Happy Fourth of July everyone! I am blogging from a hotel lobby in the Western North Carolina mountains. We arrived here yesterday for a family reunion for Brandon’s mother’s side of the family. There are about 50-60 people here! Crazy but fun to meet so many family members from all over.
Backing up…yesterday (July 3) was Sullie’s 4th birthday!
I was up at 6:30 a.m. for a superflow class at Y2 before we headed to the mountains. When I got home I celebrated with the birthday girl and she got an extra special breakfast. Brandon gave her a bite of bacon from his breakfast and we mixed in some plain Greek yogurt with her food. She was a happy girl!
I had a bowl of overnight oats for breakfast.
We packed up and hit the road for the mountains. We had to drop Sullie off on the way out of town. I was so sad that we had to board her – especially on her birthday but I really like the place we take her and the owner is great. I made sure to tell her it was Sullie’s birthday! 😉
All the activities this weekend are taking place at Brandon’s aunt and uncle’s mountain house. It’s so beautiful and the view is amazing.
When we arrived I took in the view from the back deck and snacked on some grapes. There was talk of a hike to the top of the mountain and of course I was all for it. It was around two miles up and a beautiful trek.
One of the giant inclines (picture does not accurately show how steep this was!).
Domination! Made it up!
And finally…the view from the top. Beautiful. You can see Asheville and the Biltmore Estate from up here.
We made it back down and promptly began happy hour and then I helped with preparations for dinner. Everyone is taking turns being in charge of meals and last night was our responsibility.
On the menu was…
Pulled pork from the Boston Butts that Brandon and his brother grilled on their Big Green Eggs.
Macaroni and cheese and cole slaw.
Collards.
My baked goods (brownies, oatmeal raisin cookies and peanut butter chocolate chip bars).
And my sister in law made banana pudding but I missed out on getting a shot. We got tons of compliments on dinner. Everything was super tasty and homemade! 🙂
While everyone was making their plates I squeezed in some kid and baby play time.
And took a minute to enjoy the sunset.
My plate…
Plus some unpictured banana pudding.
Brandon was up super early for a golf outing this morning. I slept a little later and then came to the lobby to make breakfast and blog. I traveled with all of my own breakfast and snack food because I knew the hotel wouldn’t have a Jennifer-approved breakfast option.
Peanut butter, honey and banana on an Arnold Sandwich Thin. All packed from home and thank goodness I brought breakfast foods because the hotel continental breakfast was even worse than I anticipated!
I’m about to go out for a run (where I have no idea!) and then head back up the mountain for another day of family time and mountain views. I love the North Carolina mountains!
Happy Fourth of July! Have fun and be safe! I’ll be back tomorrow with a recap of our day.
