Delicious, and they even did the dishes!

Handcrafted Birthday Breakfast by Lizzy, Ava, Casey, and Gabe

Last Taste of Winter

Last runs of the season.

Skiing - Check!  Next challenge, mastering the snowboard.

My ski buddies for the day.

It rained on us most of the day, we never did get a clear view from the top of the mountain.

Much prettier day on Sunday.

Out communing with nature at the upper portion of Upper Creek Falls

Sleeping Babes

I can never resist posting pictures of sleeping kids.

Kindergarten Graduate

Despite spending Day 1 in the principal's office, they actually let him graduate. 

Pizza, Parks, and Playgrounds, plus Trees and Trampolines

Uncle Andrew along with Milo and Oliver came down to help during the weekend of Ava's Dance Extravaganza. While I was running Ava to dress rehearsal and pictures. Andrew held down the fort.  The kids really entertained themselves, and Andrew was there to throw food at them, and make sure no one got seriously injured.  He help was greatly appreciated. He not only provided wonderful child care so I could enjoy a night out, as well as some one on one time with the kids, he also mowed the lawn, did dishes, picked up the back yard, made meals, and provided good conversation and entertainment.  I am very lucky to have such wonderful brother-in-laws, who check in on us and help us celebrate events while Ryan is gone.

 

 

This pretty much sums up the weekend.

Beach Bums

Taking a siesta.

Sand Shoes

We just can't get enough of this place. It has been so great to watch the kids grow up here from itty bitty babies eating sand and sleeping on the beach, to become wave jumping and riding fools.  Okay, Casey still eats sand, and Gabe still likes to nap on the beach.  The water was so much warmer from just a month ago, even Gabe and I ventured in too cool off.

3 Moms, 12 kids

Happy Mother's Day!

My friend Shannon didn't want me to celebrate Mother's day alone, so she invited me and my crew over to her house for a BBQ.  Shannon has 4 girls of her own.   Our mutual friend, Holly, joined as well and added 3 more girls and another boy to the mix. In all 12 kids between the ages of 2 and 14.  The best part is that they all play wonderfully together, and they actually gave the grown ups a chance to sit and chat for a few hours.

Plus the kids were super sweet in the morning and presented me with some very thoughtful cards and gifts. Except Casey, he gave me his card, but he insisted that the framed photo of him was to remain on the dresser in his room.

And as my good deed for the day, I hosted brunch for my neighbor Amy, and her 4 kids, since her husband had just deployed the day before. 

All in all, a great day to celebrate mothers.

Goggle Boy

He pretty much does everything in these goggles, eat, sleep, rock climb.

Fort Bragg Fair

I think I actually got a picture of Gabe smiling. Amazing!

Casey working on his airborne training.

Lizzy, feet and knees together.

Casey was on "green," they finished their homework in record time, so the Fort Bragg Fair was a fun treat on a Monday evening.  I couldn't have asked for better kids. They stuck together, took turns, helped each other, didn't complain or beg.  It was just a fun family evening.

Ava: 1st Communion

She looked so pretty and grown up. She made me want to cry. I did a great job and was so proud of herself.  She even got to carry up the gifts.  Afterwards, we celebrated with Mellow Mango.

Spring Break Part 1: The Mountains

No, this wasn't in our back yard, but at the nature preserve at Grandfather Mountain.

 Day 1 of our mountain adventures took us to Grandfather Mountain on a cold rainy Saturday morning.  However, this was a trip that Casey had been asking to take for months.  The museum and the animal encounters at the nature center occupied most of our time, and helped us keep warm.  Despite our lack of warm clothing, we did take a quick trip up to the top of the mountain to run across the swinging bridge. We would have liked to stay longer and hike around more, but the weather was not on our side that day and we kept our visit short, and promised to return another time.

This guy was at Grandfather Mountain as well, Gabe was in heaven to see a real live bear. Actually, three real live bears.

Sunday afternoon and many other free moments during the week were spent exploring the backyard. I couldn't believe that our crazy kids were in the water in the middle of April.

This is our backyard!  Top of the right ridge, property line.

This guy is in the backyard.

And this too.

I think the duckweed actually kept the water sort of warm.

Let's not forget about the waterfalls.

 

He dropped a rock on his head. Look, it is in the shape of a heart.

Easter goodies that magically appeared after church.

 On Tuesday, we ventured into Tennessee to Roan Mountain State Park.  We kept the hikes short because of pending rain. Plus, I wanted Gabe to walk. (I got 1.5 miles out of him.)

Super Gabe

He can't fly, but he can scale a rock wall.

Happy Birthday, Dad

From Ava

P.S. I washed the pollen off your car.

All by myself

Part 1: Gabe gets dressed all by himself

Part 2: After I inform him that undies are not a shirt

Part 3: Still insisting that undies are part of the outfit