Merry Christmas and apologies for being so slack. We are still alive and well. You'll have to excuse the order of this blog - I put all the photos in first, and forgot about order, so I'm starting at now and working backward.
We're near Charlotte in North Carolina right now, and its absolutely beautiful. We're in lovely lake cottage that is so peaceful. In the morning we can see the sunrise out of our window. Normally I'd be bothered by all the light coming in, but the sun over the lake cancels that out. We're all set for Christmas, (nearly anyway - I don't think I ever am ready until maybe 2 in the morning Christmas day). We're not getting the kids much, because we're going to go skiing in Canada in february, and its expensive (althought we got a really good deal), so they understand that we spent their christmas money on lift tickets.
The house we're in is kind of in the middle of nowhere. Its a bit over an hour to get into the nearest big town, so I've been spending a lot of time at home witth the kids, which has been really nice - I don't think I've gone through a hermit phase since I left Australia (wow - over a year ago), and I think everyone needs one every so often, Anyway, so we've been doing heaps of cooking and crafty things. Ellery and Tallis have decided that when they grow up they would like to open a small bakery in San Francisco. They're being very sophisticated. Obviuosly something has changed, because this year our ginger bread house worked out way better. More of a rustic cabin than a disaster zone. Heres a photo:
And heres Ainsley, totally caught in the act. I think we all know what shes doing -
Also at this house is an x-box 360. The kids have been loving it - its got guitar hero and Paul and the kids compete with each other. Anyway, I caught these photos, and realised - like father like daughter. Check out that tongue!
I couldn't resist.
Heres our christmas tree. Its such a nice shape and the needles are totally different to what we get in Australia. Its very easy to work with and hang things from. Must be something to do with pine trees being native to this area. You can even choose which breed you want. Its looking a bit empty in this shot, but we keep adding stuff all the time - it looks like a kinder display
Before we came to this house near Charlotte, we were in another house near Charlotte. Anyway, thanksgiving crept up on us, and we hadn't booked anywhere, and then the house we were in got booked out, and I struggled to find anywhere else. So, we ended up camping. It was absolutely freezing. Luckily it didn't rain (or snow) on us, but I think we were going to bed about 7:30 because it was just too cold to stay up.The scenery was nice though. We managed to get a campground right on the river, so the kids could play at the river while Paul and I sat by the fire. Which was perfect, because we don't have their ability to ignore the temperature while distracted. Anyway, Tallis worked out how to catch fish with a bowl. I think she caught about 20 by the time we left (which was 4 nights).
This is the house that we stayed in first, obviuosly very nice. We got to see all the leaves change colour while we were staying here and it was the perfect place to do it. Inside was also really nice, only problems was that there must have been a cat living there before us, and we just couldn't stop sneezing and sneezing.
There was a nice little jetty of this house, where the kids did heaps of fishing. This is cat fish that Tallis caught. We never ate any of them, we would throw them back. As someone thats very fond of fish, it was rather difficult to get the hook out of the fish - but after much research on the internet and some practice, I got it all worked and managed to get not to be floating away on the surface.
This is anevening shot from out the back of this house. Paul and Ellery were setting up a fire in a pit that was right near the edge of the lake. I just really love this photo.
Then of course there was halloween. We were invited to go to our homeschooling friends house where they had a big street BBQ and then we all went trick or treating. And again, there were an unimaginable amount of lollies (the temptation to write candy there was very strong, but I resisted). We had a great night though. The kids all made their own trick or treat bags and carved pumpkins.
This is just a cool thing that I saw at an art gallery called the Mint Museum of design. I think it would look great in the foyer at my house.
One day we went for a 10 hour drive and we down some of the 'blue ridge parkway', which is very famous scenic drive in America, especially in Autumn. I love this photo because it just looks so American, especially with that ute.
And this is back to the pumpkin carving. Its quite a process trying to get all the seeds out.
Also we went to 'the Amazing Maize Maze'. It was very cool. Took us nearly an hour to get out, and that was aparently a very good time. I spoke to a couple inside that had been in there for 2 hours. We loved it though - as you went through you could collect bits of puzzle that you stuck on your map and you could start to work out the way out.
