Asheville Road Trip

So, after thinking about this little adventure for two years, we finally jumped in the car to take the shortest road trip ever! 15 hours on the road on a 36 hour trip!  And only a few times (okay maybe more than a few) did we have the thought "Why are are doing this again?" 

We decided to venture in to the most beautiful country, Asheville, North Carolina.  We fell in love with it while we were driving our U-haul out to Virginia, two years ago.  Adam and I both agree, it is as close to Montana as we have ever seen outside of Montana.  Just gorgeous mountains.  Now that we've gone back, and confirmed that yes, the place is awesome, we realized that we would definitely love to live there in the far far future.  So great, we've picked out our retirement spot.

  So we drove 7 hours (or longer with all the stops we had to make) and we arrived at the best sale ever, which, let's be honest, is the real reason we did this. The fabled JCrew Warehouse Sale!  For those that aren't in the know, J Crew has a couple of warehouses on the East Coast, and a couple of times a year they open their doors to employees and sell all of their stuff in big bins at just drop-dead prices.  (Just to demonstrate how awesome it is, the next day, the sale was open to the public, and there was a line that was like 6 hours long - outside in the freezing cold rain!  So, it's pretty dang good.)

Yes, we drove all that way for a sale, and yes it was worth it.  Even though it was stressful having kids in tow, it was all about the fun of having a random adventure, and I actually found some things I had been wanting for some time.  I wish we had more time so I could have shopped more, but really with how big the sale is, you could never feel like you got to go through everything.  On our way out of Asheville, we randomly decided to hit up the North Carolina Arboretum. It was a beautiful park, and we toured the Bonsai trees, which to our surprise we found fascinating.  To no one's surprise, Adam decided that the next hobby he should take up is cultivating a Bonsai in our future tiny Manhattan apartment. Here are the only shots we got during this whirlwind road trip. 

Aren't they beautiful!? It took Adam like 2 seconds to want one for our apartment in the city.  I guess he envisions himself working a deal closing until midnight and then coming home to trim the Bonsai.  

She is pondering what to wish for, but after some time she wished that she could have a party with all her friends. So cute! Then she threw multiple pennies in the pond.

Car seat breaks.  There were many.

One of the necklaces that I scored at the sale, that later became the car entertainment accessory.  We got really tired towards the end, and you really start to resort to anything you can to stay awake.  But its a fun memory and what more could you want from a last minute adventure. 

Farewell, Sister Prestidge!

This is just so awesome!  Recently, Adam's youngest sister, Olivia, put in her mission papers, waited a month or so, and got a mission call to - Chicago!!!  It has been a really exciting time in the older Prestidge family.  Getting ready to go on a mission is such an adventure in itself, and an incredibly busy and stressful time.

So of course, we had to be there.  Actually, we had to be there for Olivia's farewell, which would wouldn't have missed for anything!  Olivia was scheduled to go to into the MTC (and did, quite successfully) on September 4.  Her farewell was scheduled for August 18, so, two weeks after returning from our summer in New York, we packed it up again and headed to Texas for 5 days!

First of all, it was hot!  Thankfully, not as humid as it had been in Virginia, but man, that Texas sun was brutal.  Our poor little (whiny) babies were not made for that kind of heat, and they let us know it.

But aside from that, it was a wonderful trip.  The highlight of the trip, of course, was seeing Olivia before she left and listening to her farewell talk on Sunday in her ward, which was incredible.  She has such an amazing testimony of the church, and a vigorous desire to share it with others.  It is so fun to witness and we are so proud of her.

(At the time that we're finally getting around to posting this, Olivia has been on her mission for almost 6 weeks (!) and has been in Chicago for almost 4!  She is doing an awesome job and loving her life as a missionary!)

During the trip, we also got to spend some time with our dear friends, Matt and Heather Boothe, who we've known forever, and our law school soul mates Dustin and Sabrina Draper.

Some of the fun times:

Little known fact: the oldest children's amusement park in the country is located in San Antonio!  We took a little park train over to the location, where we had tons of fun riding the restored vintage kids carnival rides.  (Just like Fete Paradiso in NYC, we can't get enough of anything vintage-carnivally!)

