Curfew's come to Charlotte!

My sister Emily has been planning her trip to Charlotte for months now so we've just been waiting and so excited to see them and let all the kids play together.

I forgot to bring my camera when we were out and about so these are all from my phone and even some borrowed from Emily's ;)

First day they were here we drove by the Charlotte motor speedway and went to Robby Gordon's Motorsports. Apparently it's not a tourist attraction and they don't let people in, it's just a big ole workshop. Jeremy really wanted to go in but the lady in the front office wouldn't let us in. We were walking around looking in the windows and one of the workers noticed us looking in the windows and probably realized Jeremy is a car enthusiast  and let us in a backdoor to look at the workshop. The kids weren't very interested so I went back out with them and they played in the grass and picked flowers while Jeremy had a little tour. He loved it!

Afterwards we went and had lunch at the food court in the mall and let the kids play at the playland.
Eleanor, Penelope, and Pearce (the PONYtail gang) walked all around the mall like this...

Next stop was Pelican's to get some snowballs!

When we got home the kids played in the sprinkler and then got comfy on the couch with some popcorn and a movie.

The next day we had a change in plans because of some heavy rain.
I needed to go to the church to set some things up for young women so we took all the kids with us and had a play day in the gym.

When we got home it was time to get ready for our crawfish boil. Unfortunately I have no pictures of the actual crawfish when we were ready to eat because I was too excited to dig in! :)

On Friday morning we all headed down to Charleston, South Carolina.
After stopping for some barbecue for lunch we headed to the coast for a boat ride around the harbor.

After the boat ride we had a little pizza party back at our hotel and let the kids swim at the pool. 

On Saturday morning we headed back downtown for a carriage ride tour of the city. It was such a beautiful morning strolling through the streets of downtown Charleston. The homes were so gorgeous. Such a charming place! 

Here are all the kids watching the horses getting ready before we board.

This was one of my favorite houses. There were so many good ones but I only snapped a couple of pictures.

After our horse and buggy ride we headed over to Folly Beach for some fun in the sun.
It was so fun to see all the little cousins play together. We could've done this for days!

Unfortunately we had to head back to Charlotte on Saturday night but Emily, Jeremy, Pearce, and Henry stayed in Charleston until Monday afternoon for some more sightseeing.

On Tuesday morning we just hung out at home and let the kids play all morning since it would be their last chance to play together. Then we picked up some lunch and went to the park for a little picnic and the kids got to run around and play. Such a lovely afternoon and so cute to see the kids have so much fun together.

The infamous "peacemakers"...

And this is what happens when I spoil all their fun and say "no peace signs for this one" ...

What a fun trip!! We really hope they can live closer to us one day!!! 

Mother's Day

Andrew had to go out of town for work on Sunday so we technically celebrated Mother's Day on Saturday. (Even though he was in Bermuda it probably didn't seem like an exotic vacation to him. He was in meetings all day Monday and traveled back home on Tuesday.) 

On Saturday morning I got my hair done. After naptime Penelope and I ran some errands while Andrew took Molly and Eleanor to run some errands. We met up at Chick-fil-A for dinner and then headed home to open my Mother's Day present. Andrew got me an apple peeler and slicer contraption and I decided we should give it a try and make an apple pie. I had never made one before so it was a fun little adventure :) I got a store-bought pie crust and tried to be fancy with the lattice work. I think it turned out pretty good for my first pie. But apparently I'm the only one who likes apple pie so I got to eat it all by myself. :)

On Sunday I got to sleep in a little bit since Andrew didn't have to leave for the airport until about 10 AM. Then it was just like most Sundays around here... Just me and the girls, get everybody ready, napped, and fed lunch, then out the door for 1 o'clock church.  Our Mother's Day treat at church was a huge chocolate covered strawberry! And the men taught all the third hour classes so I actually got to sit and enjoy relief society. 

I think the highlight of my Mother's Day though was watching Eleanor and Penelope sing in Sacrament meeting. It is always so sweet to hear their little voices and see their cute little faces smiling and waving at me. I had to do my best to contain Molly because she was so excited to see the girls up there she wanted to run up on the stage with them.

I really do love being a mom. And I'm so grateful for my girls! 

Unfortunately we didn't get a "Mother's Day shot" but here's one of me and my babies at Laura's wedding in March 

Dan Nicholas Park

Andrew had the day off for Good Friday so we went on an adventure to a cute little park in Salisbury, NC.  When we got there we were greeted with a sign that read, "Your Best Entertainment Bargain!" And I'd say it turned out to be a pretty accurate description :) For 12 bucks we rode the carousel, and the train, visited the petting zoo/barnyard, visited the wildlife adventure (basically a little zoo), and played on lots of playground equipment.  They also have paddle boats, mini golf, and a splash pad that hadn't opened yet. It was a big hit and I'm sure we will be back!

{we heard a real life "hee-haw" from the donkey...it was awesome!}

May Day

It's been a pretty low key week. Here are some of the highlights...

-Eleanor had a doctors appointment for a physical to get ready for kindergarten. Can't believe she'll be gone 7-8 hours everyday! Makes me kind of sad but I'm glad I can give a little more attention to Penelope and Molly. 

-We've been trying to eat more fruits and veggies around here. Unfortunately only a few minutes after I had so lovingly chopped up a big ole watermelon we had a little accident. Molly is always a happy helper. 

-Also in the happy helper department is Penelope. We've talked about going to disneyworld this fall and Penelope always asks me if she can help to earn money. She is such a sweet little thing. She also comes up to me randomly and tells me she loves me. She also thanks me for cooking for her and washing her clothes. She totally gets it. She's always been our "emotional" one and I really enjoy this side of it :)

-Park loving

-A little home decorating shopping at tjmaxx. And no I didn't buy that thing. I'll do whatever it takes to go to one of "my stores" with all three girls so if they want to pose and have their picture taken with a sunshine face, then so be it :)

-Pony obsession. I've got dozens more pictures and videos like this on my phone and camera done by Eleanor and Penelope. 

-And speaking of MLP...Penelope likes to do her hair like rainbow dash. Also, you might notice the lovely scribbling on the wall in the background. That's Molly's first official work of wall art. Oh and there are a couple of pictures of MLP taped on the wall just in case the dozens of actual my little ponies all over the floor aren't enough :)

-Cabbage patch kids. They weren't interested in eating any of the cabbage I was chopping up but they sure enjoyed using it for hats. 

-And this is how Molly feels about bubbles...