Vacation: Part 1

We went on vacation to Hilton Head the week of Labor Day.  It was a great time and a much needed break from everyday life!  We decided to break up the drive there into 2 days since it was about 11 hours (+a few for kid stops).  On the way there we spent our first night in Asheville, NC.  The next morning we went to Chimney Rock State Park.  The drive to the park was really cool - it turned out to lead you through "Apple Country" where every few miles there was a different farm/apple orchard.  We stopped at one and bought some fresh apples and treats - yum!  We then headed to the park.  You can see the "chimney rock" in the picture below, the park's namesake. 

There is an elevator to take you to the top of the rock where there is supposed to be a great view ... except when we got there we were told the elevator was under rennovation and we couldn't take it.  So we had a choice - carry Alex & Tyler up around 500 stairs to the top, or hike the other trails. We opted for the hiking. :)  Tyler walked for around 5 minutes or so, then of course wanted to be carried. We weren't prepared with a carrier for Tyler, so Ed had to carry him basically the whole time.

We finally made it to the end.  At the end was a beautiful waterfall that you could play in. I couldn't get too close because I was carrying Alex in a carrier and couldn't climb over the rocks to get to the base of the waterfall, but Tyler & Ed had a great time playing in the water and exploring the rocks!

After our hike, we got back in the car and headed to the beach! We finally got there in the early evening, and headed to the beach to expore.

The whole week was great! More pictures to come!