News and Notes, Where Did September Go Edition

I know I spent the end of summer wishing time away so I could go on my trip, but I'm not quite sure what happened to the rest of the month after I came back, because all of a sudden it's gone.  I was eager for the Hilton Apple Festival, which was this weekend, because that's always fun and a nice start to our official fall festivities, so maybe looking ahead to that did it?  Or maybe it was the four days Craig was gone that I wished away until I had help again.  Whatever it was, time flew.

The kids have finished three full weeks of school.  Carter likes it a lot, Jacob pretty much hates it.  Carter seems to like his teacher and have a couple friends.  He's learning nursery rhymes and doing a lot of practicing of writing his name and freehand copying shapes and letters.  I know it will get harder when it comes time to write and try to read, but I'm enjoying the break while I can.  He did a pretty good job on his "about me" poster that he presents on Tuesday.  He was eager to work on it, but it was still a bit of a struggle to work through writing words, drawing pictures, and trying to make it look nice.  Jacob never wanted to color his nicely, either.  But it's fine and looks pretty much in line with other kids'.  How do I know?  Well, his teacher utilizes an app that sends out pictures a few times a day, and each day she posts a picture of the presenter and their poster.  The app is awesome, though, and does my mama heart good to see what he's doing each day.  It's also nice to have the insight of what questions to ask about his day.  It's hard to tell how he's doing on the friend front.  He seems to have issues with some kids based on weird behaviors like sucking fingers or eating boogers.  I can't say I like him judging books by their covers, but I guess it's not a bad first line of defense.  He seems to have one little girl friend who is on his bus and fits all of his other criteria, so it's a start.  But as a whole, he's done well so far from what we can tell.

Jacob is a bit more of a challenge.  His teacher is boring, he hates getting homework, and we're back to the dreaded 20 minutes of nightly reading, which he insists he does at school.  I'm not sure whether I should believe him.  He's probably not challenged enough right now, and his teacher knows it.  I went to curriculum night the other night, which seems to be the next evolution of open house.  Open house night was always chaos with a full school of families wandering between rooms.  Apparently they ditched that in favor of a kid-free curriculum night.  Craig was traveling for work, and I had to go alone, but that meant I had to leave the kids for about 45 minutes.  I was literally around the corner and started them on a movie so they'd be distracted enough to barely know I was gone.  Jacob was nervous, but it all went fine.  But his teacher remarked that he can tell he'll need to watch him because he picks up things quickly and then sort of disengages because he gets bored.  Luckily his behavior is still fine but we'll see how it plays out as the year goes on.  He's not thrilled with his classmates, but he fixes an issue he was having with his lunch mates and finally tracked down a few friends at the afterschool program.  And for those wondering, the boys have left each other alone there.  Whew.  Oh, and Carter is taking the bus daily and we're dropping Jacob off, which is only fine because the school is right around the corner and it takes about two minutes.

I've had a hard time settling back in since my trip.  The home stuff has gotten a bit easier, though I still feel like I'm struggling to keep up with things more than I was before.  Work has been difficult.  I'm sort of floundering through uninspiring projects and just wishing I was still exploring new places out in the world.  Hopefully I'll get out of the funk soon.

Craig started teaching a Masters' level class at a local college last week.  He had to miss this week's class because of work, but he still has a few weeks left and we're hoping things smooth out a bit more.  He's had some administrative challenges and the time commitment is pretty significant.  He spends evenings and weekends reading and grading, which is giving me a bit of a preview of what life might be like if he decides to pursue teaching further and get his certification.  Things are a bit up in the air for where he might be at this time next year, since the Knighthawks as we know them are moving to Halifax, Nova Scotia with the current owner.  The same ownership group that owns all of the Buffalo teams and the Amerks are taking over an expansion Knighthawks franchise, and will be interviewing all current staff for their jobs.  It's possible he could stick with them, or he could end up with Halifax, which would be rough because he'd be on the road almost every weekend, but could open up some doors if he's working remotely on an irregular schedule.  I'd personally love to see him find a more sustainable career at this point, not just so he's paid what he deserves (private school is a year away), but because his current career stresses him out for a lot of reasons.  Jacob's pretty bitter about it, too, so I feel like maybe we all just need a fresh start.  Teaching wouldn't be the worst plan if it meant we could ditch the expense of summer camp!

