Playing at the Park

Digger!

Thinking hard about the sandbox

Kate plays in the sand

Evan taking a break to snack

Swing is always a hit!

Can't believe she kept the hat on!

Got to Be NC Festival

We went to the Got To Be NC Festival this morning. It was a fun day! Evan rode his first "roller coaster" and they both fed some farm animals. Kate also rode her first carnival ride. 

Kate brought me one rain boot to put on her and then she put her fire hat on. Such a fashionista.

Daddy and Evan driving the fire helicoptor

Getting carrots from Mommy to feed the animals

Kate is ready to feed!

Kate's fingers made it into the goat's mouth. Gross!

Petting zoo

Excited to ride the train!

Choo choo!

So excited!

Biggest slide ever! Evan loved it!

Evan's first roller coaster ride

This was scarier than it looked. It jerked you around each corner. Poor Evan's head was jerked all around, but he loved every minute!

You can see me in the back screaming...probably because Evan was being tossed around :0

Tired kids!

Corn break!

Kate's first ride

She's not impressed. :)

Last Day of Preschool

Evan has finished his first full year of preschool! Today was a sad day. We will miss his fabulous teachers. Miss Rhonda and Miss Melissa were amazing and you can just tell they were meant to teach these kids. Evan will be at a different school next year, so we won't be passing them in the halls :(

Evan is excited at the unveiling of more toys! Kate too :)

Playing

Maybe we need to enroll Kate next year...she is quite comfortable at school!

Last day of school

LOVE THEM!!!!!! Miss Rhonda and Miss Melissa and Evan with his last day bucket of goodies.

Evan reading his new I Spy book and Kate doing her thing...climbing!

Kate loves to hide behind the rocker in her room...peekaboo!

 Yesterday, Evan and Kate were playing outside and they wandered into our neighbor's yard (they have moved out and have their house on the market). Kate started fussing and then really started crying. I could tell it wasn't normal. She was on her knees. I ran over and saw that she was right beside a fire ant pit! They were all over her. I grabbed her, yelled at Evan to get away from it, and started stripping her clothes off. As she stood buck naked in our driveway, I brushed off all of the ants. I had to pull a few of them off of her...they were really digging in. :( Her feet swelled up pretty badly, so I called the dr. They recommended putting her feet in ice water, as well as giving her benadryl. Benadryl worked...ice water, not for more than 15 seconds. She didn't enjoy that...she just wanted to put her hands in and play! Today, the swelling is down, but she still has the bites. She also has a few on her hip. They don't seem to bother her too much, so hopefully they just heal and don't scar. Evan also got bit, but just one little bite on his foot.

Fire ant bites on Kate

Kate - 15 months

Our girl is 15 months old. Hard to believe! She's going to be our little troublemaker. She loves to climb on chairs, play in the toilet, put EVERYTHING into her mouth, get into cabinets and pull everything out, and just overall act like a toddler. For some reason, I don't remember Evan being quite as active. Or maybe it's just that now I have 2 to worry about and she's able to get into more mischief :) She is the sweetest little thing though. She loves to give hugs and kisses...though her hugs/kisses are more like head butts. She sticks her head into you and says "Mmmmmm". Cute! She says Mama, Dada, and lots of other noises, but we're not sure what they are. She signs "More", "Please", and "Milk". I'm working on "thank you" now.
Kate has 6 teeth right now and is apparently about to start working on a few more. Ugh. She's not a great teether...she gets cranky and lets us know about it!

Playing in the sand - she loves to add sand to the bucket and then dump it out. Oh and a trip to the sandbox wouldn't be complete without a large snack of sand. Yuck!

Our pretty little girl

We took Kate to the doctor for her 15 month check up today. She was having a great time until Dr. B decided to start poking around. Then she wanted nothing to do with him. Anytime he got close to her, she screamed. Poor Dr. B. She's doing well though! She's still a small little thing. 21 lbs 5 oz (25%), 30 in (40%).

Trip To Asheville

For my birthday this year, Will booked a room at a bed and breakfast in Asheville and arranged for my parents to watch the kids. Fabulous surprise! We left Friday morning, dropped the kids off at my parents, and got into Asheville just before dinnertime. It was so nice to take our time getting ready, going out past 7pm, as well as taking our time eating. We even had 2 meals :) We stopped at a sushi restaurant for an appetizer.
                                  
We then headed out to look for a place with live music where we could eat dinner too. As we were walking, it started pouring down rain, so we were a little wet by the time we ate. We found a place called the Lobster Trap that had good food and 2 guys playing music. One played the upright bass and one the saxophone. Fun stuff.

Getting ready to "trolley up"!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Hardcore ziplining gear - standing on one of the small platforms high up in the trees...notice I am holding on.

Looks like Jen is winning!

Crossing the scary bridge...there were a few bridges that had holes in them too. Very Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Happy Couple

Saturday, we decided to go ziplining. I've been wanting to go since we went on a cruise where our friends all went ziplining and I couldn't because I was pregnant. I was so excited about this trip! There was a chance of showers/thunderstorms, but we decided to take our chances. We got there, got our gear on, got trained, and took off. This place had 11 zips with some of them landing on a small platform way up in the trees! Can't say enough about how much fun we had!

This was our first experience at a bed and breakfast. It was fun! The owners were very nice and accommodating. We had homemade cookies/brownies sitting out every afternoon. There was candy in bowls situated throughout the house. We had a nice sized room with cable and a nice bathroom. The house was old and beautiful! Each morning, breakfast was served at 9am. The first morning, we started out with a fruit appetizer. We then had french toast and bacon which was amazing. They also had fresh orange juice and coffee. Yum. The second day we had a fruit and a cheese frittata which was really good, but really filling. I couldn't finish it. We sat with the other guests at a large dining room table. I thought it might be awkward, but everyone was really nice and it wasn't as bad as I imagined.
Thanks to my parents for watching the kids all weekend! I know Evan and Kate had a blast with them!

Visit from the Cance's

Paul, Jess, and Jack were in town this week for Jess's graduation this weekend. They stayed with us for 2 nights. Evan loved having Jack here to play with!

Evan and Kate eating popcorn together

Jack and Evan waiting for the trash truck

The trash truck is here!

IBM kiddos! Taylor, Kate, Evan, Lilly, and Jack