Easter activities

Sophie & Abbie at our neighborhood egg hunt

Sophie's dyeing Easter eggs

Abbie's proud of her personalized egg

me and silly Abbie

This past Saturday, we went to our neighborhood egg hunt in spite of all the rain from the day before and a little bit that morning. Both of the girls wore their rain boots and that was good! Sophie enjoyed seeing some of our neighbors and some friends from school. They had some yummy doughnuts and juice at the egg hunt too. The Easter bunny made an appearance. Abbie didn't want anything to do with him but Sophie & I got our picture made with him. The funny thing was that after trying twice to get her to meet the Easter bunny (at the mall and at our clubhouse), Abbie decided she would go and see him the next day at the mall. She did great! She's still not crazy about people who are dressed up (particularly if their face is covered) but she's getting there.

Later that day (as the girls anxiously anticipated Mimi and Paw-paw Tom's arrival) we dyed some Easter eggs. They both enjoyed doing it!

Happy Girls

We found out that Matt's parents were going to come in last weekend. Abbie loves to help clean so she helped vacuum, make the bed, etc. I don't remember what Abbie was laughing about but I hope she continues to enjoy cleaning! Sophie wanted to get in on the action too. She's wearing a T-shirt that never fit me right but it's a dress on her. =) The girls were very excited that Mimi and Paw-paw were coming to visit!

Three Amigas

Meagan, Abbie and Ava Grace

I'm behind on blogging. Sorry about that. Our internet wasn't working for a day or two, Matt's been travelling, we've got his family in town now, etc. Life's just busy sometimes. Last Friday, we had two of Abbie's friends from church and her school come over to play. Abbie loves to play with Meagan and Ava Grace! It was a beautiful day on Friday. We played inside and then went outside for a while. The girls had a great time playing in the sandbox for a little bit. They liked our bright blue sand. It was a treat because we don't play in it everyday! Sand just makes such a mess to clean up. They stayed and had lunch with us and then played some more. The girls enjoyed sitting at their own little table. It was funny before they came because I lit a scented candle. I've gotten out of the habit of lighting candles very much. Abbie sees that the candle's lit and she said, "who's having a birthday?" =)

Abbie has been a big help this week as we were trying to get the house ready for company (Matt's parents came in for a visit). She helped me make the bed, she helped us vacuum, pick up the toys, etc. I hope she continues to enjoy doing things around the house. I can always use extra help! I'll try to include pictures of our Easter festivities next time!

Huntsville Space and Rocket Center

one of Sophie and Abbie's favorite things-a kiddie ride (they rode this a bunch of times)


Abbie is conducting some space experiments on a space station

The girls were laying down like real astronauts in an Apollo space capsule model.



Sophie playing in one of the kiddie areas

Last Saturday, we decided to head down to Huntsville to visit the Space and Rocket Center.  We have a membership at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville so we could do most of the exhibits for free in Huntsville.  Sophie had a unit about space at school so we thought the girls might enjoy at least parts of it.  It was a beautiful day!  When we arrived at the Space & Rocket Center we discovered that it was pretty busy because they were having these Moonbuggy races.  Many colleges had brought teams to compete in racing these self-made moonbuggies. It was kind of interesting to watch them.  We decided that overall, our girls were a little young for a lot of what they had to offer at the Space and Rocket Center but they did enjoy the kiddie areas a lot.  Their favorite area had a kiddie ride that went up and down bouncing as it went, almost like the adult version of the ride.  The girls rode it repeatedly! 

Sophie enjoyed learning a little more about launches to the moon, etc.  There was a lady there who let our girls try on the special boots that astronauts wear when they are walking on the moon.  They were pretty heavy!

Tigerthon Run

Sophie's class before the run

Sophie, Sydney and their sisters.

Olivia and her brother, Grant

This past Friday, we had the Tigerthon at Trinity. I volunteered to help and Matt helped me out by staying with Abbie and then bringing her to watch. It's a big fundraiser for the school. It was so cold and the kindergarteners ran first thing in the morning! Anyway, Sophie ran a couple of times and then she mainly walked. She acquired my love for running (ha!-NOT). She walked most of the time. They held the run out in the parking lot. It was really cute though because the little siblings loved getting out there and running! Abbie ran several laps around with Matt or Sophie. Sophie's teacher, Mrs. Rogers, dropped her camera during the run so we hated that! The day after the Tigerthon, we drove down to the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. I will try to post pictures soon!

S'more Fun with Spring Break (part 3)

Sophie on one of the rides at Chuck E. Cheese

Abbie riding the carousel at Chuck E. Cheese's

Sophie eating her s'more. Her shirt says, "Girls have S'more Fun!"

We returned home from Kentucky on Wednesday night. On Thursday night, we met Nana and Paw-paw at Chuck E. Cheese's for dinner and games. I had told Sophie that we could go there over Spring Break but this was the first opportunity that we had to go. It was pretty crowded for a weeknight but the girls had a great time and it was good to see Nana and Paw-paw. Abbie seems to be getting over her fear of people dressed up because she got near Chuck E. without freaking out. On Friday, we went to Goofballs. I didn't take any pictures but the girls had a blast! It was a nice surprise too that when we got there, they told me that open play was free during Spring Break. The girls played on the big indoor playground, shooting balls through the air gun, sliding down the big slide and playing a couple of games.  Sophie's been wanting us to make s'mores lately so we made some on Friday night.  Yummy!  The weather sure has been dreary at the end of Sophie's Spring Break. 

Sophie's Spring Break-part 2

Sophie on the little train at the park

Abbie & Aunt Leia

our girls with the daffodils

I forgot to mention in my last post that we had a little Easter egg hunt with the girls while we were in Kentucky. Sophie discovered a store that she really likes to shop at-The Dollar General. We ended up buying candy and Easter eggs among other things there so that we could have a little Easter egg hunt. I was a little concerned that the girls would be bored to tears because there's not much to do in that area but they actually had a lot of fun hanging out with cousins, aunts & uncles, Matt's granddad's dogs, etc. The weather was a little cool over the weekend but it warmed up after that so we took the girls to a nearby park one day and they had a blast! Matt's dad (Paw-paw Tom and Aunt Leia) drove in from VA on Sunday night. At the park that we visited they had newer playground equipment as well as having some old relics like a merry-go-round and one of those huge metal slides like they had when we were little. The flowers in the park were gorgeous!

They decided to have the funeral for Matt's grandmother on Wednesday because one of Matt's cousins couldn't get in town until Tuesday night. We were able to stay around until after the funeral and burial and then we left town immediately after to head for home. Thankfully, the storm that had been predicted held off until after the burial was over. That was definitely an answered prayer!! Overall, the girls were really good on the trip about sleeping on the floor at night, rolling with the punches, not being entertained every minute, etc. We drove straight home on Wednesday and it sure was nice to be home again!!!