Jacob's been back at lacrosse for a few weeks now, just practice with the new team.  It's still a bit of a mental struggle, but it'll be short lived.  His tournament is in a couple weeks and then that team will be on hold for a few months.  I'm genuinely hoping that his house team might remind him it can be fun to play with people you like, but we'll see how that goes in another month or so.  He's just really into basketball.  His placement night is in a few weeks, but games still don't start until January so we have a long wait of listening to him ponder what level of greatness he will achieve.  We need to get Carter started in karate, because he's been asking for a while now.

What else is new?  The renters next door moved out.  It was a little sad because Carter had spent a little bit of time this summer with the little boy who lived there.  They were two weeks apart in age and while it was fun for a bit, Carter decided he didn't like going on the walks the boy and his mom did most nights and they stopped coming around.  She wanted to get her into a better school system, so I think when she made that happen, her sister had to leave, too.  So now the house is empty--extra empty because it's been gutted.  I'm guessing they're going to try to capitalize on a decent housing market and get it updated to sell.  I'd gone over a couple times to pick raspberries off the bushes the old owner (the sweet old man) had planted, since they were just going to waste.  I know Frank would be happy we were benefitting from them.  But then yesterday someone came over to clean up the yard and cleared all of it out!  So sad.  I sort of want to go dig up some roots and see if I can salvage anything!  So, with any luck we'll end up with better neighbors soon.

Now another weekend is over.  We went to the long-awaited Apple Fest yesterday.  Carter got a couple Lego guys and Jacob got kettle corn.  I really wanted another glass pumpkin (especially since I know they're a great deal after seeing them so expensive in Asheville), but I held off.  I did enjoy an apple cider slushie, though, since the weather was really nice.  We left there and headed down to get pizza and a dozen gluten-free donuts at Livingston County Pizza Company, which of course Jacob was thrilled about.

Other parts of the day included attempts to get Carter some new sneakers since his month-old ones had the Velcro separate from its strap.  They're still sort of usable if he's careful, but we need something safer.  Today we did church, Wegmans, and lunch before Jacob and Craig headed out for practice.  Back at home, Carter and I did some trying on of Carter's cold weather clothes--mostly just pants for now--and I brought up the bin of Jacob's hand-me-downs.  I found a bunch of bigger pants that will fit...thank goodness.  Shirts will be next when I get the energy to start.
After that we wanted to go out and visit a new playground, but I first needed to go spend a lot of Kohl's cash (thanks to Jacob's expensive tastes last weekend) and that took longer than expected so I had a pretty big #momfail there when it was nearly dinnertime by the time we checked out.  We did find sneakers, though!  Maybe next Sunday, after the big boys get back from a trip to Toronto (more soon), Carter gets back from Grandma and Grandpa's, and I get a day off after two long days at work for our big homecoming/reunion/family weekend.  But I did have a winner of a dinner tonight out of the Instant Pot, so that was a bright shining moment!  I'll take what I can get these days.

Now it's time for another week.  It's a short one for the boys and a busy one for the adults, but hopefully some fun things are ahead as October is now upon us!

Deconstructing Five

As I laid in bed with Carter the other night, I got to thinking about how charmed I am by him right now.  I mean, we definitely have our challenges with him.  He's never met a screen he didn't like, he has trouble listening when it's inconvenient for him, and he still engages his brother in battle far more than we'd like.  But it's clear to me how different he is from Jacob, and what a different experience we have on our hands at this stage.

