Spring Break

Two years ago we were scheduled to "glamp out" at our friend's campground that had just opened, named Emberglow, near Lake Lure, NC. We'd reserved the "Family Style Treehouse" for a few days but, unfortunately, everything shut down a few weeks before we went, due to COVID. It booked before I was able to get it scheduled the next spring break, so I was thankful to snag it this year! It was so cool! They've really done a great job of designing and decorating all of their housing options, which include  treehouses, yurts, tiny homes, pods, vintage campers, travel trailers, and primitive tent sites. They even have a double-decker bus!

My favorite clock, when on vacation:

There were such fun details everywhere you looked!

Our first night happened to overlap with another AmeriCorps friend we worked with who now lives in Ohio. Another friend drove from Charlotte so it felt like an unexpected AmeriCorps reunion!

Soooooo many stars!!

We hiked up 500 stairs to reach the top of Chimney Rock, then continued up to Exclamation Point. It was a great workout!!

Can you spot the kids at the top? Check out the view!

Willow was pretty congested during our trip so her face in this picture pretty much sums up how she felt. 

The view from the top, recorded by Owen.

We hiked another 1.4 miles to see Hickory Nut Falls.

We loved the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge! They had such fun things everywhere you looked. Since it was spring, they had a "Tip toe through the Tulips" display of tulips in a variety of shoes throughout the garden. They were fun to find!

Owen's favorite place:

In addition to games, we enjoyed hiking around Emberglow, pretending to know how to play Gaga Ball, and getting ice cream in Lake Lure and checking out the shops and river.

Owen's whole school read "Matilda" and one of the BINGO activities was to read outdoors. Check!!

We enjoyed an hour horseback ride! We had great horses and really enjoyed when they walked through the creek!

Dusty

Duchess

Fiona

Montana

We didn't have luck getting to Little Bradley Falls due to trailwork but we enjoyed a short walk to Pearson Falls. 

It was a great trip! Our hardest decision will be where to stay next!

Checkout fun Instagram highlight videos here and here. 

Spring Break

Nana and Grandpa treated us to a couple night stay at Great Wolf Lodge with the Caldwells! We were supposed to go last Spring Break but COVID shut everything down. Thankfully we were able to reschedule and felt comfortable going with them being at 60% capacity, masks being required outside of the pool, and 5 out of our 6 adults being vaccinated. We were able to stay 6' behind other groups in lines and used a vaccinated adult as a buffer if people behind us in line weren't staying spaced. We'd never been before and had a great time! The kids were happiest in the wave pool but we did convince them to ride a few rides. Since there were so many adults to watch the kids, it was nice for the adults to enjoy the rides too!

The kids loved this obstacle course! Here are the girls in time lapse. 

We enjoyed riding the slides. Hunter LOVES the adult rides too! He even went on the tornado ride multiple times! Here's a Go Pro video when Chris and I went with Kim and Chad. 

Some down time in the room with pizza!

Kim's braid salon:

We had some down time to play games too!

We went out to eat once and had an hour wait to get a table. Thankfully the kids held it together during the wait thanks to fun games coordinated by Chris!

The Caldwells had been to GWL a few times and recommended the MagiQuest. You purchase a wand and find different chests/items throughout the hotel to earn steps to the final quest. The kids enjoyed it and we all got our steps in!

Owen was surprisingly difficult to convince to try rides. He was just perfectly happy in the wave pool. We practically forced him to go on our last day there since we'd gone down right when they opened to avoid the lines. Surprisingly to him, he enjoyed the rides and actually went down a few more times. He even went down one ride with Willow a few times. Here they are coming out. 

 Outside of a few days at GWL, we enjoyed spending time relaxing at home, enjoyed the nice weather, and met for a playdate at the park with a friend.