Spring Break through the South: Part One

On Palm Sunday, the girls and I headed south to Columbia, South Carolina to start Elizabeth's spring break.  We took a nine-day-trip through the south where we saw lots of friends and family and made memories that will last a life time.  Ben had to work part of the week, so he flew into Atlanta at the end of the week to meet us for the last part of the trip.

 First stop, the welcome center in North Carolina.

Elizabeth wanted a picture with the Wright Brothers. :)

After this picture, we had a problem.  The kindles would not restart the movies the girls had been watching and I spent 30 minutes trying to fix the kindles.  Unfortunately I couldn't get them to restart and we headed on our way 40 minutes after we stopped (and without movies to watch).

About 30 minutes later, we ran into a two-mile backup due to an accident.  It took one hour to go the two miles and once we passed it we all needed a break from the car.  We grabbed gas and lunch and then finished our drive to Columbia.  We arrived about 2:30pm on Sunday afternoon and spent the afternoon playing in the backyard (the girls) and unloading the car (me).

 Sunday night after bath time, Stacy read everyone a few good books

(BTW - I love this picture, I think it's so sweet)

Monday morning we headed to Cottle Strawberry Farm to pick strawberries.  The kids (and moms) had a great time and we left with three gallons of strawberries!

 Trying to get kids to smile while facing the sun...

 Caroline wanted me to pick the strawberries 

and then hand them to her to put in her bucket. :)

 Love these girls!  And I love this picture :)

 After the farm, we ran by Publix.  We came home for lunch and I had to grab

a photo of what feeding six kids looks like (hint- parents eat in the dining room)

 After lunch, Caroline was all about swinging

After JP's nap, we headed to the Carolina Children's Garden.  Stacy talks about this place all the time so I was excited to see it in person and take my girls.  We stayed for a little over and hour and the kids climbed on everything, picked up caterpillars, avoided bees, and played in the dirt.  It was a great way to spend the afternoon and I look forward to another visit in the future.

All of these girls were fast friends

 Climbing on trees and picking up caterpillars

On Tuesday we had BIG plans- the Riverbanks Zoo in the morning with the kids and a Mom's night out that night.  The day was long and busy but great!!  The zoo looks completely different from when I was in college and is completely awesome!  The girls and I had such a great time and tried so many new things.  Thank you to Stacy and Dana for taking us to the zoo and showing us around AND for a great night out on Tuesday.  Also, thank you Paul for keeping the girls and getting Caroline to go to sleep. :)

 

 Everyone trying to climb the statue for the picture.

 Part of the group...

 

 6 out of 7 kids, pretty good :)

 The tiger was on the prowl

 All the koala bears were sleeping

 Heath was excited to feed the birds!

 And Caroline too!

 Elizabeth was a little nervous so she put her food on the trash can

 Caroline was fearless :)

 Next up was the carousel

 I had to get a picture of this, Ruthie and Heath held hands all morning

It was so cute!

 Stacy and all the kids fit in one train car :)

 Hi Caroline!

 Then it was time to ride the ponies!!

Caroline just made the height cutoff and was over the moon to ride her first pony!

 You can't see it, but she has a huge smile :)

 Then it was Elizabeth's turn

 See that smile?

After the pony rides we saw a few more animals and then went to feed the giraffes.  Well everyone in Columbia was in line to feed the giraffes so we just went up to see them.  

 Zebra

 Ostrich

 Some people handed the girls some food and they all got to feed the giraffes!

 The giraffes are so cute!

 On our way out of the zoo

 After the zoo, we had lunch at Chick-Fil-A

and we traded in the toys for ice cream :)

Tuesday night- Dana, Stacy, and I headed to Cantina 76 for dinner.

The tacos, margaritas, and guacamole were so good!!

Thank you ladies for a great evening! 

And that's part one of our spring break through the south!

Happy Tuesday y'all!

