We spent this afternoon with Tyler, Tara, Tessa and baby Kate. We played basketball and hockey at Carrier Park, and then we had lunch in West Asheville at Universal Joint. Except for the time when I shot a basket and it landed on Tessa's head, and when I almost spilled an entire cup of water on her, it was a really fun time. I miss our friends. We are spending Thanksgiving with them, and I. can't. wait.
We headed back on the Blue Ridge, past our exit, to see if we could get to Craggy Gardens. It was closed going that way, as well! We aren't sure why, construction, maybe. We took in the views at the last stop on that end, took some pictures of leaves on our ride back, and went home. Ho-hum, no hike.
Fall is everywhere right now, and it is going by QUICKLY. The tree in front of our house has already changed and is rapidly shedding. The cooler temps are here. We went to the farmers' market this morning, and I took some non-Mason pictures...
In the afternoon, tball was canceled (AGAIN!). We headed over to Biltmore Park for a Fall Festival. Outside they had bouncey houses, the restaurants from there giving out samples of their food (free crabcakes!), pumpkin painting, and music. We walked around, painted a pumpkin with Peyton, and when we were good and cold, we headed into the Y for indoor activities. There was basketball, bowling, bean bag tosses, and a bouncey house (we went in it last year). Mas was very focused on the basketball and bowling.
Sad/funny story: There was a bank who had a table set up in the Y's lobby. They had a dinosaur mascot (a person in a dinosaur costume). Mason wanted nothing to do with him or his candy. The dinosaur approached Mason as we were leaving, possibly to give him candy. Mason he raised his arms up in the air, shrieked, and ran in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, the opposite direction was right into the Y's giant lobby desk. Poor sad guy. We had to leave there immediately!
Mason and I had such a fun, busy Asheville day today!
We went to the market this morning (of course) and talked with our farmer and baking friends. I had a rhubarb bear claw that was better than anything I've eaten from the market, ever. Mason ate two min-cupcakes. He didn't just lick the frosting off, as usual, he ate each one!
We went home and got geared up for tball. Today was picture day, and I had a feeling that Mason wouldn't be happy about it. I made sure to tell him a few times throughout the day that there would be pictures, and he would take them and then we would play tball. I was right about him being unhappy! He ran away from me when it was time. We sat down and talked about it, and then he was ok with the individual picture. But he was. not. happy. about the team picture. There was a LOT of crying. I pulled him out of it after the photo below, and let them get an all smiling team. Poor guy. And then it was time to play, and he was happy again.
From tball, we went over to the Asheville Tourists' stadium. There was a chili cook-off there. Mas wasn't interested in the chili, but he humored me while I tasted a bunch of it. He was interested in running around the outfield and playing sports. They had a pitching game, a whiffle ball "tee" (blowing air kept the ball in the air) and a basket ball net set up. He played basketball with some very nice big (my age) people. And a man who works at the stadium was very nice to him, letting him hit ball after ball and make many pitches, and then he gave Mas a team picture and baseball cards of Ted E., the Tourists' mascot. We played hard for a while and then headed downtown for ice cream. It was very fun times. 
Yesterday after the 5K, we napped for a while. Our energy refreshed, we headed back downtown to Bele Chere. We got a great parking spot (last year we took a shuttle from a couple of miles away) and made our way in. We never saw much music, because Mason wanted to be "with the people" - walking around. We ate some yummy local street food (fancy fries from a french restaurant, shrimp/lobster roll, oyster po boy, and custard). We did some people watching. There were some jugglers practicing. There was a street performer all dressed in white with white make up taking a break, eating. It was weird to see him out of "character", just being. The highlight for Mason was the jumping dogs. They had a dog jumping (into a pool) competition. It was fun to cheer for the dogs as they tried to catch their toy while in midair!
Coming out of the mister! A cool treat!
Today we went to see the Asheville Tourists play. They were playing the Delmarva Shorebirds, an Orioles farm team. Mason wanted the Tourists hitters to "hit a triple!!!". We were there for over six innings, and Mas asked if we could go. They were winning at that point, 2-1. The game ended up going 12 innings, and the Tourists lost 6-3. We wouldn't have made it though TWELVE innings! It was a fun way to spend our Sunday. 