Mum came over as well, and she spent a week with us at the house Charlotte, and a week with just me and the kids just the the Great Smokies National Park. In between we went to what was meant to be our first house at Charlotte, and it was an absolute dump. The place reeked of a mix of animal wee and dead animal, there was brown sticky muck all over the kitchen floor, the bedding wasn't washed, we couldn't find towels and then found them in the dryer with someone elses undies. And then we tried to light a fire and the chimney was vlocked and the whole house just filled with smoke. The whole experience was very unpleasant. But the next house was so lovely that it more than made up for it.
Before we came to this house near Charlotte, we were in another house near Charlotte. Anyway, thanksgiving crept up on us, and we hadn't booked anywhere, and then the house we were in got booked out, and I struggled to find anywhere else. So, we ended up camping. It was absolutely freezing. Luckily it didn't rain (or snow) on us, but I think we were going to bed about 7:30 because it was just too cold to stay up.The scenery was nice though. We managed to get a campground right on the river, so the kids could play at the river while Paul and I sat by the fire. Which was perfect, because we don't have their ability to ignore the temperature while distracted. Anyway, Tallis worked out how to catch fish with a bowl. I think she caught about 20 by the time we left (which was 4 nights).
This is the house that we stayed in first, obviuosly very nice. We got to see all the leaves change colour while we were staying here and it was the perfect place to do it. Inside was also really nice, only problems was that there must have been a cat living there before us, and we just couldn't stop sneezing and sneezing.
There was a nice little jetty of this house, where the kids did heaps of fishing. This is cat fish that Tallis caught. We never ate any of them, we would throw them back. As someone thats very fond of fish, it was rather difficult to get the hook out of the fish - but after much research on the internet and some practice, I got it all worked and managed to get not to be floating away on the surface.
This is anevening shot from out the back of this house. Paul and Ellery were setting up a fire in a pit that was right near the edge of the lake. I just really love this photo.
Then of course there was halloween. We were invited to go to our homeschooling friends house where they had a big street BBQ and then we all went trick or treating. And again, there were an unimaginable amount of lollies (the temptation to write candy there was very strong, but I resisted). We had a great night though. The kids all made their own trick or treat bags and carved pumpkins.
This is just a cool thing that I saw at an art gallery called the Mint Museum of design. I think it would look great in the foyer at my house.
One day we went for a 10 hour drive and we down some of the 'blue ridge parkway', which is very famous scenic drive in America, especially in Autumn. I love this photo because it just looks so American, especially with that ute.
And this is back to the pumpkin carving. Its quite a process trying to get all the seeds out.
Also we went to 'the Amazing Maize Maze'. It was very cool. Took us nearly an hour to get out, and that was aparently a very good time. I spoke to a couple inside that had been in there for 2 hours. We loved it though - as you went through you could collect bits of puzzle that you stuck on your map and you could start to work out the way out.
Mum came over as well, and she spent a week with us at the house Charlotte, and a week with just me and the kids just the the Great Smokies National Park. In between we went to what was meant to be our first house at Charlotte, and it was an absolute dump. The place reeked of a mix of animal wee and dead animal, there was brown sticky muck all over the kitchen floor, the bedding wasn't washed, we couldn't find towels and then found them in the dryer with someone elses undies. And then we tried to light a fire and the chimney was vlocked and the whole house just filled with smoke. The whole experience was very unpleasant. But the next house was so lovely that it more than made up for it. Anyway this is on the drive from the smokies to Charlotte...
And this is the house we stayed in the smokies for a week. Inside was all decked out like a log cabin straight out of the movies. Very picturesque. The view of the deck was great too, Mum and I would sit out there with our coffees and catch up. It was really nice having Mum stay, just hanging out together somewhere so beautiful.
This was on a drive that we did through the national park to a town named Gatlinburg. It was really wet and foggy, but in some ways it really added to it, because the fog really highlighted the silhouettes of the pines along the ridges of the mountains. In the bacjground of this photo is a huge water fall. It was almost surreal.
