Biltmore Estate

This weekend we went to Asheville, North Carolina for a marriage retreat. Included in that fun! awesome! event were tickets to visit the Biltmore Estate. I was particularly grateful for that last part, as individual tickets for that shindig were upwards of fifty bucks each. Aside from the three year old almost taking a header into the fountain, and the same three year old setting off alarms within thirty seconds of our entry, and …oh, yeah, the three year old doing the Toddler Flop in my husband’s arms all through the tour, it was great fun. I took along my trusty Olympus E-5, of course, but this time I used the kit lens 40-150mm. A great many of these were shot in the “dramatic art tone” filter that’s built in to the E-5.

see that fountain in front, behind the tree? that's the one #3 tried to play in.

entrance to the gardens, with the pretty Blue Ridge mountains in the back ground

one of my favorite pics; looks like Hogwarts to me.

...here kitty, kitty, kitty...

this was actually in the parking lot at Burger King. ...pretty, huh?

the green house

Photography isn’t allowed inside the house, but I did snap some sweet pics of the boys wrestling in the front football field lawn. If you are ever in the area, I recommend you visit the Biltmore. Bring along: valium for the adults, spider straps for the kids, your patience, and about $200 for snacks. (a hot dog costs about $7.) I’m very, very grateful to the Army Strong Bonds program, as well as our Chaplain for setting up this weekend. We learned some very useful tools to help make our marriage stronger, made some friends, and got to frighten security guards. Awesome weekend!