This week was the five-year anniversary of our last big family trip--our Disney vacation.  It was supposed to be a trip with Craig's whole family, but then his mom had emergency surgery that postponed it.  Because I was quite pregnant by the time everyone was ready to go, the rest of the family went and we figured we would go with Craig's parents once we were comfortable taking an infant.  Well, by the time that happened, Jacob was just starting Kindergarten and Carter was seven months old.  Unfortunately, Craig's dad then had major surgery just before we were supposed to go, so it ended up just being the four of us.  In the end, it was probably better that way.  That trip was equal parts magical and horrible.  Disney is always a happier than usual place, but Jacob was a disaster.  We were in the midst of the worst of his initial difficult behavior.  Tantrums, standoffs, and stubbornness were all daily issues.  We got the initial Celiac diagnosis on our first full day in Florida, and we were so desperate for good behavior, we went against the doctor's advice and tried the gluten-free diet immediately.  We read on the internet that some kids' behavior changed immediately on the diet, and even though we knew he had to go back on gluten to be formally tested, we gave it a shot anyway, just in case.  It seems stupid now because the gluten-free diet (while easier there than other destinations) made for some very challenging moments on an already difficult trip.  I think part of me just wanted to prove immediately that every vacation moving forward wouldn't be a huge disaster because of our new food limitations.  But even aside from the food, the trip was so hard and it was such a shame considering the amazing place we were staying.  In the end, we were so relieved not to have more of an audience for Jacob's behavior, as it would have come across as ungratefulness, and that would have been tough for Craig's parents to see.  Now I look back at that trip and can see the good moments, but I know deep down how heartbreaking so much of it was.

Things got no better from there, unfortunately.  We were in the early stages of therapy that was generally unhelpful, we struggled through a difficult Kindergarten year, and the boys' relationship went from non-existent to terribly challenging in the months and years that followed.  It has been a very hard five years, and just in the last six months or so have we even come up for air with any sort of sustainable normalcy.

But as I laid next to Carter in bed, it struck me rarely if ever did that at this stage with Jacob, and the reasons why made me sad.  For one, I was usually so exhausted by the end of the day that the last thing I wanted to do at bedtime was lay down with him and battle him until he fell asleep.  By then I needed a mental and physical break.  Second, he pretty much wanted nothing to do with me, and I wasn't about to fight that battle, either.  I realized a long time afterward that he no longer trusted me or felt loved because every interaction we had was so confrontational.  I'm honestly not sure I could have changed that path back then because things were that desperate.  "Choosing our battles" was almost impossible because his behavior was so inappropriate, rude, and generally unacceptable that there was almost nothing we felt we could let go.  It was such a horrible time, and it breaks my heart now that I see Carter at this age that we didn't get a similar experience with Jacob.  Five can be so great...but it definitely wasn't for us back then.

It was only after reading something that struck a chord--I think it was basically that you can't get your teenager to trust you with the tough stuff if they don't feel that closeness to you normally--that I realized I needed to rebuild our relationship from the ground up.  I had enough fears about his adolescence as it was, and when I realized that I needed to regain his trust if we had any chance at making it easier, it became a priority.  It wasn't easy and took a lot of little things--reading together at bedtime, having one-on-one time, doing nice things for him--in order to begin to regain his trust.  It has taken a lot of time, and we still have our moments, but now I can hug him without being pushed away, and even better, he will voluntarily hug me.  Sometimes he even says, "I love you."  It's pretty huge when I think about where we were five years ago.

As I recounted a few weeks back, Kindergarten was not an easy time for Jacob or for us.  We had a hard time with his teacher, his attention span was clearly not enough, and everything just seemed hard, even with a very smart little boy.  With Carter, the feel has been totally different.  Not only are we loving that his teacher shares photos every day, but he seems very content with the whole experience.  He loves taking the bus, and was even eager to work on his "All About Me" poster, which was hellish to work on with Jacob.  I know that the hard work hasn't started yet, as they're just working on their names and starting simple sight words.  I anticipate that things will get more challenging when the reading and writing get more intense, as that does not seem to be Carter's strong suit yet, but so far he seems happy with the whole experience.  Well, of course, on the day I'm writing this, we had multiple issues at afterschool pickup, but no formal punishment so I guess he's good enough to give the benefit of the doubt--maybe it was just a bad day.  One bad day aside, I'm amazed at how mature he seems to have gotten in just the past few weeks.  When I see how he has grown in how he speaks, or carries his backpack, or bravely jumps into activities, it amazes me.  He went from this little preschooler to a legit big kid, so quickly.