This is just another photo of the scenery at The Smokies. It was so amazing to see all these plants that I'm used to perceiving at introduced in their native habitat. Along the side of the road in this photo is a huge grove of rhododendrons.
Then, before I met up with Mum, I went on a camping road trip with the kids, while Paul went on a work trip to Chicago. The last place I stayed, which was Fall Creek falls State Park, it rained nearly every day and every night. My tent leaked and I was counting on a fire for cooking, which I couldn't light because of all the rain. I was very close to just packing up taking off to the nearest hotel. However, I hooked up with our campground neighbours, who were very cool, and had a huge roll of plastic to put up over our tent. They also fed us, and gave somewhere dry to sit (they had a big shelter set up over a picnic table). They were really great and every night we would stay up philosophising about the world. This them - Bob and Celeste -
This is scenery from Fall creek falls. We hiked to the bottom of this water fall and then went down stream a little where the kids played for hours. Tallis is at the bottom of the photo and you can just see the falls through the foliage at the top.
And this is the water fall from the top. The leaves are all just starting to change. When I was there, I thought that what I was seeing was the all the autumn colours and I was starting to stress that they woul all of passed before Mum came. But after relaying to this to somebody else, I found out that this was only the beginning - which I later had confirmed with my own eyes as Things were still chaging when Mum left more than 2 weeks later.
This is the kids on a suspension bridge which I though was pretty cool. Unless anybody was stomping. Then it would quickly become not cool at all.
This is where we camped before Fall Creek Falls, at a place called chickasaw state park. The state parks in the US are vastly different to what we have in Australia. They're really well set up here (too well set up in my mind) with man made lakes for fishing and boating, sporing grounds including baseball and golf, visitor information centres, playgrounds, swimming pools, cabins, stables, stores. Because I was camping at a not peak time, I always managed to find the nicest places to camp though, and still felt very away from it all.
The is a water fall at the first place we camped at, Petit Jean state park, in Arkansas. When we camped here, some of our friends from Dallas joined us, which was a very nice start to camping. Again we'd sit up late discussing the world. It was also nice for the kids to be able to play.
This is back at Chickasaw again, where they had a huge bridge going the whole way across the lake and this little covered section in the middle. It was on this bridge that Ainsley accidentally dropped Lindsays shoe in the water. The kids all just stood there watching it float away, while I tried to convince someone to jump in and get it. In the end, Tallis absconded, and swam to get it. By this stage it had drifted quite a considerable distance.
And this is the house we stayed in the smokies for a week. Inside was all decked out like a log cabin straight out of the movies. Very picturesque. The view of the deck was great too, Mum and I would sit out there with our coffees and catch up. It was really nice having Mum stay, just hanging out together somewhere so beautiful.
This was on a drive that we did through the national park to a town named Gatlinburg. It was really wet and foggy, but in some ways it really added to it, because the fog really highlighted the silhouettes of the pines along the ridges of the mountains. In the bacjground of this photo is a huge water fall. It was almost surreal.
This is just another photo of the scenery at The Smokies. It was so amazing to see all these plants that I'm used to perceiving at introduced in their native habitat. Along the side of the road in this photo is a huge grove of rhododendrons.
Then, before I met up with Mum, I went on a camping road trip with the kids, while Paul went on a work trip to Chicago. The last place I stayed, which was Fall Creek falls State Park, it rained nearly every day and every night. My tent leaked and I was counting on a fire for cooking, which I couldn't light because of all the rain. I was very close to just packing up taking off to the nearest hotel. However, I hooked up with our campground neighbours, who were very cool, and had a huge roll of plastic to put up over our tent. They also fed us, and gave somewhere dry to sit (they had a big shelter set up over a picnic table). They were really great and every night we would stay up philosophising about the world. This them - Bob and Celeste -
This is scenery from Fall creek falls. We hiked to the bottom of this water fall and then went down stream a little where the kids played for hours. Tallis is at the bottom of the photo and you can just see the falls through the foliage at the top.
