no swamps around unless you kept walking towards the left side. I loved the bay! There was quite a few people out on small boats, snorkeling, playing, or just sunbathing. I was amazed that such a large body of water could have such a large part that was very shallow. I've just never seen anything like it. The girls had a blast and Layla looked so cute when she would sit on H's back like a little baby stingray as he snorkeled and looked for shells.

 

Have a great Thursday!

 

 



Cape San Blas, Florida: Where we stayed

 

We're back! Though I don't want to be. We had such a good time there I didn't want to leave. We stayed for a week so I have a lot to cover but I thought I'd just start where everything starts--at the beginning.

 

I mentioned before that we rented a condo overlooking the beach. It was fully stocked with everything you could think of. We brought tons of stuff that we didn't actually need because the condo already had it. Everything from band aids to batteries, to books and movies. Every kitchen appliance and utensil you might need. It really was our home away from home. It was also clean with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. We brought some food in our cooler and ended up buying what we needed from the local trading post which was down the street and one trip to Piggly Wiggly which was about 18 minutes away. We didn't try any of the restaurants there but did order pizza on our last night there.

 

Before we got there I was a little put off at the thought of having to still cook and clean it being a vacation and all, but with three rambunctious kids this was definitely the way to go. We ate dinner almost every night on the patio while listening to jazz music and having some wine. We grilled, we roasted marshmallows. It was so peaceful. There's nothing like enjoying a meal with the wind blowing while looking out at the ocean.

 

 

I'm breaking this trip recap into several posts so stay tuned for the next post dedicated to the beach with lot's of pictures to share.

 

Have a great Monday!