Spring Break

Wow - I haven't been here in a LONG time!

Ron, Jan and the girls

Ansley and Elisabeth brushing Oreo. Oreo is a Kune Kune pig (pronounced cooney cooney). We just like saying it.

Mom and the girls at the zoo

Surrounded by bamboo at the Atlanta zoo

The kids feeding parakeets at the zoo

Elisabeth and her parakeet

Last week was Spring Break for the kids. John took a few days off so we could go to Atlanta and be tourists and do some of the things we never get to do when we visit there. We had a nice, much needed, relaxing time. We took the dogs with us so they could play in the lake at Ron and Jan's. Belle loved the water and it was funny watching her entertain herself swimming back and forth and splashing and trying to eat the water. Winston just watched and took it all in. He's getting older and his hips hurt him so he's just content sitting on the dock and watching the other dog be goofy and crazy in the water. We even took them out on the pontoon boat. Neither dog fell overboard and they didn't knock any children in. I call that a successful pontoon boat ride! The water was too cold for the kids to swim in........they were so disappointed and I really believe that they would have swam in the cold water anyway if we had let them.

We also visited the Atlanta zoo which I haven't been to in years (many many years). It looks so different. I didn't even recognize it. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a great time. The pandas were cool to see. I've only been to one other zoo with pandas (Washington D.C) so it's always neat to see some. They are rare. Someday I am determined to go to Chengdu China where the Panda Research/Breeding Center is and pay to be able to hold a baby panda. It's one of those things on my list to do before I die. Kind of like the bucket list.

Let's see.....on Friday we went to the High Museum of Art to see the Terracota Warrior Exhibit before it packed up and left. Another place on my bucket list is Xi'an China to see the "real" Terracotta Warrior exhibit. I want to see it bad! I find all of it completely fascinating. We haven't been to the High Museum in years either so it was neat to take the girls there and make a day of it.

Last but not least we climbed Stone Mountain and stayed for the laser show. Ansley has climbed Stone Mountain several times but Elisabeth never has. We felt she was ready and could probably make it to the top. And she did! We aren't sure how those little legs made it up and back down without having anyone carry her. She was so proud! Again the weather was just right.....not too hot and not too cold. It did get chilly during the laser show but it was bearable. The laser show was good and the kids thought it was great. They had never seen anything like it before. We had a picnic on the lawn before the show and the kids were able to run around and play and do cartwheels. It was a fun (but exhausting) day.

Unfortunately Spring Break had to end and instead of being able to be on "vacation" and be tourists all the time, we had to come back to home to reality and go back to work and school. Boo Hoo! It was fun while it lasted though!!

Happy Easter!

Easter morning family picture

Elisabeth and her prized cotton candy. What was the Easter bunny thinking?

Yay! The Easter bunny came!

Ansley and her Easter cookies

Coloring eggs

Today was a lovely day and relaxing too. Just the way it should be. I got our Easter clothes all ready the night before and prepared part of the meal the night before so I wouldn't be so rushed this morning. I knew this morning would be busy enough.....with the Easter bunny stuff and having to take pictures before we left for church. The girls were so excited that the Easter bunny came. They got chocolate bunnies, cotton candy, peeps (of course), peanut butter eggs, M&M's, and lots of other stuff. The Easter bunny was good to them this year. The only bad part about the Easter bunny bringing so much candy is that we had some major sugar highs and lows today. There were times when it got downright ugly. But nothing a good nap couldn't fix! After church we ate our delicious meal (thanks in part to HoneyBaked ham....yum yum!). And then we headed out to hide 84 eggs in the front yard for the kids to find. They found them all! And yes they had more candy in them.......plus some stickers and some money. Gotta love eggs with money in them! We all took a nap (except Ansley) then we headed outside this evening to blow bubbles and enjoy the last part of the day before the sun went down. It was a great Easter day and we are so thankful that Christ died and rose again just like he said he would! He has risen......He has risen indeed!

The sickness is gone.....I hope!

A few days after my last post the sickness marathon began. It started with Ansley suddenly having a 103 fever. Her fever lasted all day everyday for 4 days. She missed a week of school and as much as I tried to avoid it I became the next victim. I thought I was going to die! A 103 fever feels terrible! I tested positive for the flu.......so I took Tamiflu. It made me sick to my stomach and the medicine they gave me for that made me drowsy. It was a terrible 5 days! John also got sick at the same time and then Elisabeth was the last to get it. The last 2 weeks have been a blur and thank goodness we are almost back to 100%........just in time for Spring Break! Trust me....nobody ever wants to get the flu. I wouldn't wish it on my enemy!