I guess I wonder if Jacob went through this same rapid transformation, too.  Did he and we missed it in the middle of our challenges?  Or maybe it was securely hidden behind all of his defiance?  When Jacob was a baby, I remember thinking about what five would be like.  He'd be fully functional little buddy by then, right?  In the end it was nothing like I imagined it would be, but I guess we're finally getting that experience now with Carter.  It breaks my heart a little bit that we didn't have that with Jacob, but I do hope we can make up for lost time in other ways now that our relationship is so much stronger. But in the meantime we'll be sure to enjoy all the fun that Carter brings right now.  I'll savor every hug and every silly little moment I can, because I know all too well how quickly time goes...and before we know it five will be nothing but a memory...again.

Settling Back In

Finally back at home I was greeted with giant hugs from my boys.  It was so nice to be missed!  The good news about coming back a day early was that I had a full weekend to recover from being away.  Obviously there were a lot of things around the house that I needed to check in on, from laundry and groceries to the garden and schoolwork, but for the most part things weren't too bad.  I did come home to these gorgeous flowers...

It definitely felt good to sleep in my own bed Friday night and sleep in a little on Saturday.  I didn't want to do much besides sit around and blog on Saturday, but I figured that might be wise.  By the evening we decided we needed to do something fun, and the boys wanted to go to Mighty Taco and mini golfing since that was something Craig had promised them that didn't happen as planned while I was gone.  I couldn't really justify going to our usual place for golf because we had just been there and we didn't have any coupons, so I decided if we were going to pay full price, we should go somewhere more interesting.  So, we went to the oldest miniature golf course in the country (supposedly), which is across the street from Seabreeze, up near the lake.  Craig and I went there on an anniversary date a few years back.  Now it was time to share it with the kids...and the good news?  We didn't have to pay for Carter, so it really did end up cheaper in the end than our usual course!

We had a nice time despite some challenging raised holes throughout the course.  They were just enough to throw your ball off course.  We had a lot of fives collectively!  The bright side was that it kept us all pretty close.  I actually came out with the win, by some miracle, but even Carter played a pretty solid game, including a hole in one!

Carter playing on the lighthouse hole...and when it got darker, the lighthouse had a working, rotating light!

Carter at the start of the "chipping" hole, where you have to hit off that tee to a green about fifteen feet away.  Shockingly, no one was injured in the process!

Jacob on the boat hole.  I actually got a hole in one on this one about two minutes after I took this shot. Yay me!

You have to finish with pictures on the big chair!

And then we had to hit up the mushroom stools, too!

We finished off the night by stopping at our usual mini golf place to hit up the arcade.  Jacob really had his heart set on going there, which I think was because he wanted to try again to beat the record on the basketball game.  He came so close last time!  But as I had predicted, we got there and saw that the record had been driven up to an unattainable level.  The game was new the last time we were there, and somehow someone worked miracles to get it really high.  They must have hit every single shot and hit some sort of bonus level we don't know about!  We still had a good time for very little money and went home happy.

On Sunday it was going to be a very warm day, and Craig and Jacob headed off to lacrosse practice in the early afternoon.  As much as I was feeling very lazy again, I knew I needed to get us out to do something.  Originally I figured we could go up to the lake and ride the carousel, which had been under repair for a year and was now finally open and offering free rides.  But when I mentioned that, Carter wanted to go build sand castles, too, so it turned into a full beach trip!  It took a lot of thinking to gather up the stuff we needed last minute, but off we went!

It was a very warm day but ended up being rather pleasant on the water.  It wasn't very busy so we grabbed a nice spot about 10 feet from the water and started building!

