Recent Zoo Trip

Abbie & Ella look for gators

Sophie & Nathan (they look like they are on a date or something here but they are just friends.)

me & Abbie on the carousel

Sophie riding the panda

Last week, we made a trip to the zoo and enjoyed the warm weather. We met up with a friend of mine since childhood, Suzanne, and her two kids. Abbie and Ella enjoyed "hanging out" a little since they the same age and Sophie & Nathan got along well together. They will both start Kindergarten next year. Suzanne and I went to kindergarten together (that's where we met) so I told her it's weird that our kids are both starting kindergarten now. We enjoyed seeing some animals, having a picnic lunch and riding the carousel. It was so hot after lunch that we just briefly played on the playground before deciding that we were ready to head home.

Today's the Day

Recently, Sophie heard about Earth Day and she wanted to organize each member of the family so that we helped do something kind for the Earth. She wanted us to make a list of what we would do. It was pretty funny. She wanted to focus on helping her Daddy outside in the yard. Abbie "helped" Mommy sweep some. Anyway, I just thought Abbie was too cute here!

Today, however, particularly around her normal times to sleep, Abbie has not been a happy camper. Her mean Mama and Daddy decided that it was time to snip the ends off of her paci (we were tired of having to get up during the night to go find a paci). When Abbie wanted the paci this morning, she said, "paci broken." Then (mysteriously) her other paci was broken too, so after a few minutes of her trying to suck on them, I encouraged her to just throw them away and she did. However, no nap today (boo). Bedtime was hard tonight too but we are going to try to stay strong. (I'll try to update with more pictures soon.)

Abbie doesn't mind stopping for some chocolate!

Let me see...what kind of candy's in here?

Sophie's playing in our new PINK and BLUE sand!

We had a great Easter this year! The weather was really nice and we were glad that Matt's family could come and visit. We were able to be with some of each of our families. They left on Tuesday to head back home. On Wednesday, we were able to enjoy hanging out with the Gray's at the park. The only downside was that it was really WINDY and a little chilly at times. The girls had a great time swinging and sliding together. I wish that I had remembered to bring my camera! They all swung on the tire swing at the same time. The older girls were all really sweet about helping Abbie.

Easter Sunday

Sophie likes her new Gigi book and Abbie's checking out her basket

Mimi, Paw-paw Tom and Aunt Leia with the girls

Nana & Paw-paw with our crew

Sophie hunts for eggs in Nana & Paw-paw's yard

Just before Easter, we were able to get together with the Grisso's and the Walker's for a playdate at the playground. The kids enjoyed playing outside even though it got pretty warm that day. We also had a picnic lunch. The kids had a great time being silly together. I was glad that we could get together because our schedules don't usually match!

Over Easter weekend, Matt's parents and his sister, Leia, were able to come in and visit us. His mom is off for Spring Break this week. On Sunday after church, we went over to Nana & Paw-paw's house for an egg hunt, then a little treasure hunt to find their Easter surprises (from Nana & Paw-paw), and then we had a wonderful lunch. Thanks to Nana for an awesome lunch! Abbie was so funny hunting eggs because as she found each one, she stopped to eat the candy before going on. Sophie really enjoyed the treasure hunt where Nana had drawn pictures telling her where to go next.

Sophie was still in school this week but Matt was able to pick her up before naptime on Monday so that he, Paw-paw Tom, and Aunt Leia could go and visit the zoo with Sophie. We also did a few little projects around the yard while they were in town. Sophie got a new bike with training wheels and she is so proud that she's learning to ride it. I'll try to include a picture soon! We went back to one of our favorite places, Chuy's, for dinner on Monday night. We're trying to make sure that everyone in the family tries it (really we just like having an excuse to go back). I love the creamy jalapeno dip among other things there. =)

Easter Activities

Uncle Gary and Sophie at Carnton Plantation

Sophie and I dyed Easter eggs and decorated them one afternoon.

Sophie and her friend, Gracie, before the egg hunt

Sophie pauses for a quick picture.

Last week, we enjoyed being able to see my Aunt Mary and two of her grandchildren as they came through Nashville. Sophie & Abbie enjoyed playing with their cousins, Emma and Caleb, who live in Arkansas. We don't see them very often (sorry-I didn't include a pic). We also had a nice visit from Matt's Uncle Gary and Aunt Jo from Kentucky. They came and stayed with us for a couple of days. We visited the Henpeck Market one day for lunch and we were also able to visit Carnton Plantation. These were new experiences for all of us. Matt had to work most of the time but we had fun. My mom kept Abbie while the rest of us visited the plantation. It was really interesting. We had a great time hanging out with them. We all enjoyed eating at Chuy's one night while they were here.

We've been busy with a lot of different things lately but one thing we've been doing a lot of is playing outside. This past weekend, we were invited to an Easter egg hunt at Gracie's home. She and Sophie take ballet together. The egg hunt fell during Abbie's normal nap time so Matt stayed home with her. Sophie enjoyed playing in the inflatables that they had, hunting eggs, dyeing eggs, and driving a motorized car around. It was a beautiful day for the egg hunt!