The Biltmore House

It was cold in Asheville on Saturday.

Julia used to play outside in 20 degree weather with no coat in Alaska. She's lost some of her cold weather acclimation though. We were all happy to have a hat, and mittens, and some of us wished our mittens were just a little thicker.

Sean's mom had to go out of town and didn't get to meet us, but my mom made the trip to see the Biltmore House all decked out for Christmas.When we got there and got our tickets, they gave us a time to get into the house and then told us how to get to the winery and barn while we waited. The line to get in the winery was long, so we started at the barn. They had a petting area - chickens, goats, bunnies, a donkey and a couple of horses. I loved the chickens. I think the kids did too and I'm excited for them to get to see some at the farm in Pennsylvania with Oliver over their Christmas break. They kept trying to pick up the chickens... no luck. There were 2 large and 2 small goats. The little ones were funny. One little girl who was maybe 2 or 3 was standing on the food one of the baby goats was trying to eat. He rared back and butted her in the legs to get her to move. She got a little miffed at the cute goat after that.

After the petting area we went up to another barn area where they had hula-hoops and tin can stilts and balls out for the kids to play with. Thanks to a conversation I had with my friend Lisa not long ago, I was actually able to hula for a little (very little) bit. There were blacksmith and woodworking demonstrations - that we didn't watch. Santa was in the barn. Nobody in our party wanted to see him. A lady was spinning silk into yarn and showed the kids how to "stick-weave". That was neat.

And then it was time to head to the house.

We were about 10 minutes early for getting in the door, and I realized that if I didn't have a snack before we went in, I likely wouldn't get to eat anything until dinner. That wouldn't be until 7:30 or so. And we all know that I get irritable when I need to eat. I think that's putting it nicely. So I voiced my opinion that in the 10 minutes before we got in, I needed to find something to eat.

It didn't have to be a meal. Just a little something.

While waiting for Sean to get through the line to purchase my snack and his wine my mom cleared the way for me to get to the pretzels, animal crackers, and dip samples they had out that the kids were already diving into. Okay. But when I was little my mother would never have let me have more than a handful. So that's what I did and what I enforced with the kids. And she didn't approve!

Then we went into the house.

In the house, employees fussed at Sean and Mom for taking pictures (no cameras, sketching, or cell phones inside). And we waited less than patiently for the line to snake through the first 7 rooms or so. The line was so slow because they were stopping every party to take a picture - whether you wanted it or not. Money money money.

The rooms were beautiful. My favorite Christmas decoration idea was paper dolls hung in one room that wore dresses made from pretty foil papers. The servants' quarters were more my taste in decor than the rest of the house. Don't get me wrong - it was all beautiful and I'd love to have lived there or visited on a regular basis. But the servants lived in rooms with furniture and beds that reminded me of my grandparents' and their quarters looked big enough and comfy enough to me.

When we got out of the tour, it was dark and the huge tree out front was calling to the kids to go run around it. So they did.

Then we walked back to the car, stopping by the place where everyone stops to look at the front of the house and garden. Unfortunately, the ramp walk was really disguised steps and in the darkness Julia tripped.

So when we got to the top, most everyone was beyond ready to get in the car and leave. Especially Julia.

I still think I could convince them to go back.

We met my brother and Olivia at Acropolis Pizza. After dinner the kids danced on the porch with a singing and wobbling Santa who sang when you walked by him.

Happy Holidays!