Auld Lang Syne - Part I

Christmas may have its traditions but for the Barker family, we keep the party and traditions going well on into the New Year. This year we celebrated our sixth annual trip to Asheville, NC - more specifically the Grove Park Inn - to ring in 2010. I love this part of our holiday tradition. I like that the GPI is still decorated for the holidays and that they host a national gingerbread house competition. I like that we do the candlelight tour of Biltmore Estate and that the house is decorated in all of its holiday grandeur. I like that the hotel hosts a first class child-friendly party on New Year's Eve in the lobby complete with party favors and a band. All of this combines to delay getting back to the post-Christmas real world a few days longer.

This year, as we drove up in the mountains, there was snow covering the sides of the road from an earlier snow storm. When we got to our destination, Chapel and Eli played in this icy, frozen snow with great excitement. It was not fluffy at all, it had been there for a week and kept melting and refreezing so it was very hard. They did make this cute snowman. It was all we could put together with the snow that was available, but it was really cute to see them enjoy making a "real" snowman.

Our annual visit to Biltmore Estate is always one of my favorite parts of the trip. I think the house is so beautiful at night and decorated for Christmas. And the candlelight tour boasts singers or ballroom dancer or ballerinas in the great hall for entertainment. I always feel like I am taken back to a much earlier time of grand parties and opulence. Biltmore was first opened to friends of the Vanderbilts on Christmas Eve in 1895 which inspires the family to keep this magnificent tradition alive. This year, they also had opened 4 new rooms to the public so I was extra excited.

Here we are outside the house, it was fr-fr-freezing this night. Seriously, it was like 14 degrees and windy!

You are not supposed to take pictures in the house so here is a picture of the picture they took of our family. I love it. Each year we have one made and it is awesome to see how much the kiddies grow from year to year. Last year those little babies couldn't even sit up on their own and this year they are climbing and running all over the house!

And here is my contraband picture of the ballroom dancers. I had to take it very quickly - sorry it is blurry!

We toured the winery and farm portion of the estate during the day. Chapel and Eli and the babies really enjoy this more than the house - a finely decorated house can not compete with live chickens and cows and tractors to climb on!

Stayed tuned for Auld Lang Syne - Part II for unexpected snow storms and great NYE festivities.