Family Fun-Filled Weekend

On Saturday morning we traveled to Dahlonega, Georgia to meet Baba and Papa for an overnight trip. The real reason for our trip was for Mark and I to attend my sweet friend's Brooke's wedding on Saturday night. My sweet and generous parents offered to give us a weekend in the mountains and be our child-care for the evening! Who could possibly say, "no" to that offer!???!
We walked around the town square when we arrived. It is such a happening little mountain town. So many adorable antique shops.
The girls posing with Baba outside the "Cigar Shop". I didn't realize where they were standing until I had already snapped the pic - oh well!
Here we are all "fancied-up" before we left for Brooke's wedding. Papa didn't get a good pic of my $2 yard sale silver fancy shoes. They made the outfit - along with poison ivy on my leg! OUCH!
I just love getting dressed up and going out with my "prince charming"!!!
The girls posing with their Daddy all dressed up! Sarah said, "Daddy you look nice!" They rarely see Mark in a suit and tie except for weddings and funerals. Praise the Lord this was a wedding!
Our fabulous family of four before we left for a night out on the town without kids!!! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my children, but having an evening out with my prince was just the ticket!!
Here we are posing out on the back deck of "Frogtown Winery". It was absolutely beautiful looking out over the wine orchard and little pond. There was just one single little house off in the far distance. It was majestic!
While we were enjoying being "fancied-up" and kid-less for the evening, Baba and Papa took the girls out for a carriage ride around the downtown Dahlonega. They loved it! Hannah feeling like a little princess!Sarah feeling like a princess as she cuddles her Care Bear!The girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves!
The next morning we drove up Hwy 60 North to an overlook for the girls to get a view from on top of a mountain. I have to say I have seen prettier views, but this particular overlook was looking over some trees. Sarah had to find a potty, so we quickly ended the site-seeing segment of the trip.
Sarah wanted to go hiking with Mark, so they took off in their dresses and "hiked" a short distance into the woods.
The girls posing in front of the tree-top overlook. Sarah is wearing her new dress that Baba made for her! She loved it and wanted to wear it immediately!!!
Baba and Papa with the girls before we skedaddled to find a potty!
The girls are posing with their gold miners hats that Baba and Papa bought for them. They think they are amazing b/c they have lights on them. They will be very useful during our camping trip this coming weekend.
We had a fabulous trip celebrating a marriage of a very dear friend and celebrating family!
We ended our trip to Dahlonega with a scrumptious meal at the Smith House - Yummy!!!

Pre-K Field Day

Sarah had her first field day with her Pre-K class on Friday, May 13. She was very excited about it, especially about the water relays!
Balancing a ball between the bellies relay!
BIG Feet relay

BIG shirt relay!
Her favorite race was the wet shirt relay. Each child had to dip the shirt into a pail of water and then put it on to race to the other side.
She also enjoyed this one where she had to hand a wet sponge over her head to the next person. Anything with water, and she was happy!
Daddy spending some time with Sarah during her snack time.

Tug of War was when Daddy's competitiveness came out! He was so itching to grab that rope and give it a good yank! He with-stained himself though!
I am so glad Mark was able to take off a few hours from work to watch Sarah participate in field day. She loved having him there. She told us we were not allowed to cheer for her b/c it embarrassed her. So we kept our lips shut!

Mommy's Birthday

I woke up today and discovered that I am now a 34 year old. Somebody said, I can't believe you post your age. I have to say, I am proud to post 34; however, in another decade or two I may be singing a different tune.
Sarah is reading a book to Hannah and Boots.
I walked in after a 4 mile run to my girls standing at the door singing Happy Birthday and Mark finishing up a delicious pancake breakfast for me! My candles couldn't withstand the warmth of the pancakes so they flopped over.
The girls made a sign for me the night before with Daddy!
I know you are going to ask, "Why did you take the girls to "Build -A- Bear" on your birthday?" I wondered that too, but I just LOVE seeing my girls have fun and enjoy life, so my birthday gift was seeing them elated about buying a new outfit for their animals.
They loved giving their animals a "bath". Hannah did her cute little squeal and wide mouth face!
Here they are trying to decide which outfit to buy!!!! So many choices!!

