Last week, Gavin was looking pretty stressed out. The canine teeth breaking through, the gradual self-weaning to one nap a day, the increase in adult food consumption ... it was all too much for a 14-month-old to handle. He needed a break from the daily grind. So, we took Gauntie Faye up on an offer to visit her newly-completed house in the mountains near Boone and escaped the day-to-day routine for a couple days. We last visited back in October when the house was still under construction.

Waking up to this scene off the back porch makes stress instantly melt away!

We hit the road with Gmummy on Friday morning and arrived at Faye's house shortly before noon. Our relaxing weekend began with a stroll around the top of her mountain.

Gavin was in awe of the views from the windows...

Sigh. He was a relaxed baby, for sure.

Before evening settled in, Gavin and Daddy fetched some wood from Faye's stockpile to keep the fireplace burning until bedtime.

Gavin spied just the right piece...

...and quickly hurried back inside to contribute to the fire.

Faye was most appreciative of her great-nephew's efforts.

His arduous work complete, Gavin could simply gaze out the windows at the beautiful scenery again.

On Saturday, we planned to do some hiking along the Blue Ridge Parkway, but our favorite spot was closed and the colder-than-expected weather dampened everyone's spirits a bit. Instead, we ate a memorable picnic lunch in Faye's Subaru out of the cold and Gavin ran around the field at the Julian Price picnic area for a while.

He had a fun time navigating the curb and is walking up and down steps with a great sense of balance now. Here we were trying to teach him to jump which he did admiringly well aside from the whole feet-leaving-the-ground part.

Don't worry, Gavin. We'll visit again soon when the weather is a bit warmer and you can hit the trails again!