Family Vacation- Part 1

The first part of our vacation was visiting our friends Sarah and Ben at their home near Asheville, NC.  My best friend and her kids also came over to Sarah's and we enjoyed catching up and seeing how big each other's kids have grown!  This is the second time we have gotten together at Sarah's and we decided it needed to be an annual trip :)

this little guy LOVED being outside most of the day :)

the cottage- where our family stayed; had a kitchen, big open living area and a bathroom;  the other cabins on the property are much more rustic

princess Amelia

little cowgirl

high light of each day was playing on the little swingset- Luke LOVED the big boy swing

lots of walking up and down stairs

the other BIG high light- throwing rocks into the creek (Amelia and my best friends little boy LOVED this)

one morning we went to an area of creek perfect for wading- the kids really enjoyed it after getting over the initial shock of how cold the water was

best friends

Luke enjoyed it but kept a death grip on whoever was walking with him

daddy was trying to teach him to skip rocks- he thought eating them was more fun

an attempt to get 4 out of 5 kids lined up for picture (baby Abigail was not a fan of the cold water)

After Daddy showed Amelia how to do the slip-N-Slide she LOVED IT!

Luke- not so much- he preferred to walk around in the grass

wipe out!

this happened  A LOT! Playing outside wears a little guy out!

next day- Splashville; which NONE of the kids liked

our back up plan- a local park where we had our picnic lunch and let the kids play

the BEST picture of ALL the kids: they are in age order: 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0 (8 months old)

quick hair-cut for the boys

Sarah made Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse waffles

Amelia said," I bit off her ear, Mommy!"

More pics to come as we said goodbye to our friends and headed to Jellystone for camping!

Quick trip to Gatlinburg with Grammy & Papa

After Amelia's recital we were able to meet up with Grammy and Papa on their way back home from visiting Great Grandma Murfin in Ohio.  They stopped for a couple of days in Gatlinburg and we joined them for the weekend.  We enjoyed eating, shopping and of course going to the little kid's park.  For some reason, I only have pictures of the kid's park.  It was a fun little get away and we enjoyed spending time with Grammy and Papa.

Luke LOVED the swings

Becoming an annual tradition- having our family picture taken by the "Little Old Woman who lived in a Shoe"

Amelia's Dance Recital

The big day came early in June- Amelia's dance recital.  She was so excited and had done very well the night before at the rehearsal.  She was so excited to finally wear her Minnie Mouse costume and dance with her friends.

We waited in the audience until 3 songs before her group- then I took her backstage to meet her class

After her Minnie Mouse routine- we hurried to the dressing area to change for her big group number- it was a combination of her class with 2 or 3 other classes her age.

Daddy gave her flowers

Wish I had gotten some more pictures of her in her Minnie Mouse costume

sacked out in the car on the way to lunch- before we even left the parking lot

this little guy didn't sit still for long during the recital- Daddy had to walk with him all around in the back