ah, asheville.

preston and i took a long weekend trip to asheville, one of our favorite places.  as is becoming our tradition, we stopped in black mountain for a jog around a pretty lake.  the colors were amazing!

rock skipping, anyone?

we even saw our friend, "afro duck."  (obviously our vacation standards aren't that high when we get excited to see a duck again!)

to be honest, by the time we huffed and puffed our way to the duck, we were feeling pretty low.  the last time we were there, we jogged 8 miles...this time only a fraction of that distance.

we took the parkway...

to black balsom knob and hiked in crazy wind...

mr. incredible...

we also hiked to lots of waterfalls down in dupont state forest (near brevard)...

how cute is this?

i am glad to announce that i figured out how to photograph waterfalls.  finally.  so instead of this....

it's this...

preston got to golf.  i got to read a good book and do a little shopping.  we ate really well and enjoyed the crisp mountain air and each other.  perfection!

this was all made sweeter because preston intentionally unplugged...no phone or computer!

number 8

eli just finished his first season of soccer!

during practices at the beginning of the season, he would run off to other teams that looked like they were having more fun.

then he started hitting and kicking other kids...both on his team and off.  perhaps he was frustrated that for the last three years i taught him to share nicely and now he was encouraged to "steal" and "run" with someone else's ball!!

once we nipped that in the bud, he was a pretty happy player and so much fun to watch (as long as you don't mind that he's not actually playing).

for instance...(can you see him?  hint...he can't see you!)

 it is usually a good idea to keep your eyes open, eli....

he had some stellar kick offs...

any other ball kickage was pretty much an accident.  he loved to just run around after "the swarm," run around the circle at midfield, or haphazardly mozy around the field - depending on his mood.

for instance...

for his last game, he had a huge cheering section of family and cousins.

good game...(yes, that is preston filling in as coach!)

and the trophy for best smiles goes to.....

jersey joke?!  

his team was the "deacons" (named by his wake forest fanatic coaches) but they were issued carolina blue shirts!!