We spent maybe an hour and a half there, and had a really nice time.  We built, Carter destroyed, and we hung out at the edge of the water for quite a while.  It was really pleasant and I hated to leave, but I still wanted to hit up the carousel before we left and Carter was begging to go to the playground.  So, we packed up, changed Carter out of his damp suit, and headed for the carousel.  It was nice to get free rides and see it up and running after so long out of commission. 

Carter had some playground time, too, with lots of time laughing as I pushed him on the swing, and then a little bit of time running among the rest of the equipment.  There were lots of kids so it was a bit challenging, but in the end he had a good time.  Dinner was quickly approaching so we had to head home.  Not a bad little afternoon, though!

It was a rough week since it was my first full one at work in quite a while--thanks to Jacob's week after camp, Labor Day, and vacation.  Lots of early mornings, late nights, medical appointments, and other things to remember, which kept me on my toes but very spastic most of the week!  Readjusting to work has been tough, as sitting at a desk all day sort of pales in comparison to retirement-style living and seeing new parts of the country!  Getting back in the at-home groove has been challenging, as well.  It took me a couple days just to remember I needed to get back in my work out habit, and finding time for it after that was even harder.  Before I left on vacation, I barely got a chance to set up good habits for the school year, between reviewing take-home folders and efficiently packing lunch, and now I'm finding it awkward just to get comfortable with it all again, let alone perfect it.  I'm hoping I can settle in a bit more this week, but Craig will be out of town from Sunday morning until Wednesday afternoon, so there will be no rest for the weary.

I guess I'm just not used to that kind of break from normal life, particularly during the more demanding school year, as opposed to summer vacation.  I simply don't have a lot of practice with settling back in after such a significant break in routine.  It also didn't help that my last couple weeks of work were very focused on a specific, urgent to-do list that I completed, so now, in comparison, motivation has been a bit harder to come by.  I think I'm also dealing with a bit of a letdown after passing by some exciting times--family weddings, my birthday, end-of-summer fun, the first day of school, and finally vacation--and now we have to face a considerably less exciting stretch and the slow march toward winter.  Don't get me wrong--I love fall.  Apple Fest next weekend, pumpkin patches soon, colorful leaves, Halloween, and so on.  But my trip was really outstanding, and without a big lacrosse trip this fall, I'm now at a bit of a loss.  First world problems, I know.  I guess I just wasn't expecting such a readjustment period.

But, as a whole, the trip was a fabulous success, and I feel so lucky to have been able to go.  My landing back at home was a bit bumpy, but good nonetheless.  And now fall has arrived and new adventures are afoot!

Asheville, Day 3 - Part 3

After dinner, we headed back to Biltmore for Chihuly Nights.  After seeing how amazing the pieces looked in the sunlight, I was interested to see how they'd look strategically lit up, particularly in contrast to the dark skies.  We came equipped with rain gear as the skies hadn't quite cleared up, but at least when we began we had a little break.  And good thing--because how beautiful is this?

Simply stunning.

My mom and aunt loved this picture.  I feel like this one and the daytime version should be framed side-by-side.

I found the lighting to be a challenge, but once I got used to trying both of the different settings on my camera (auto vs. night), and using my cell periodically, I think I pretty much got it covered.  The pictures look pretty good, anyway!

We next wandered over for a bird's eye view of the Italian Garden, then headed down.

As we looked at the fiori boat, the rain started to drip...but then it got harder.

This picture isn't great, but we were fascinated by how the fish were all congregating in this area.

On to the reeds, though in the light I felt like it was the green ones that really shimmered!

It got harder to photograph as the rain got worse, but the beauty was still quite clear...

The fish seemed to like this float...

Overall I was a bit disappointed with the lighting in the Italian Garden.  Keep in mind that there's no internal lighting in these pieces.  Everything is external, and for the most part, it was sufficient.  But I thought the fiori boat and float boat (not to mention the individual floats) could have been lit better.  I tried a bunch of times (in pretty hard rain) to get a good picture of the float boat and none were great.  I sort of liked the one I tried with flash because it captured the rain drops, too!

We were a little more protected under the pergola, and the lighting was pretty good there.

