Photo Recap Part 7

Asheville, North Carolina

In early May we spent a week in a beautiful place with Andrey's parents, sister, brother-in-law and niece. We get about a week with these guys every year and it is a real highlight for us. A's sister and hubby are some of our closest friends. We're all fairly new parents of cute little girls only a year apart. We treasure our time together so much!

Ella and her little cousin A had seen each other on skype many times and this was their first time to meet in person. A has changed so much since Andrey and I saw her last when she was just five months old. Ella and A seemed to know each other well and love spending time together. It was very cute to hear one of them asking about the other as soon as they woke up each day.

This was taken by M on one of our many nature walks. Ella grew a special affection for Uncle M during our time together. It was very sweet.

Grandma and Grandpa bought a couple of chairs for the girls, which they enjoyed very much, especially the little cup holder where drinks and snacks were often stored.

Yay for sisters, daughters, n and cousins!

Sweet little A

At the Nature Center

Ella handed snacks to A one by one through the hole

Such cuteness! (Okay I am totally partial)

 

We stayed in a beautiful cabin just outside of the city. The cabin was on a small farm. There were horses, chickens, baby chicks and fish. The perfect place for a couple of curious little animal-lovers. Each day we got to take the girls to feed carrots to the horses, give pellets to the fish, play with and chase the baby chicks and collect fresh eggs. What fun!

Sweet times with Grandma

So nice to be out in nature every day...

It made for a great setting for a photo shoot.

It was a week for hair cuts

Time for a little bargaining - "I promise I'm almost done! I'll give you chocolate if you just let me finish!"

L and I had impromptu hair cuts at the Asheville Lovefest. We even made the local newspaper the next day.

L, you're next...

 

 

Hot tubbing! The girls LOVED swimming in the hot tub but had to keep the swim sessions short due to the overheating and lethargy that set in - especially for Ella who loves to keep her head under water for several seconds at a time.

We just missed the sunset off the Blue Ridge Parkway but got a cute pic of this precious little girl.

Grandma and Grandpa loved being with both their grandgirls.

Father-daughter

I had to include this one because Ella started doing this with her tongue and we soon learned that Andrey is not able to do it. So Ella will do it and look at me to do it and then say to Andrey, "Do it!" and he can't. Makes him feel a little left out every time.

These girls did a fair bit of rolling around on the ground together in random places.

At the Asheville Arboretum

I love this photo so much. You can see Ella's love for her Daddy - a picture of how far they have come.

Classic nerd shot

As I said, this is where things normally progress. Don't worry Daddy, you and me can squat with our heels on the ground like true Asians, Mommy can't.

Pure cuteness in curiosity

 

We just love A's beautiful and wild hair

Family time, what a blessing to be together. Wish it were longer!

The week did inevitably come to an end and the two cousins had to say goodbye at the airport. Thanks to some difficulty getting checked in, they had some bonus time together. Here, Ella is pointing to herself and saying, "Ella!" meaning this is MY space.

But A didn't pay any attention to that. She has her own little will to assert.

Some screeching to show her displeasure...

... but things turned around in the end when Ella realized this is pretty fun!

Just look at that smile!

Peek-a-boo!

We stayed in Asheville for a few extra days with Grandma and Grandpa and some friends. 

We enjoyed a sunny day trip to Chimney Rock...

And spent our last two nights connecting with old friends and their cutie little 2-year-old girl, Zoe.

We love Asheville and hope to be back again!