Somehow, Solana is like a natural airplane gunner.  I have no idea how she knows to look down the barrel and gun down targets as she flies by, but she did it the entire time and loved it.

Super old restored vintage carnival - um, yes please!

Boston had a great time!  (But notice the poor little hot red cheeks!)

(Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train, "All Aboard!")

Boston loves his Grandpa!  They are great buddies.  

Boston and Solana had a great time playing in the pool together.  It's interesting because when Solana was little, she was super hyper except when in the water.  Boston is kind of the opposite.

Solana discovered that a really fun activity is to bury, or be buried, with stuffed animals.  Then you jump out!

We also went bowling and to play some games.  Solana and Sarah racing Adam, and beating him.

At first she was hesitant...

And then she exploded!  Look at that wind-up!  Her face says so much!

Adam and his mom squaring off in an increasingly competitive match of Skee-Ball.

But Adam was no match...

But Adam and Solana won the basketball game together.

Solana became fast friends with Charlie, Sarah's dog.  They would follow each other around the house endlessly, and it was really fun to watch.  Solana loved Charlie, and he was really great with her.

Well, we can't get our own real puppy, but we can get a little battery powered yapping robot puppy, named Baby Charlie.  Let me tell ya, Boston LOVES Baby Charlie!

Boston Prestidge and Grace Boothe, Matt and Heather's precious little one.  Boston is only a couple months older than her, and they really enjoyed getting to know each other.  Adam and Matt have known each other since they were 12.  These guys will have known each other from before they were even 1.

Some serious travel snoozing.  Boston, above, conked out on the plane.  And both kids in the airport coming home, totally passed out in the stroller.  What a nice way to travel!

A couple of 3's

Adam just started his 3rd (and last) year of law school, and Solana just started her first year of school.
Pre-K3!  I can't believe our last year here will be filled with so many firsts and lasts.
She has been excited for months to go to preschool, and we have been excited for her.  We got to go with her on her first day, sort of a transition day for her and probably mainly for the parents.  It was fun to be able to watch her learn and see the environment she would be talking so much about.  When her real first day of school came, she was so excited that Mommy and Daddy would not be going with her. We were only sad for a second and then became just as excited that Miss Independent wanted to take on school all my herself, just as we hoped she would.  She leaped out of car when her teacher came and got her and then she was off to school all by herself.  Then we cried!!  We cried because we missed her, we cried because we were so excited for her, we cried because we couldn't believe we have a school-aged baby, we cried because time is going by too fast, and then we stopped crying when we realized it's just a part of growing up and it's all too exciting to cry about.  We loved picking her up and hearing her tell us all about her day. And even though we miss her each morning she leaves, we are starting to enjoy our quiet time again and realize how easy it is to just have one on those quiet mornings at home.

Adam's last year of law school has also been exciting. Since he already has accepted his job offer in NYC, it makes putting forth effort into daily studies a little more difficult. He is home a lot and it has been an adjustment to have him around so much, but we have enjoyed it so much. Especially knowing that as soon as he passes the bar and starts work, we won't be seeing him for a long time! He has worked so hard his last two years in school, so this last year is like a nice little surprise.  So we have lots planned, but mainly to just sit back and relax and enjoy how easy life is right now, because we know it won't last forever.

This is her school picture.  Cutie!  She is really growing up!

Another school-prep portrait!

Adam and Solana, both on their first day of school!  Adam, holding a 3 for 3L, is in his last year ever, and Solana, holding a 3 for Pre-K3, is on her first day ever!

Outside of the school on her first day!

Drawing a picture of her family on her first day.  Her picture, along with a little questionnaire, gets put into a "time capsule" that we'll compare at the end of the year.

She is excited to have her own cubby!

This is Solana, on her second day of school, but the first day by herself.  She has just found out that Mommy and Daddy will be dropping her off by herself, which she is obviously thrilled about!  And she has loved it and done so great!