John and I are glad to say goodbye to March and are hoping April will be much better. March brought a stolen pop-up camper, my grandmother's death, the flu and then my car being rear-ended while I sat innocently at a redlight. The insurance company knows me well by now!! On a positive note we were able to get money for our poor stolen camper and now we are in the process of searching for another one. I have reservations to camp the 1st weekend of May so the time crunch search is on! Then we have to totally re-stock the inside of the camper. I like to shop so that shouldn't be a problem. We also found a new place to store it this time so hopefully no one will drive off with it again!

Other than sickness and a whole lot of talking to the insurance company there really hasn't been much going on. We are looking forward to celebrating Easter this weekend. Looks like the weather might be a little warmer than it is this week (thank goodness) so we should be able to squeeze in some Easter egg hunts and get some good pictures. I am boiling eggs as we speak so we can dye eggs tonight! We wish you and your family a wonderful blessed Easter!

The 50's Sock Hop

Elisabeth and Ansley on their way to the 50's Sock Hop

Even our little neighbor, Kate, dressed for the occasion
Ansley and her friend, Meg
Elisabeth and our neighbor, Bryce.
Ansley doing the limbo

Ansley dancing the night away

Ansley and her friend, Sarah

Elisabeth loves to dance

Ansley dancing with her teacher, Mrs. Wright

The PTO at Ansley's school sponsored a 50's Sock Hop on Friday night. It was so much fun! They had a DJ, giveaways for the kids, and lots of snack food (popcorn, ice cream floats, cotton candy, coke and orange crush in bottles, etc). The kids danced and played games non-stop for 2 hours. Elisabeth was exhausted by the end of the night and Ansley didn't want to leave. They had a huge turnout so it ended up being a good PTO fundraiser. I think they'll be doing this again next year!

NC Transportation Museum

The roundhouse. It's my favorite part - there are some very neat and beautiful trains in there.

Me and Ansley in the antique car museum

Elisabeth trying to figure out where to go next

The train in the background is the one we rode

Elisabeth was very upset that I wasn't riding the train with her so she began to cry. The train people said I could ride for free since she was so upset. Way to go Elisabeth.....we should use those tears more often!

It had been a long day and Elisabeth fell asleep to the rocking motion of the train.

We visited the NC Transportation Museum 2 weekends ago. It was a nice sunny day and we decided to get out and about. We have been there once before when Elisabeth was very little but decided she might enjoy riding the train now that she is older. It is a neat place....the roundhouse is my favorite. There are some really neat and beautiful trains in there. We spent several hours there and rode the train at the very end of the day. Elisabeth was so tired but really wanted to ride the train. We decided that just she and John would ride....Ansley didn't want to do it. She was busy doing Mad Libs and couldn't be bothered with the train. Elisabeth started crying big huge tears because I wasn't riding so they let me on for free since she was in such distress. We need to try that more often......I wonder what else I could get for free! All in all it was a great day and lots of fun. I only put a few pictures on here because we took 108 pictures in a matter of a few hours. Yes, we have a picture problem. We take them of anything and everything.

A picnic at the Dairy Barn

Ansley catching a ride on Grandpa's shoulders

Elisabeth playing in the dirt

Crossing the stream

Crossing the swinging bridge (not my favorite thing to do)

We took a rest and watched horse after horse cross the stream. Ansley was ready to saddle up and go riding!

Draft horse pulling a cart. This horse was huge!

Ansley riding on Grandma's back

Action shot! Stephanie throwing the frisbee to Ansley

An old cabin close to where we had our blankets spread out for our picnic

The weather was so nice this past weekend that we decided to head home from church on Sunday and pack a picnic lunch. We went to the Dairy Barn (our favorite place for a picnic). They happened to be having a Bridal Expo in the Dairy Barn itself and there was a band set up outside so we even had free music to accompany our picnic! An added bonus! We tried some kite flying but the kites weren't very good and wouldn't fly very well so we decided to take a walk and go see the horses. It was such a nice day that people were riding horses all over the place. We loved watching them ride. The kids played in the stream and overall it was a great day!