The Biltmore House

Oh my gosh...this is a flash forward to Tucker being a teenager. 

The rose garden

Still the rose garden

Yep, one more

Tucker is 'smelling the roses' and Sara is not quite annoyed about it yet.

My beautiful, photogenic daughter

Under the atrium. She loves that umbrella!

More gardens

She won't stop to smell the flowers, but she'll surely pose by them

1/2 of Biltmore. 

More flowers

Yep, another one

Fish!

What!?!?!? Awww man! ::sadface::

A view from the back veranda

Even the downspouts are fancy

This is the veranda ceiling. Yes, really. 

They were getting tired and I'm not lion. HAHAAAAA!

More of the exterior

The front lawn

More of the house

The side porch off the library. What a view!

Steely Dan is performing tonight!

The back of the house

The side of the house. Love these trees!

The side of the house with both kids. Note the opposite sides of the picture. There's a reason for that. 

Grapes!

What a beautiful rose

A quick, unexpected shot

No. More. Pictures. 

Cordelia and Cornelius

One last flower shot

You've got to be kidding

So. We ended up buying a car over the weekend. We needed something with a little more room inside and more cargo/trunk space.  After spending hours at the dealership on a beautiful Saturday, we ended up with a 2014 CR-V. 

I don't like it as well as my old Accord, Robert doesn't like it as well as his old Nitro. :/  

Yesterday we get a FedEx package with all the title/registration paperwork in it with this letter (and I quote): 

Enclosed is the paperwork necessary for you to register and title your 2014 Honda CR-V in the state of SD. 

Since each state is different as to Title and Tax on vehicle purchases, we feel it would be to your best interest for you to take the paperwork to your local Department of Motor Vehicles, pay the tax and pick up your license plate and registration. We have enclosed Apple Tree's check made payable to your respective Department of Motor Vehicles for the amount of tax owed.

The title work along with the check should be taken to the DMV within the next 10 days so your vehicle can be properly registered. 

Thank you for purchasing your vehicle from Apple Tree Enterprises, Inc. Should you have any questions please give me a call.

Sincerely, 
Apple Tree Enterprises, INC

***********
South Dakota is a 24 hour drive from here. Pretty sure I'm not going to be able to just 'pop in' and take care of this in the next ten days. Luckily, the kind folks at the South Dakota DMV were able to review the paperwork Apple Tree sent us over the phone/email and make sure all our ducks were in a row before sending them the title work. 

Part of the negotiation process included multiple reassurances from the Apple Tree employees we dealt with over the weekend that sending the paperwork to South Dakota would be no big deal, and they would take care of everything. 

Liar, liar, pants on fire. 

To add insult to injury, the Apple Tree people used the wrong address with the FedEx letter AND they spelled my name wrong.  

In retrospect, I'm guessing it might a good thing they sent the paperwork back to us, because at least now the information will be correct and sent to the right place. But they could have called us to give us a heads up - or at least told me when I was in there Monday begging them to let us undo the deal and have our old cars back. 

Very disappointed. Very, very, very. 

Where is the love competency?

A story of vacation in images...

Well, not our whole vacation because in the middle of it we gave up on Virgin Mobile and switched phones and providers. My new, awesome, excellent reception phone lets me upload pictures in two seconds instead of the five minute wait and 18 step process of my last phone.  So of course I had to document random things from that point forward because that's what you do when your phone is actually smart instead of just claiming to be.

Holy crap! Robert is smiling for real. For a picture. This is HUGE! 

Sara and I are working on our selfie skills. 

Chillin' at G-Bob and G-Sandy's house

Sara has a selfie habit already..and she doesn't have a phone yet. She's also got long legs. #lucky

This is usually what you get when you try to take a picture of Robert. He. Could. Not. Care. Less. 

This kid cracks me up. I have about 50 selfie shots of her on my phone. This is one of my favorites because when she wakes you up in the morning, this is the face she makes. 

In the car on the way home. Apparently, this is what children dying of boredom look like. 

Well, hello Missouri. I'd say hello to Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and Oklahoma with pictures too, but I can't figure out how to put my old SD card in my new phone. #firstworldproblems

That's better. At least I got Sara's attention!

Rest stop! I always think of the movie Cars when I see signs for Route 66.

Robert didn't want to stop at the Candy Shack. :(

Sara did want to stop. 

When bored on a long drive, you can always do the wave. Except Robert. He wanted to be all responsible and stuff. 

Tucker's comment...you know, if they'd make a second arch, I bet McDonald's would open up right in front.

The joy of traffic. Someone should make that into a coffee table book. 

The mighty Mississippi seems to have a bit of a debris issue. 

Selfies

I recently upgraded my phone to something from this decade. I have to admit, it's pretty cool and I love playing with it. I don't think I love it as much as the kids do..and here are some of the pictures I found on my phone this morning.

the 'hand photo bomb' pic for those days when you want to be in the picture, but you don't...

the 'how long can I make my face look' pic

The 'I'm giving in but I'm not happy about it' pic

I have no words. None. 

The 'this is what my hair looks like with the sunroof open' pic...also  known as the 'it's going to be a bitch to comb this out' pic