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!

More Pics from Memphis

farm train

farm train

Sophie and Matt with the Pink Palace Museum

Abbie on the run

Here are a couple more pictures from the zoo. They have a farm area that was fine but what the girls really liked was the farm train! On Saturday morning, Sophie wasn't quite ready to come home. Matt let her choose between going to the Firehouse Museum or the Pink Palace Museum. I think the name "Pink Palace" really got her attention and sounded more girly so she wanted to go there. (we explained beforehand that there were no princesses there, etc. ) These pictures were taken in front of it. Abbie just wanted to run around a little before we went in. This mansion was built by the owner of Piggly Wiggly as his private residence but he declared bankruptcy. The city ended up purchasing it and turning it into a museum. It has many exhibits in it so we visited a few-the miniature circus exhibit, their grocery store exhibit, some of the history of medicine section and a couple more. Then, we headed for home.

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.

Fun with Friends

Sophie and Meredith are so silly!

the girls eating their picnic lunch

Matt and the girls getting ready to go through the maze up to the slide!

Earlier this past week, Meredith was able to come over for a play date. She and the girls had a great time! Sophie & Meredith enjoyed modeling the Potato Head glasses! They were both sweet about being quiet for a little bit so that I could get Abbie down for her nap.

Then, on Saturday, it finally started to warm up outside! It was pretty cool in the morning but we decided to head to the zoo anyway. We all enjoyed being outside and it had been a few months since we had been able to go to the zoo. The girls enjoyed seeing all of the indoor exhibit with the turtles, fish, snakes, etc. We also saw a few other animals, enjoyed a picnic lunch and then had a great time on the playground. Both of the girls went through the maze and down the slide with their Daddy. We ran into Meredith and Luke at the zoo too!

Celebrating My Birthday

Sophie and Abbie check out Paw-paw's new toy!

Here's an action shot-thankfully no broken bones or anything. (I'm just glad it's not a big trampoline!)

me and my girls!

The last Sunday in February, we celebrated my birthday and Uncle JoWie's (just a few days early) over at Nana and Paw-paw's house. Nana had prepared a wonderful meal complete with my favorite, strawberry cake, for dessert. We were provided with entertainment by Paw-paw's new toy, the Urban Rebounder, which he had just purchased. He decided to buy it along with some tapes to use for exercise. We were all giving my dad a hard time about it because he's usually not into exercise that much, etc. Well, the girls thought that it was the best thing ever! They loved jumping on it! Many of the adults took a turn on it too. My dad had heard all these claims about if you jump for a few minutes, it will do this, this, and this. My mom has to figure out what to do with the mini-trampoline now. =) On the actual day of my birthday, Sophie was able to take an art class with Anna Kate while Abbie and I played with Anna Kate's little brother, Will at McDonald's. After the class, we were able to go to lunch with them. Matt came in town on the afternoon of my birthday and we ended up going out to eat with my family at Carrabba's. All in all, it was a good birthday.

Quick Update

Paula and Sophie at the Valentine's Day party (at school)

Sophie's getting ready to work on the car

February was a good month for us overall but last week was a little rough. Both girls had ear infections and Matt was out of town during part of that time. Abbie was very clingy and just wanted to be held or rocked a lot (which is very unusual for her). However, earlier in the month Sophie had lots of fun decorating Valentine's Day cards and cookies as well as visiting the Discovery Center with the Ice's one day. She discovered the "Shadow Room" on our last trip there and loved it! The girls also enjoyed the big slide, working on the car, playing in the grocery store, etc. Let me tell you though, it's hard to keep up with several kids of different ages in a place with that many different things to do!! We also were able to go mini-bowling for a second time with the Walker's. The kids enjoyed bowling but they really enjoyed running across the lanes while waiting for their turn to bowl. Next time, Sara and I might just save our money!

This past weekend, Matt took Sophie to see "Miss Nelson is Missing" at the Nashville Children's Theater and she loved it!