We're in Georgia!

Jenn and I are on vacation! Instead of paying to go to some beach, we decided that I'd come to her house and we'd just play all week. We arrived yesterday, Friday, and made our first outing to Mom's house today. Everyone loves Mom, so it was a great time, as expected. Ellen learned very quickly that Mom's house is like Willy Wonka's home and that there are many yummy treats waiting on her there. After our first visit, when she'd arrive she'd run into the house screaming, "uh-snah, uh-snah!".... which for those that don't speak Ellen, translates to "a snack."

After visiting Mom's we made a two hour trip to the grocery store and then grilled out while the kids played on the slip-n-slide. Their favorite part was when we'd slide them down their like a bowling ball and they'd crash in the pool of water giggling : )

Sky Valley Trip

We took a trip to Sky Valley, GA last weekend. It was so fun! For months we had planned on making the trip with my entire family - parents, Jenn's fam and Bryan's fam. At the last minute my parents decided that the trip was too much for them since it was a 10 hour drive and they had been traveling a lot. My sister decided that it would be too much for her to take off from work since she's taking off a week next week when we go to visit her (yay!), so it was just my brother's fam and us. And Jeff wasn't going to go, but we rearranged his vacation days so that he could... so we were off! I love the mountains!


The place where were staying was about 4o years old and had a rustic theme. My only complaint was that the guy who designed it obviously didn't have kids. There was a skinny little spiral staircase that led up to a loft. Upstairs in the loft there was an open little space that jutted out with no railing and the railing wasn't that high. I was on guard the entire time. And of course Wesley and Lucas loved it up there in their little fort and Miss Ellen wanted to tag along. See the first pic below.


In the rest of the pictures you'll see our family and then Bryan, Wesley and Angela. In addition to the waterfall that we walked to, we went swimming, made a fire in our condo and roasted marshmallows for smores, stopped at lookouts over the Smokey Mountains, hiked to a couple more waterfalls and had some ice cream treats from a mountain candy shop.


We had a great time and I'm on a mission to find a little mountain spot within 2 hours of here... would love to do this more often.





But luckily we spent a lot of time outside! There was a 100ft waterfall within walking distance that had a nice little pool at the bottom and lots of rocks for the kids to play on.

Puzzles with Dada

Lucas and Jeff have bonded in a special way lately. They spend a lot of their quality time working on coloring, puzzles and games. Sponge Bob coloring work has been the focus with coloring and Candy Land the focus of the games. At first Lucas would cheat when they played Candy Land, shuffling through the card until he found the lollipop or ice cream cone. Now he plays the game correctly, so Jeff is helping him to work on his post game now. As most four years olds, I'm sure, he is a sore loser and an annoying winner. When he loses he pouts and when he wins he gloats : ) Jeff taught him to shake hands after each game and tell his opponent that they played a good game. As far as the puzzles go, Lucas has always liked them... which he definitely gets from Jeff. They will sit for an hour and work on putting little pieces of it together and then connecting them all at the end. They picked this Spiderman one out together this week.

The Naked Chef

Something in a name?

Yesterday we had two of Lucas's friends over to play with us in the afternoon. Landon is from his preschool and was one of Lucas's best buds this past year. And Lucas E. has been our friend for a few years. When Susie asked if Lucas could come over while she packed I thought it would be a good idea since all three boys are outgoing and lively... I figured they'd get along well. And they did get along fine... it took a few minutes to work out some the kinks of having three, which always seems harder than two, but it was fine. What I noticed when they were all together, however, is how much they look alike. Mostly the long hair. But they also played swords, wrestled and played tag like crazy boys all afternoon. I just think it's interesting that they have similar personalities and all three have names that start with "L" and two of them have the same name. Hmmm....

Ice Skating Party

Our friend Katrin had her 5th birthday party at an ice skating rink this weekend. What a great idea - it was near 100 degrees outside, but we were bundled up in our hats and gloves and playing on the ice inside. Neither Lucas or I had ever been ice skating. I don't have much coordination and never even got the hang of roller skating, so I was a bit terrified when I got there and I realized that I'd have to skate with him. I don't know why I didn't figure this out - I knew he was going to have an ice skating lesson, but thought I'd just be watching. I was really scared! But it turned out fine. I managed to not fall... I mean, I didn't really skate either, but all I cared about was not falling. Lucas learned to fall on his bottom, how to get up from his fall, and then how to stomp on the ice. He loved it and so did I! We will have to try that again soon...

If Lucas can do it, I can do it...

Mad Face

Low Back Stretches

My lower back has been hurting for about a year. I stopped exercising in January, thinking it would get better if I focused on getting more sleep (instead of getting up at 5:45 to go to the gym or pool). It has yet to improve, so I finally went to a PT last week. I really like the guy and he feels like he can get rid of the pain. After just 3 days, I already feel a little better by doing the stretches that isolate my lower lumbar region. Anyway, the point of the post is that I like to do only 10 minutes of stretching in the mornings, but Lucas and Ellen are very mommy clingy in the mornings, so it's hard to even do this little bit. Here I am on my belly. Tyson took his position first and then the two velcro babies.

Blueberries

Lucas and Ellen are such buddies now... meaning they get along really well and fight really well! But when they are being friendly it's so cute. They laugh a lot and are genuinely entertained by one another. Last night they were being goofy with the frozen blueberries while we cooked dinner...

Art Museum

My favorite place in Raleigh is outside of the art museum, but I made a mental note this week that that only applies in the non-summer months. Although we did have a great time, despite the 95+ degree temps. It was so hot that I poured water on their heads so that the slight breeze would cool them off. I like Ellen's expression. It's as if she is saying, "Really mom, what the heck are we doing here????"