Weekend Review

We had a great weekend around here!  It was very rainy on Thursday followed by very windy on Friday.  Since Caroline is still recovering from croup, she stayed around the house while we took turns running errands, starting t-ball, and kicking off Elizabeth's spring break week!  The girls are getting very excited about Easter so we did a few Easter crafts this weekend.

Here's a look at our weekend:

The girls did two types of paper Easter egg crafts. The first one, they glued on different shapes to decorate their eggs.

The second craft was q-tip painting their eggs.

Caroline loved using the paint! She hasn't done too many crafts, so she was super excited.

Showing off her painted egg.

Friday afternoon, Elizabeth and I got pedicures to help us kick off her spring break week.  I love her pink sparkly toes, so fun and ready for Easter.

Saturday, we ran errands, picked out new pieces for the girls bathroom, and went to church.

Sunday morning, the girls and I started our spring break adventure.

Happy Monday y'all!

Life Lately!

Life lately has been full of checking the weather, a sick little sister, and planning for Easter, and riding bikes.  Caroline has been sick all week with croup and so it has been a pretty low-key week.  Besides taking Elizabeth to and from school and going to the doctor twice, we have stayed around the house.  Hope everyone else is having a healthier week then us!

Trying to take selfies with my big girl and she is just silly, silly, silly.

Love her!

This girl has been sick with croup.

We have spent all week inside in pajamas.

I made pizza from scratch!!!

To be fair, Ben made the dough (thank you Ben!)

Before going in the oven.

*Side note- I don't have an after oven picture because I was driving to pick up my consignment stuff while my family enjoyed the pizza I made. :)

Sunday night, The Lady Gamecocks won the National Championship!!!

I was so excited and loved showing my little girls that big girls play sports too.

This girl pretending like she feels better since she went to the doctor.

She really likes to show off her teeth.

While Caroline napped, Elizabeth rode her bike and played outside.

She is getting really good and rides up and down our street by herself.

Wednesday morning pajama selfie

We are all sitting on the loveseat...

...while the big couch sits empty.

#ineversitalone

This girl was pumped for her egg hunt at school before spring break starts!

Happy Thursday y'all!

Favorite things!

This post is about some of my favorite things for me, the kids, and Ben.  These are items I use over and over again and have come to love and rely on. :)  This is a non-sponsored post, I just love these items!

1. Kid Thermos: I love this brand!  You can buy them on Amazon or at Target.  I have found them to be GREAT for car trips, flying on planes, picnic lunches, and just to have as a non-spill drink option.  They can be pricey, but definitely worth the invest for a mess free drink experience.  

They have options for boys and girls.

2. Sonic facial brush: My mom bought me this sonic brush for my birthday last year and I use it everyday!  One of the reasons I love it is because it automatically turns off after 30 seconds.  Since it shuts off after 30 seconds, I never use it too long.  I also take it whenever I travel because it comes in a great travel case!  My skin feels super smooth and soft and I have had less breakouts.  I LOVE this product!

3. Ben has used an EZ Pass forever.  I had never heard of EZ Pass until I met Ben (because in the south we don't have tolls).  :)  It was completely sure we would never need more than one EZ Pass until they added the fast pass lanes around where we live.  The *great* thing is, if you have three or more people in your car, you can turn your EZ Pass to HOV ON and drive FOR FREE!!  Since I almost always have both girls in the car with me, we can take the EZ Pass lanes and pass all the traffic, without paying the $20+ tolls during rush hour.  I love our new EZ Pass and I keep meaning to thank Ben over and over again for getting it for my car (thanks Ben!).

4. Water WOW books.  Have you heard of these?  They are AMAZING!!!  They are made by Melissa and Doug and my friend, Kelly, gave each of the girls one during our New Years trip to Deep Creek.  You can find them on Amazon.  We take them in the car and use them anytime we need the girls to be quiet.

What are some of your favorite things that you cannot live without?

Happy Wednesday y'all!