A new colt

The barn where Ansley takes horseback riding lessons has a new colt.  He is so cute!  Ansley got to go in a pet him when he was just 2 days old.  They finally named him and unfortunately they named him Rooster.  Poor horse.   Supposedly it was between Rooster and Wrangler.  Wrangler definitely sounds better don't you think?  

It's a little blurry.....sorry!  I was trying to duck down under the horse to get a good picture  but evidently I wasn't holding the camera very steady.  Isn't he cute? 

Finally......some vacation pictures

I am finally getting around to posting a few vacation pictures.  We had a blast on the cruise and enjoyed getting away from the rainy chilly weather that was here during Spring Break.  Instead we enjoyed hot sunny weather with a whole lot of beautiful caribbean blue ocean.  A much better place to be I think.  We went with our friends, The Burns, and had a wonderful time. 

 Waiting in the terminal to get on the cruise.  We are sooo ready!

 

 Ansley waiting in line for the waterslide

 On the first night we made reservations to eat at the adult only restaurant with our friends, The Burns.  The kids went to the kids area for a few hours and played and had a great time.

 I just love this picture.  The sunset is just beautiful!

 Double Trouble

 Strike a pose

 Key West

 Caroline getting her ears pierced in Key West!

 We met a family on the cruise that we know so their son, Sammy, posed with the girls.  He's so cute!

 The most entertaining and fun meal (in my opinion) is the character breakfast.  The waiters make all kinds of silly hats out of napkins.  The kids LOVE it!

 We went to a tea party with Alice and the Mad Hatter

 Grand Cayman

 Ansley holding a baby turtle at the Turtle Farm in Grand Cayman

 Ansley and I did the dolphin experience and it was great! I wish it had lasted longer!

 Castaway Cay -- one of the best places ever.

 Pirate Night

 You can't take yourself too seriously you know!

Happy Mother's Day!

The kids brought me breakfast in bed for Mother's day and gave me some homemade gifts and a lovely new hammock for the backyard.  I can't wait to put it up and sit out there in the shade and read a book and maybe take a nap!  I am very excited about it!  After church we went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant for Gotcha Day and then came home to rest for a bit before heading over to the mall and to the Cheesecake Factory for some yummy Dulce de Leche cheesecake.  My favorite!  The Cheesecake Factory was super crowded so we took it to the food court at the mall and sat down and ate it.  We looked around the mall for a while and then headed over to Crate and Barrel.  Great store!  Then we came home and finished out our day by sitting on the front porch and enjoying the nice weather.  It was a nice Mother's Day! 

 Enjoying some time on the front porch

 The Dulce de Leche is the on the right.  Don't be jealous.   John's piece is on the left.  It's Reese's peanut butter cup .

 Ansley and Elisabeth don't really like cheesecake so they each got a huge piece of chocolate cake instead.  

 It got the thumbs up from both of them.  I had a taste and it was very yummy!

Great Wolf Lodge

 She's a nut.

 Elisabeth playing in the kids area

 This bucket of water filled up and dumped out periodically. It was a HUGE bucket of water and soaked you if you were underneath is.  Elisabeth loved it!  If you look closely at the picture you'll see a person on the left on the floor on her back with her legs in the air.  That would be Elisabeth.  She's laying there with her goggles on waiting for the bucket to dump right on her face.  She did this over and over again all day long. I don't understand it.

 Elisabeth trying to make it across the lily pads without falling in.

 She made it! 

The wave pool.  I had to put a life jacket on her because she kept going farther and farther out and I was afraid a wave was going to knock her over and take her under!

 The kids loved this water slide.  I rode it once too.  It was fun!  The yellow one to the right is the Tornado.  We never got enough courage to ride it.  I heard about it and I became a wimp and never rode it.  Maybe next time. 

 All the girls that went with us

The girls in my van:  Ansley, Elisabeth, Olivia and Amanda

A few weekends ago we went to the Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte with Ansley's Girl Scout troop and spent the night and went to the indoor water park that is attached to the resort.  It was a cool place!  The kids had a blast! They played in the water and rode waterslides all day.  This was part of the troop's reward for selling so many Girl Scout cookies.  Thank you to everyone who bought from us! I tried to get more pictures of Ansley but she was off with her friends riding water slides and I never could find her when I had the camera.  Oh well,  it's a good excuse to go again another time!

Strawberry Festival

 This weekend was the 2nd annual Strawberry Festival.  The weather was great (so much better than last year!) and we had a great time.  Ansley and I had to work a concession stand for 2 hours for the Girl Scouts and then after that we had fun at the festival for a few hours.  We met up with our friends, Shannon and Caroline and rode rides, ate barbeque, listened to music, checked out all the vendors, got balloon hats and browsed the cars at the car show.  We were exhausted by the time we were through but it was a fun day.  Can't wait until next year's festival!

 John really liked this one

 Both of the girls did the bike safety course and got a FREE helmet.  That made my day!

 Ansley's balloon hat: a monkey in a tree.  It was cute (until part of it popped in the car and caused alot of screaming and sadness.  Popping balloons are not our friends).

 Ansley worked in the concession stand.  She got good at it and enjoyed it.  It wasn't too bad but 2 hours was enough for both of us I think.

 Elisabeth and Caroline got crown balloon hats to show the world the princesses they really are  :-)

 And we couldn't let the day go by without a picture with the Strawberry.  It is the official mascot of the festival after all.