Here's Mas and his pal Peyton after the run!
Throughout the game, we had the same conversation with Mason:
Mason: I want go in baseball game.
Us: What are you going to do?
Mason: Hit hone run. I need baseball shoes and baseball hat.
Us: Where should we get those?
Mason: At toys us.
Mason: I need baseball shoes to hit hone run.
Also, the questions/comments from Mason: "Di he catch it Da-yee?" "Di he hit it?" "Was it strike?" "What he do, Mama?" "Hi Catcher! I saw catcher!" "Nice try!"
They were supposed to let kids run around the bases after the game, so I told Mason that he could "go in baseball game" when it was over. But those heartless bastards canceled it for a homerun derby. Mason cried as we left the stadium. He cried when we got in the car. He cried halfway home. The whole time he said, "I want to go in baseball game!" through the tears. He got over it eventually, and happily played in the yard when we got home.
We had another busy weekend running about town. Saturday started the way most Saturdays should, with a visit to the City Market. Mason got a mini soccer ball from the musician who was playing. It was a thank you for the tip Mas put in his cup. Thank you Rickie! A couple of market people mentioned that Mas got bigger since the winter, when they last saw him. Thanks and I hope so! After the market, we picked up daddy and made our way to Hendersonville. We met T-Cubed (Tara, Tessa and Tyler) at the Johnson Family Farm festival. Mas rode a kiddie train, we listened to music, and we rode a school bus to and from parking. That last part was the highlight for Mason.
Saturday afternoon was pretty lazy. We barbecued some kielbasa (Hickory Nut Gap Farm) from the market and went up to Two Scoops for some scoops (der) of ice cream. Then we had backyard play time. At bedtime Mason wasn't having it. So we let him run around the kitchen (literally - he ran around the kitchen island for about 15 minutes!) and then it was time for bed.
Sunday Mas and I tried to meet T-Cubed at Biltmore. My phone died and we missed them (sad!) but we still had a great time together there. We played on the lawn, looked at fountains, flowers, rode the shuttle from and to the parking lot, petted farm animals, and ate ice cream (well, I did!). Again, the bus was his fave part. We were the only ones on the bus on the way back and the bus driver sang "The Wheels on the Bus" for Mas! A few pictures...
Then we came home to have lunch with Will (Hickory Nut Gap burgers - yum! - thanks Will!). We went grocery shopping, played in the yard (see baseball video here!), hung out with our neighbors the Douglases, and then went to Earth Fare with 3/4 of them. It's fun and dangerous to mosey around a food store with someone who likes food as much as me!
We had snow today. It was coming down pretty hard when we woke up. Then not so hard when Mas and I went to check it out before work. Then it was on and off all day. It never stuck, but it was pretty to see coming down. Here's a little photo evidence from this morning!
Mas posing with the snow on the clovers.
Trying to catch a flake!
I can't believe one year has passed by so quickly! Yesterday was our official anniversary of being here a year. Time flies when you're having amazing adventures!
My favorite thing about living here has been the small ways in which we are able to give back to our community. I never thought about it much before moving here. Or maybe there weren't ample opportunities like there are here. We were able to contribute to a local farm by buying a quarter cow. There are so many locally owned restaurants to choose from. The farmers' markets put us right in touch with our local farms. We have annual memberships at several local family friendly places (like the arboretum, Nature Center, and most recently Biltmore House). Those things keep us and our money circulating in Asheville.
Additional random favorite things... everything outside. I had never hiked before moving here. It is great fun, and if we are with friends, even more than great fun. Our neighborhood is great, and our friends we met here and at the Little Gym (Miss Sue included!) have enriched our lives. I love our view from the office and porch. I love walking around downtown, attending festivals, exploring stores, checking out cafes, picking up chocolate.
Here is a pic of Mason that Will took a year ago on the Blue Ridge Parkway (I loved that shirt!), then one of my fave views from Graveyard Fields in October, and then another of Mason this past weekend at the Biltmore. Great year.
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