Spring Break--Day 1

This year's spring break was taking us way down south of the Mason Dixon line to see the Turners in Clemson

That's a seriously long drive.  So when you see a highway oasis like the first KFC, you stop.  This means we got off of 75 (which was a blessing in disguise because there was a TON of traffic).  We stopped in Corbin, KY and treated ourselves to some popcorn chicken and biscuits.  finger lickin good. 

Since we were off the highway, we were shooting the Cumberland gap into Tennessee.  It sure was a pretty drive.  When we got to the top of the mountain, there was a scenic overlook about the site of the largest tavern between Washington DC and New Orleans.

Nothing but this stone wall prevented us from falling down the mountain. Ok, there was a gentle, rolling grassy hill, but then there was a real drop off.

Us pretty ladies at the top of Kentucky.  We couldn't get out of that war torn state fast enough.  That was the day that the University of Kentucky was playing the University of Louisville in NCAA mens basketball final four.  The radio was on fire with people pledging their allegence to one team or the other.  We were personally rooting for Louisville as we thought that the Buckeyes would have a better chance at beating them.  That is, if the Buckeyes would have won.....

We stretched out and then jumped back into the car with just stops for gas and snacks.  Jim didn't even want to stop at the million flea markets on the way. 

We finally made it to Aunt Becky's and gave her this bag of pork cracklins as our first snack.  Will this snack thing ever get old?  probably not.

Turns out the only person who liked the cracklins was JoJo. The rest of us rated them pretty low.

A busy week

While Erica and I visited, the big girls had to go to school.  That left Elle sitting around a drinking coffee.  She is an old soul so she really was good at hanging around. 

She also reminds me a lot of Evie at this age so I pulled out some of my old tricks.  Like this one of threading pony beads on pipecleaners.  She was busy for quite a while.  And sit still enough to put a baby fountain in that hair.

Isn't she a cutie with mom?  We babysat for two nights while Erica attended meetings (she was actually here to work--she was just staying at Hotel Taller).

Annalise got it into her head that a fancy hairdo is bumpy hair.  So while her hair was wet, she had it braided.

Braids at bedtime

Bumpy hair in the morning!  There's no natural curls around here.

I also worked on a hat for an order that week. Here's the final result of that.  I was pretty pleased how it turned out.

Hanging around with Elle

Easter was on it 's way and we were not ready for it.  So we hauled out the bin from the basement and started decorating the twigs and bushes in the yard.

I stuck some sticks in the flower pots to make Easter trees.

Then the comic relief showed up.

Elle and her mom helped us to decorate.  She didn't really know what to think about this as last spring, she was barely walking and not really taking notice of the holidays.

She really got into it.  All week, she moved those eggs around.  it really kept her moving.  Several times, we couldn't get in the car without her taking an egg along.

Somebody put the monkeys into the tree.  At this point, Erica and I took off for a little shopping and coffee.   Jim was in charge of baby naps and a playdate.  It was a fun day for all.

When Elle woke up from nap, Jim took all the girls to the nature center.  Evie demonstrated the use of the binoculars.

We don't think Elle really ever got the hang of it.

She and Annalise admired the iguania and then headed to the playground.

Annalise really enjoyed being a "big sister" all week to Elle.  Elle loved to follow her around and play with her.  Since saying Annalise was a mouthfull for Elle, she called her Abba and she called Evie--Ebbie

There were reports that this slide really took a beating from these two blondies.

Annalise gets stronger every day. Now she can do the monkey bars!

EGG HUNT

There are only a few things that will bring out this big of a turn out in the neighborhood.  Swim meets, Halloween parades, and the Annual Egg hunt.

Thanks to the weather, this may have been the largest turn out since we have lived here.

Annalise gets ready.

they set the little ones loose in the tennis courts where they wouldn't get trampled by the big kids.

And the big kids hit the green.  It was helpful that this was before the first mow of the season and the eggs were really hidden in the tall grass.

Evie found a golden egg and got a special treat!

Annalise walked away with a full bag herself/

Then we journeyed home to await our guests for the week.

Super sweet Averelle brought her momma from Washington DC to stay with us for a week!

And then it was Spring

After Spring came, Jim left town and we got back to doing the things we do best.

Evie becomes engrossed in a book.

Annalise runs off and hides with the ipod playing Tetris

Annalise did get on my case about getting some seedlings started.  With all the warm weather, I had the itch to plant something.  I did heed the advise of the Extension office and didn't plant anything in the ground except some pansies in the flower pots.  The girls got to work planting some of our flowers for the summer and I planted the tomatoes and basil.

One evening, we were getting a little stir crazy.  Dad had been gone all week and I was out of tricks to pass the time.  So I handed the girls a camera and we all went outside to take pictures of our very short spring.  I can't remember exactly who took which picture, but this is the work of all three of us.  And Annalise was taking pictures on the iphone.  I think we did a pretty good job.

Our cherry orchard.

This tree was so pretty.  Every morning I opened up the bedroom shades and it made my room look purple.

Two of the pretties posies in the yard.

We took a stroll down the street and noticed some weather rolling in.

but we also noticed our super cute neighbor, Tony, playing with his Dad.  he's 2 years old.  Can you tell?

then those storms got closer, so we went inside to seek shelter.

Catching Fire. I mean, Catching up.

Some people are starting to complain about my lack of posts.  First off, friends, I had company for a week and then was out of town for a week.  Upon my return, I was deep in the middle of the Hunger Games Trilogy, had 5 yards of mulch in the driveway, Jim was out of town AND I was in my last week of full on training for the half marathon I'm running on April 21.  Blogging was further down on my list than cooking and caring for the children.  Trust me, with the Hunger Games around for the last week, they have had to fend for themselves a lot.  Rewind back to March 18 when it was still techincally winter.  We decided to take our first bike ride of the season to the Dairy Queen.  We had to pin down Annalise to put a pony tail in her hair.  It wasn't easy.

The Taller women and our bikes.  This is the year Annalise must learn to ride a two wheeler.

When we got back, the neighbor girls were out getting ready to have a car wash in the driveway.  After their cars were clean---ish, they all decided to tackle Jim's car that badly needed a wash after weeks in the airport parking lot.

Remember, still techincally winter and we are all in the swimsuits washing the car.  Well, except for mom.  there was still basketball on at this point and I was hiding out in front of the TV.

Jim did have to step in to wash the upper portion of the car.  They had lots of fun, but lost interest when it was time to wash the grocery getter.