Babies Squared: Birthdays + Vacations

...because why shouldn't we throw two happy things into a blog?

First, yesterday was our Greggers 11th birthday. Yes, 11 years old, he is. I have posted about his birthday in years past and remember telling you about racing up I-75 when he was on his way. He's a sweet, quiet, funny kid that has a way of giving you a look that makes you feel like he knows way, WAY more than you do. Happy birthday, Greggers!

If you stay at my sister's house on your birthday and you don't get the streamers and balloons treatment, she just doesn't like you. It's a tradition.

I know, I KNOW, he looks so old!

We hope you had a great birthday, Oldest One.

On to more great things. Vacay! GG and Grampie arrived, like knights on white horses.

While its completely not true in our case, Keith and I always giggle to ourselves that this is our scenario. We have a good 20 years before the old people are that feeble (knocking on wood), but it just makes us laugh. We had the car packed and were ready to go! I threw a few pages of information at GG, along with a key, and headed for the car.

Our first night was an overnight in Athens, and due to the nature of our college town, there are not any pics to share. Maybe a few iPhone pics, but those are not being shared because I didnt even take my phone out with us. We had drinks, saw a disappointingly mediocre show. Anyways, we had a good time that night but got up fairly early and started towards North Carolina.

We were a wee bit "dehydrated" and stopped at the first grocery store we saw to get some waters and Gatorade. And a little bag of this, 'cause its vacation!

It's no secret that we are fairly big dorks, so we play the "how many states' license plates can we see?" game. This was early on in the game.

And these helped with those hydration issues we were having...also, if you have a smart phone, we really like the MapQuest app, shown here in the background.

That GPS app was taking us elsewhere, but we threw caution to the win and made a pitstop at a state park that had great views.

And some interesting markers on the ground?

We are never short on entertainment when we are together...this pic would be scarier if not for the steps visible in the left side of the picture.

Self-amusement complete, he continued down the stairs.

For more views.

If you are wondering, this is the park at which we stopped. I was surprised to know that we were still in South Carolina. I really thought we made it to the northern of the Carolinas. Apparently not.

We were game for a little hike, but the map was confusing...

...so we said screw it and drove on. And into that northern of the Carolinas.

You know how sometimes you think you have great directions, but you're not sure and you are hoping for a sign of some sort that you are on the right track? Even with GPS, I can never shake that feeling.

So I was happy to see this sign.

And then this one. Especially this one. This is where we were going.

Dupont State Forest, land of the hobbit trees!

Kidding, people. Land of bad-ass waterfalls, is what I meant. We went on a hike towards the waterfalls, and I kept trying to take pictures of Keith, but it was hard to do because at this point we could hear the roar of the water and somebody was rushing towards it like he had never seen a waterfall before.