The lighting really captured the detail in these!

The blue "fingers" I mentioned in the daytime post

It was even muddier near the red reeds and the rain was still dripping pretty good, so this was about as good as it got.  Still pretty!

We continued on to the Walled Garden and the rain started to let up a bit.  This picture is totally out of focus but I sort of loved the silhouette.  Sort of has a weird Mary Poppins/Rene Magritte quality to it.

I almost think the rain made the glass even shinier and sparklier!

The rain picked up again, so we ducked into the Conservatory in hopes that the pieces in there might be easier to photograph now that the sky was dark.  I'd say it went well!

By the time I was done trying to take a dozen pictures from different angles, the rain had slowed significantly, and we started our walk back to the main house for our scheduled entry to see the Winter Garden pieces.  But first we stopped to see the fiori outside the Conservatory.

Love that clear red piece!

Up next to the house was this lovely patio.  Between the old, twisty trees and the exposed bulbs, it was pretty dreamy.

On our way into the house we got to see this display at night.  So pretty...

Inside we also got to see this one again.  It wasn't as dramatic a difference as the others, but it was still stunning.  We walked around to a different angle than we did during the day, and with this one you're always going to see something new.

More little sea creatures!

We took a little break on the outdoor patio, which was so lovely even without the stunning daytime view.  It had been a long day, but now that the rain had ended, as we sat there I sort of hoped we could make the most of our experience and head back over to Antler Hill to see the first two pieces we saw on the trip.  It wasn't far, but it was one more stop after such a long day so it was hard to even bring it up.

Luckily, my aunt and uncle were good with heading over that way, and it didn't disappoint!

I like how the fountain spray turned out with the slow shutter speed...

Almost everything was closed over there, so it was really peaceful and pleasant by that point of the night to have a few last precious moments with Chihuly!

As we headed back to the house and checked the weather forecast for the 400th time, we had some tough choices to make.  We weren't supposed to leave until Saturday at 1pm, but that was right around when the effects of Hurricane Florence, which was already battering the coast for a day or two, were supposed to start hitting Charlotte, where our connecting flight was to pass through.  Our concern was that if either of our flights got canceled, it would probably be Monday before we could get out.  While there are worse ways and places to be stuck, we both had responsibilities (and concerned parties) to get back to.  My dad had been concerned the whole time, and I knew Jacob was nervous, as well.  As we went to bed that night, I admitted that we had done all of the most important things we came there to do, and while we would have loved another day of exploring Asheville, if the forecast was no better in the morning, I was on board with changing our flights to leave a day early.

Sure enough, nothing looked better by the morning, so my mom called the airline and got us switched.  We were sad to do it, but it was the safest thing to do.  We'd had a great trip and it felt wise to end it with a better chance for a positive ending.  We hated to leave my aunt in particular, since this had been such a long awaited visit and she loves having family there, but we also didn't want to wear out our welcome by being stuck there extra long!  We finished off the trip with an outdoor lunch at Mellow Mushroom downtown.  We've loved Mellow Mushroom since our trips to visit my brother in Portland years ago (and neither my brother nor the restaurant is still there), and I hadn't been to one in six years, since our trip to Atlanta.  It's one of their favorite lunch spots, which suited us just fine!

It was a sad goodbye and seemed a bit odd since it was still perfectly gorgeous in Asheville, but off we went.  The airport was the quietest we'd ever been in!  They didn't even have a TSA pre-check line (which freaked me out because of the extra liquid in my bag courtesy of Carter's souvenir), but we were still shocked at how few people were waiting at the gate (well, all of the gates on our side as they were all in one space).  Our tiny little 46-seat plane was only about half full, and as promised it was a bit of a rocky ride into Charlotte.  We got off the plane on the tarmac, and it was definitely getting a bit breezy.  There were clouds everywhere.  The Charlotte airport was also pretty quiet, all things considered.  We were shocked when our large plane to Buffalo was only a third full!  I guess everyone who needed to get out had already done so!

