Appalachian Extravaganza

At the end of June our little family embarked on yet another adventure. Along with ten other members of my family, Bryan, Lilly and I packed up our car and headed to wild wonderful West Virginia to relax and visit some relatives. We all had a great time. The boys golfed at Stonewall Jackson Resort (where we stayed), we laid by the pool and of course enjoyed happy hour before heading to my cousin's for dinner. We also did our own little driving tour, led by my Uncle Chris. He showed us 'kids' (as he calls me, Wes and Brecquelyn) the farm where my grandpa grew up, my grandma's childhood home and also the Weston State Mental Hospital. Now the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, it evidently thrived while my mother was a kid and her and my uncle remember playing near it and even some of its most famous residents.

Lilly taking time to smell the flowers at Stonewall Jackson Resort in Roanoke West Virginia.

Lilly and her new best friend, Jordan, she is Lilly's 6th cousin. They became soul mates when Lilly realized that Jordan would help her collect rocks, sort them and then toss them back into the bucket...over and over and over again. Thanks Jordan!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. It was taken at my cousin Bridgett Ann's farm. See the cow at the very back of the field? Lilly wanted to get a better look and she decided Everett (her future cousin) was the guy to take her there. She just reached up and grabbed his hand like, "You. Take me to the cow." And he did.

Here we are in front of the Weston State Hospital. It was an enormous building, this picture is only of the front entrance, and it housed people from before the civil war until 1994. Very interesting tour.

Visiting at Aunt Pauline's. She has a bunny named 'Buttons'. When Lilly saw him she pointed and said "gie?". As if to say, "Hey, what in the heck is that...some kind of dog?"

Lilly and I on the front porch of the resort after the driving tour. She had had enough for the day. She just couldn't keep up.

'The Kids', we may all be 30, but Wes, Brecquelyn and I, along with whoever we bring in will always be 'the kids' to our parents.

A (really) happy hour at the resort. Brecquelyn and Everett are getting married on October 10 of this year. And...Wes and Kristy got engaged while we were in West Virginia.

Lilly and her Daddy Guy going dangerously fast on the slide. Everyone left on Sunday except for Bryan, Lilly and I and my parents. We used that time to just hang out and enjoy what the resort had to offer. Later that night Bryan, Lilly and I met up with our good friends Tiffany, Derrick and Dougie. You may remember them from the birthday blog.

Taking a walk on Sunday.

Enjoying the pool.

Just lounging. I thought this picture was too cute not to post.

After leaving West Virginia the three of us headed to Kentucky to visit Bryan's family, his sister was in from Germany for a few weeks. We cooked out and took some time to get caught up with Cammie and her kids. Lilly had to be reintroduced to her aunt and cousins, but quickly warmed up and had a great time with her new playmates.

Bryan, his dad and Lilly playing corn hole. Well...trying to play corn hole.

Bryan and his niece riding horses at Travis and Danielle's. Thanks guys we had a great time.

*Please Note* Matthew and I also went on a ride...unfortunately Bryan failed to take any pictures of us. Sadness.

Lilly got in on the action. Maybe next time she can go solo. Or maybe not.