I just love taking road trips. I love them even more with my family in tow. Now that our kids are older and can go without naps it is so much easier. This new phase is quite nice! We’re finding that exploring new paths and places, trying new foods, and seeing more of our beautiful country makes us want to hit the road more and more.

A couple weekends ago we decided to do a semi-spontaneous trip down to visit my Aunt and Uncle in the hills of the Black Mountains of North Carolina. We’ve been wanting to visit them for years since they moved from Cincinnati, and we purposefully left a free fall weekend open in the hopes of getting away. Spending time with my Aunt & Uncle, and breathing in the fresh mountain air made for a great weekend, even if it did rain most of the time.

We took a day and explored around nearby Asheville, and also visited the “Old Timey Festival” in the town of Burnsville. We went to the town square and listened to Bluegrass music which included a 90 year old gentlemen playing the guitar! We drove up Mt. Mitchell and the kids made the quick hike up to the highest point East of the Mississippi. We got to see my Aunt’s art, and watch her work in her studio (post on this to follow!).

Here are some photos from our iphone (1st half) and then our bigger cameras:

The first weekend of Autumn was just gorgeous here in Cincinnati. With deep blue skies and cool crisp air, I found myself so excited for my favorite season that seemingly popped up out of nowhere.

We had a busy weekend, but it was the really nice kind of busy. Saturday I took off work, we did a little house hunting, went window shopping, helped our family breakdown the pool for the season; I went on a coffee date with my 8 yr. old man, the kids went to a Red’s game, and then we finished the evening with hot cocoa by the fire. Sounds crazy busy, but it was a really relaxing day.

Sunday, we had church, and then we’re back to work with 2 sessions. The weather was just GLORIOUS.

Here are some Instagrams (I’m jesszwo if you want to follow me):

Hope you all had a refreshing weekend and are now off to a great week ahead.