And this is the water fall from the top. The leaves are all just starting to change. When I was there, I thought that what I was seeing was the all the autumn colours and I was starting to stress that they woul all of passed before Mum came. But after relaying to this to somebody else, I found out that this was only the beginning - which I later had confirmed with my own eyes as Things were still chaging when Mum left more than 2 weeks later.
This is the kids on a suspension bridge which I though was pretty cool. Unless anybody was stomping. Then it would quickly become not cool at all.
This is where we camped before Fall Creek Falls, at a place called chickasaw state park. The state parks in the US are vastly different to what we have in Australia. They're really well set up here (too well set up in my mind) with man made lakes for fishing and boating, sporing grounds including baseball and golf, visitor information centres, playgrounds, swimming pools, cabins, stables, stores. Because I was camping at a not peak time, I always managed to find the nicest places to camp though, and still felt very away from it all.
The is a water fall at the first place we camped at, Petit Jean state park, in Arkansas. When we camped here, some of our friends from Dallas joined us, which was a very nice start to camping. Again we'd sit up late discussing the world. It was also nice for the kids to be able to play.
This is back at Chickasaw again, where they had a huge bridge going the whole way across the lake and this little covered section in the middle. It was on this bridge that Ainsley accidentally dropped Lindsays shoe in the water. The kids all just stood there watching it float away, while I tried to convince someone to jump in and get it. In the end, Tallis absconded, and swam to get it. By this stage it had drifted quite a considerable distance.
Also at this park was a lightning storm on our first night. I ended up with Lindsay sleeping on a single mattress with me, not sleeping. So Ellery snapped me having a rest on this swing at the play ground. It was very lovely with the sun on my face.
This a a photo of all the kids just before we said goodbye to our friends from Dallas. We were sad to say goodbye.
Well, thats about it for now. I know I've been very brief, but I'll try to keep up from now. Maybe I'll make it a new years resolution. I missed out on lots of stuff - like our car breaking down, my computer breaking and me replacing the hard drive (all by myself - I've very proud), my credit card being cancelled because of possible fraud but the bank not telling and me finding out at starbuck when I went to buy a coffee. I had to borrow money of Ellery to pay for it. And many other fun things like that.
This a a photo of all the kids just before we said goodbye to our friends from Dallas. We were sad to say goodbye.
Well, thats about it for now. I know I've been very brief, but I'll try to keep up from now. Maybe I'll make it a new years resolution. I missed out on lots of stuff - like our car breaking down, my computer breaking and me replacing the hard drive (all by myself - I've very proud), my credit card being cancelled because of possible fraud but the bank not telling and me finding out at starbuck when I went to buy a coffee. I had to borrow money of Ellery to pay for it. And many other fun things like that.
I hope everyone is well, and not too hot. We're freezing here with many days not even hitting 5 degrees.
Hope your cCristmas is great and that you all get everything you wanted.
Thinking of you all,
love Nic
At first it was really scary, I mean these alligators were jumping above the height of the rim of boat and easliy close enough to reach out and touch them. One was 15 foot long too. It didn't take a huge reach of the imagination to see one tipping the boat right over and the swarm of alligators laying into us. I settled down after a while though, when I realised how totally docile they were. The kids loved it. I really liked the scenery and the beautiful trees.
Essentially the Grand Canyon is just a view, but a very very beautiful view. I was thinking that we would hang around for a couple of days, but there wasn't a lot to do except just look at it. So the next day we headed off again. I would have liked to have done a mule trip down the canyon but theres a ridiculous 13 month waiting list. And I certainly had no clues that I'd be here 13 months ago.
That night we stayed in Cortez which is in Colorado and the next day we went to Mesa Verde National Park. This is where Indians from 1000 years ago had built cliff dwellings. We went on a tour of one and it was really amazing. We all learnt heaps about Indians, but the best was just looking at these places they built. I was thinking I would have liked to have lived there with the Indians until the guide told me that their average life span was only 35 years. 