Of course Daddy is checking out the price tags!!!
They made their decisions and Daddy helped them dress their animals with new outfits!
Sarah's Zoe cat is now Sleeping Beauty and Hannah's Mrs. Froggy is now Cinderella. Sarah used some of her piggy bank money to buy her outfit, so we only paid for Hannah's.
My favorite fancy restaurant is P.F.CHangs, so Daddy took his girls out for a fancy dinner to celebrate my birthday! We sat down at the table at 4:30 so we would get out of there before it got crowded. We didn't want to cause a spectacle with little Hannah along for the meal.
This was before the chaos started! Now I remember why we don't take almost 2 year olds to fancy restaurants! I guess it's Chick-fil-A and Moe's for bit longer!
After dinner, Mark agreed to walk through the accessory store called "Charming Charlies". It is equivalent to his "hell" as he said. Pink, purple, ruffles, tiaras, purses, rings, bracelets, necklaces, shalls, earrings, and much more!
Mark showing his enthusiasm!
The girls were loving it!!! I guess Mark knows with 3 females in his life, he is just going to have to suck it up and know that accessories will be part of his budget throughout life!

Our final activity for the evening was taking the girls on a carousel ride at the mall.
Sarah chose to ride in the princess carriage. I guess she has been inspired since the Royal wedding of Prince William and Princess Catherine. Thank you Mark, Sarah, and Hannah for a fabulous 34th birthday celebration! I pray the Lord will allow me to have many more years to share with my family!

Birthday Celebration & Mother's Day

We traveled down to Evans to Papa and Baba's house to celebrate my birthday and Mothers Day weekend.
Baba always makes the most delicious cakes! She asked me what kind of cake I wanted, so I chose her scrumptious strawberry cake - DELICIOUS!!! Some day I will figure out how to make homemade strawberry icing. I just can't seem to get the whole icing making thing, so for now it will be Duncan Hines to the rescue.

The girls posing in their adorable coordinating outfits! Love it when they are "matchy-matchy" - that's what Sarah calls it.
We also had the chance to go see our niece, Elizabeth, perform in her first violin recital while we were in Augusta as well. She did beautifully! Then we went out for lunch with Mark's family to celebrate Elizabeth's accomplishment!!!
When we arrived back at Papa and Baba's house, the cousins were wanting to go to the local park where there is a water fountain. So while Mark and Matt played golf, the women and kids went to the park for the kids to get soaked! The loved it of course!
The next morning was Mother's Day, so we quickly got ourselves ready to travel back to our home church for the Mother's Day service. We were able to get a picture with the 3 generations though before we left!
I am so thankful to have a mother like the one God blessed me with! I am blessed to have a woman who loves her family more than life, sets herself aside many times to take care of us, someone who is talented in many ways and desires to teach others her talents, and someone who has taught me about what it means to be a mother! I love you Baba!
Since, we were at out of town for breakfast on Mother's Day, Mark and the girls made a special Mother's Day dinner. It was a heart-shaped pancake with whipped cream and strawberries. Sarah made the cute little heart-shaped flower vase at Lowe's the day before with Mark. It was great Mother's Day! I certainly know how much my family loves me, as I love them as well!

Strawberry Pickin'

Sarah's pre-k class had a field trip to Washington Farm's strawberry farm in Watkinsville, so we loaded up the van and headed out. It was a cool morning for a spring day. We had a hay ride on the way back to the animal farm.
There were cows, horses, goats, chickens, peacocks, bunnies, and pigs.
This is Sarah's teacher, Mrs. Teresa, and a few kids from her class posing on the GIANT rocking chair.
Me and my girls!
The girls finally picking strawberries. Hannah ate quite a few while picking - oh well! She just couldn't resist it, they were so red and juicy!


We arrived home and had to make something with strawberries!


So, we chose strawberry milkshakes!!! YUMMY!!! Who doesn't love a strawberry milkshake??!!