March Madness / St. Patty's Day

We took a family trip to Kentucky this past weekend to see some of Matt's extended family. Sophie had a great time wearing green for St. Patrick's Day and carrying around a basketball to show her support for Kentucky and Vanderbilt basketball teams.

We visited Matt's grandparents and aunts and uncles in Wurtland, KY. Sophie met some of her distant cousins. This picture shows Matt's grandparents with a few of the great grandchildren: Caitlin, Katie, Jacob, Sophie, and Jordan. They all had a great time playing.

Before we flew back to South Carolina, we stopped in Cincy to visit Paula's cousin, Beth, and her children: Rebekah, Judah, and Anna.

Chez Sophie

Sophie enjoys going grocery shopping with her little grocery cart. She got this cute little outfit for Christmas from Nana and Paw Paw Waggoner. Part of the reason it's taken us so long to post is that after we got over the stomach bug, Paula came down with a really bad cold and an ear infection. Matt & Sophie have also had little colds. For President's Day weekend, Mimi and Paw Paw Tom (her Vergne grandparents), came down to visit. We had a great time visiting with them. Sophie received a special gift for Valentine's Day, a Dora play kitchen. She loves it! Santa Claus had a little problem finding one in time for Christmas because the elves did not make enough of these kitchens and ship them out around the world.

Here's Chez Sophie washing dishes after cooking up food for everyone. She enjoys cooking in her kitchen and dancing to the little radio (which is hilarious)! =) Below, Sophie is playing with Ashlyn, a friend from church, who came over to play this week.

While Mimi and Paw Paw Tom were in town, we visited the Charleston Tea Plantation. It is the only tea plantation still in operation in the United States. We also went to the Wildlife Expo downtown one day where many different types of animals were on display. Sophie enjoyed seeing all kinds of animals such as camels, cows, goats, birds, etc.

Zoo Time

We visited the Metro Richmond Zoo while we were in Richmond for Thanksgiving. Sophie loves seeing all the animals. She is getting less and less shy with animals, and she now loves to get close and touch the animals (at least the small animals). Sophie also loved riding the big carousel (twice!) and the little coin-operated carousel. She had a great time, she even skipped her afternoon nap.

Memorial Day weekend in Nashville

We went to Nashville to visit family over Memorial Day weekend. Sophie got to become reacquainted with a couple of her second cousins from VA and some other family. She also spent time with her great great aunt Mary Tom. She is nearly a century older than Sophie, and she is still clipping along at a pretty fast pace. Later, Sophie pulled out her maracas and hat for a little fiesta with the family. On her last morning with the grandparents, Sophie made everyone laugh by trying to stuff a biscuit in her mouth at breakfast. When we went through airport security on our way back to Nashville, the whole family was selected for thorough screening. Sophie received her first "pat down" by law enforcement agents. We always thought she looked suspicious. We made it back safely.