Ormond Beach Florida

 This weekend we drove to Ormond Beach Florida to visit Amanda and family's new home.  It was a great little beach town just north of Daytona Beach.  We are only a 6 hour drive away which is much better than 15+ hours!  Alia is all ready to go.  I saw a pin on pinterest that had art supplies organized in a toiletry bag.  It is hanging next to her.  It worked great!

 We were hungry and decided to stop at a Whole Foods.  This is where our gps lead us....not exactly what we had in mind!  I'm not even sure what this place is, but it did lead us to a really good pizza place that happened to be just next door.  Serendipity! 

 Avery lost his first tooth once we made it to the hotel!  He was so excited and you could tell by his expression that he finally felt like he's growing up.  It was a special moment for all of us.

 Avery woke up at 5 am bursting with excitement to check out the ocean.

 Look Mom we can balance!  Notice the cars in the background?  There is a designated spot on the beach where you can drive your car for a few miles!  It was weird seeing the cars drive by.

 The cousins:  Gaven 14, Austin 9, Avery 6, Jaycent 7, and Alia 4

 Bama and Papa with the grandkids.  Mom and Joe were able to ride with Joel's grandma down to Florida from Wisconsin.  It was great having them there at the same time.  Next time we have to get Cassie there and we will be set.

 The whole gang.  In this picture we were exploring one of the many parks in Ormond Beach.  The city was set up well with a lot of little parks and some cool walking trails and streets.  The Halifax River runs through Ormond as well, making it an Ocean and River front community.  There is also a State Park nearby.  We really enjoyed the city and thought that Ormond did a great job at being a community, not just a beach town.  We are already looking forward to our next visit. 

 Playing around on the statues.

Happy Birthday Scott!

 Avery drew 34 heart shaped balloons for Daddy.

 Alia drew the family.

 We headed to the Atlanta Zoo and enjoyed a beautiful spring day. 

 Scott asked for an ice cream cake this year.  Alia decorated the cake for him. 

 Notice Alia's face here.  Along with an oreo bottom, Scott wanted a caramel layer.  I made the caramel homemade and it was at the perfect soft ball stage, however once it was frozen it turned into cement.  We could not cut through the caramel layer.  We had to take the ice cream and fudge layer off the cake and melt the caramel again.  It was quite the mess and the oreos were so sugary from the caramel.  We ended up just eating the ice cream and fudge layers and throwing the rest out. 

 Alia wanted to buy Daddy twister for his birthday.  I forgot how much fun that game was! 

We love you! 

Asheville North Carolina

We spent part of our spring break in Asheville North Carolina this year with Grandma, Grandpa, Laura, and Tony.  It was a great city with a lot of diversity.  Our first stop of the trip was The Biltmore.  The Biltmore was built by George Vanderbilt in 1889 to be a country retreat for his friends and family.  It features 4 acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. The basement has a swimming pool, gymnasium and changing rooms, bowling alley, servants' quarters, and kitchens.  It was a beautiful home full of a lot of history.  My favorite room was the library.  It had an amazing ceiling painted by an Italian artist and it contained a 23,000 volume library.  I would love to sit and look through those books. 

 
 The architecture was impressive! 

 The gardens were impressive.  This was a pear tree that has been pruned to grow against the wall so it can grow in a colder region. 

 Alia loved running through the children's maze.

 We were able to visit the farm.  Biltmore had the most Jersey cows in the country at one time.


 We made a stop at one of the parks. 

 and hiked at the Arboretum. 

 Avery found a hiding spot.

 We also took time to explore downtown Asheville.  The downtown had many unique shops, street performers, and art.  I loved how diverse the area was.  It was a great trip and an awesome city. 

April Fools!

 Since this is my favorite holiday I decided to let the kids share in the excitement.  Scott was so relieved that I pranked the kids all day and not him!  We started out by duct taping their plates to the table.  This is Alia's reaction. 

 We filled their breakfast rolls with broccoli instead of cinnamon and sugar and we froze their milk.  We also put lemon juice on Avery's toothbrush and put vaseline on his door knob. 

 Avery quickly joined in on the fun and taped me in my bedroom, and Alia taped my shoes shut. 

 To finish the night off we decided to play the flour game.  You fill a teacup full of flour, dump it upside down and place a candy on top.  Then everyone takes turns cutting the flour.  Whoever makes the candy fall has to get the candy with his/her mouth without using hands. 

 Scott lost round one.

 Here he goes.....

 success! 

 Avery lost round two and was a good sport trying to get the candy out.

Overall, it was a great day of pranks!  I look forward to the years to come, but I am nervous because I have a feeling Avery and Alia are really going to get me!  Scott never remembers April Fools so I've never worried about him. 

Easter 2013

 

For the basket hunt this year we had a scavenger hunt using pictures from a microscope.  Each clue was a picture of something they would have to go find.  Alia is holding up a picture of toilet paper and then the piece of toilet paper the next clue was on.  Avery is holding up a picture of a toothbrush that was attached to Alia's toilet paper.  They kept asking why the pictures looked so funny.  Until they found this..... 

a microscope!  We bought one you could hook up to the tv so we could all enjoy the show.

We took a walk to gather things to look at under the microscope.  The ant and roly poly bug we found were the neatest to look at magnified.  We also collected pond water, rocks, leaves, bark and flowers.

 The best part of the basket hunt is finding the silly string can for our fight! 

 Scott is being blasted with string!

Our eggs....I asked Alia to pose with the eggs and she set this whole pose up.  We used kool-aid, glitter and tattoos this year on our eggs. 

6 month Picture Update

 Alia 4 years

 
 Avery 6 1/2 years

Happy Birthday Alia

 Alia and Banana 4 years old

Alia and Banana 3 years old

She wanted a helium balloon for her birthday.

We made this fruit cake for Alia's school birthday.  It was a hit!  














She wanted a frog cake for her birthday this year.  We made a healthier version of a chocolate cake using quinoa flour and dark chocolate.  We also used spinach and avocados to make green food coloring for the frosting.  It worked great and didn't really taste like either of those things. 

 This is what Alia chose for her birthday:
1.  Watch a movie
2.  Eat pancakes for breakfast
3.  Play
4.  Have me do all of her chores as well as Avery's
5.  Eat ice cream for dinner- that really is all she ate.  Avery played a joke on us and put plastic worms in the salad.  Alia has a very weak stomach and wouldn't eat her food once she thought there were worms in the salad.
6.  Bake cookies
7.  Eat candy
8.  Skip quiet time

I asked her the yearly questions and this is what she came up with:

1.  What is your favorite holiday?  The weekend
2.  When I grow up I want to be a mommy.
3.  What is your favorite thing to do in school?  Cut out squares.
4.  What is your least favorite thing about school?  When kids say "poopy".
5.  If you could buy anything what would it be?  A car
6.  What is your favorite memory this year?  Playing together as a family.
7.  What would you change about this year?  I won't jump on the couches now that I'm 4.
8.  Who is your best friend?  Reese
9.  What is your biggest accomplishment this year?  Playing nicely with Avery.
10.  What do you like most about yourself?  I like being Alia. 

Now you see it, now you don't

Avery recently spent his commission money to buy a magicians kit and then he put on a show for us.  He bought the kit and then spent some time watching the video and teaching himself how to do the tricks.  It was a special time for Scott and I because it was the first time Avery took initiative to learn something on his own and then show us.  He really is growing up!  We were both very proud of him.  He even took one of the tricks to school for show and tell to mesmerize his class.  Enjoy the video, it's a long one : ).