The Atlanta Zoo

Sophie, Abbie, Brodie, and Bradley with the pandas behind

all the kids posing by the gorilla statues

our only good family shot on the trip-Thanks Kathy!

Abbie liked the turtles a lot-she was reaching in and petting them. I guess she wore the perfect shirt that day!

On Saturday, we got up bright and early, stopped to pick up some breakfast and headed to the zoo. We met up with Kathy and Trent Burnett and their boys there. Matt and Kathy attended Harding together. It was the first time that we had seen them in years!  We had only seen each other's kids in pictures so it was wonderful to meet their boys in person.  They are really cute!  Our kids got along well.  Sophie and Abbie were both fascinated with the gorillas and Abbie liked the monkeys too.  We enjoyed being able to see the baby panda as well.   That afternoon, Abbie and Paula both took naps! 

More of the Aquarium

Sophie loved this dolphin statue outside the aquarium.

Our girls would not stand together for a regular picture outside the aquarium. They kept moving and getting into strange poses. Here's one outtake.

Georgia Aquarium

big hug

I sense an orange theme going on here!

me and Sophie with some beautiful tropical fish

Sophie & Matt

This year, we decided to do something different for Sophie's birthday. We headed to Atlanta on Thursday afternoon for a long weekend. One of the main reasons we headed to Atlanta was to visit the American Girl doll store and let Sophie pick out her own doll for her birthday. They also have a bistro there where you can eat with your doll. However, on Friday, we were able to visit the Georgia Aquarium during the morning. It was very crowded though! Abbie was very fascinated when she saw someone in a scuba suit cleaning the glass in one of the tanks. Sophie loved one particular type of shark. They also have dolphins now so we were excited about seeing them.

Spring Break Trip

Sophie signing the wall at Graceland

the girls waiting for the Memphis Zoo to open

Abbie's checking out the panda

a silly pose in front of one of the pandas

Sophie is ready to get on a trolley.

This past week was Sophie's Spring Break and the week before Aunt Martha was also on Spring Break. We were able to do some fun things with Aunt Martha during the 1st week of her Spring Break. One day, we went out to lunch with her, my mom, and several other female relatives for a late birthday lunch. We also painted pottery. Another day, Martha just came to hang out with us for a while. The week before Spring Break, Sophie also enjoyed being able to take her friend, Lauren, to ballet class with her.

During the week of Spring Break, we were able to get together with a couple of my friends from college, Jamie and Andrea, alongwith Jamie's children, Aaron and Abbie. My girls enjoyed playing with Abbie C. Then, on Thursday, our family headed to Memphis for a little getaway. We tried to work it out where we could go with Matt on a work-related trip but that fell through so he just took Friday off and we were able to go to Memphis Thursday afternoon. We took the girls by Graceland on Thursday evening so that we could show them where Elvis lived. Sophie's familiar with Elvis. Then, on Friday, the girls were up ready to go very early so we got there before it opened and literally, were the first guests in the gate once it opened! (our girls had trouble sleeping at the hotel and started waking up at 3:15 or so!) Abbie did go back to sleep for a while, but Sophie did not.

We had a wonderful time at the zoo though. We saw the pandas first. I love pandas, and Sophie seems to share my love. We had the panda exhibit to ourselves so it worked out great! We were also able to see grizzly bears about one foot away playing in water behind glass. We saw polar bears, penguins, a baby giraffe, cheetahs, lions, flamingoes, and many more animals that we don't have at our Nashville Zoo. We were able to see a sea lion show too. It was funny because Sophie kept wanting to take pictures of all the animals. Matt & I were impressed with all that the Memphis Zoo had added since we had been there about 8-9 years ago. The girls hung in there but did get a little tired from their rough night. That afternoon, when we left the zoo, there were very long lines to get in so we were glad that we went first thing in the morning. The girls took long naps at the hotel that afternoon and Matt & I both rested.

Friday night, we tried a local BBQ restaurant that Matt had heard about on TV. It was pretty good. Then, we headed downtown and rode the trolley around. Sophie loved seeing all of the carriages (and horses) downtown.

First Wedding

Sam (a ringbearer) & Sophie

Sophie likes holding hands but Sam's thinking "enough already!"

"the girls" smiling after the reception

Matt & I pose as the girls stare off into space (they were good through the wedding and a pretty long stay at the reception though so they are worn out!)

Part of the reason that we visited Matt's family in Richmond when we did was that Melanie Harkabus, a good family friend of the Vergne's, was getting married. We wanted to be there to attend her wedding. Yes, it was actually Sophie and Abbie's first wedding. They both behaved very well. Sophie was really looking forward to the cake because I had told her about that. =) Sophie also seems to have the talent of finding little boyfriends wherever she goes. She and Sam looked cute together since they are both redheads and they were so dressed up!

Run for the Border!

Sophie & I made it in to Raleigh just fine on Thursday. Friday, we headed to Myrtle Beach. It wasn't long before Sophie noticed the South of the Border billboards and begged us to stop (ha, ha). There can't be a cheesier place on the planet than South of the Border (can we say TACKY). S.O.T.B. is probably past its heyday as several attractions were closed including Pedroland Park. Sophie was very disappointed that she did not get to ride the Wild Sombrero ride. However, there were plenty of animal statues that Sophie wanted to "ride."

We also rode the elevator to the top of the Giant Sombrero Tower. At the top, there is overwhelming view of the interstate highway and farmlands. After visiting the tower, we we very exhausted from our long day at S.O.T.B., and we drove on to Myrtle Beach for our vacation.

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.

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.