One last glimpse at Charlotte...if you look close you can see the teal seats at the football stadium just below the building with the triangle on top.

Once we were up in the air, I pulled out my computer and delighted in going through all 500+ pictures from the trip.  There were so many more than what I shared here that I absolutely love.  Perhaps I'll have to do a bonus post some day :)  I felt much better once we were up in the air and away from Charlotte, but ironically we hit worse turbulence on this flight--probably somewhere over West Virginia--that was enough to knock over my mom's drink...oops!

I loved these clouds - like cotton candy right below us, but big and puffy in the distance!

As we arrived in Buffalo, I could identify a few things from the air.  As the plane turned toward the airport, I looked in the distance and could see Niagara Falls.  If you look close you can see the hotels, observation towers, and the mist from the falls!

Shortly thereafter, we landed without incident and our trip was officially over.  It was a little sobering and sad when I used the exact same restroom I'd used the morning we left--that just that quickly, it was over!  My dad happily picked us up and we grabbed dinner, then I was off to drive home to my boys.  What a trip it had been.  But getting home safely was always the main goal, and we accomplished that and then some.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity, and I truly have my mom to thank.  But now it's back to reality, and I'll have some thoughts on that, too...coming soon...

Asheville, Day 3 - Part 2

So, after our little break during the rain, we headed over to the Shrub Garden to continue our Chihuly viewing.  Red reeds, this time.  It was a little too muddy to venture too close, but they make for a nice addition to the space...

Next up was the Walled Garden, and as you approached, there were two more beauties to see!

It takes a pretty special plant to distract me from Chihuly...but how gorgeous is this coleus?  It was all around nearby and I couldn't stop staring at it.

Towers are really one of my favorites, and this one was quite vibrant!

I love the clear pieces in this one, particularly the ones that are half clear, half colored.  They made for a nice contrast and really picked up the natural daylight so well.

Nature was apparently still cooperating with me as I saw this moth hanging out on a single piece of glass...

Over on the other side was this beauty...and notice the stately wall in the background, too.

 

Just past the towers was the rose garden.  Most of them were pretty spent, but there were still some beauties, in every color.  Bonus points for rain drops!

Closer to the conservatory was this...

From the side

From the front

I found this one really hard to do justice in photos, but I think this is close.

So gorgeous...

Inside the Conservatory reminded me of my trip to Pittsburgh, as much of that exhibit was in a very similar type of space.  We were greeted with interesting flowers from the get-go.

 

But still more Chihuly - there were three of these in the main room.  With the bright background they were tough to capture, but here's my attempt...

So much color and texture in this one...quite a lot of stuff in a smaller package!

I could post dozens of pictures of cool flowers.  There were so many! 

Pitcher plant - a carnivorous plant

I thought my camera had a hard time capturing the vibrancy of these gorgeous orchids, but I think it depends on the screen.  They were such a vibrant purple, rather than bluish.

I dubbed this one the cross between a daffodil and an orchid...so pretty!

The spots on these were so fun!

I don't even know how to describe this one.  Those leaves were actually some sort of pod that appeared to have, at one point, something growing out of it.  I have no idea what it is, but it was cool.

A little piece of Hawaii

Passion vine...so interesting, isn't it?

Nature never ceases to fascinate me.  God's creativity--or maybe his sense of humor--is so amazing.  Speaking of amazing, how about one more?

The Conservatory was so pretty.  The flowers were enchanting and the Chihuly pieces were just the icing on the cake.  We finished off the afternoon session with a walk around the lovely Garden Shop.  We were all tempted to buy cool Chihuly-inspired garden décor, and there were so many other cool gifts to ponder.  Alas, my carry-ons were already going to be struggling!  After a long shop, we headed off the property and into nearby Biltmore Village to grab some dinner at a restaurant built in an old train station that was built to service the Biltmore Estate.  Another rain shower hit while we ate, and we hoped it would clear in time for Chihuly Nights.  We didn't entirely get our wish, but it didn't stop us from enjoying our night!  Stay tuned for the fabulous finale!