Hiking and Sliding

We took the girls hiking at Cascades this weekend. It's a beautiful little 4 mile hike with a really impressive waterfall at the top. This was our second attempt with the girls, and at some point we will make it all the way to the

falls!! We were so close this time!

The trail was pretty rocky and every few steps,

the girls would suddenly get excited over a particular rock. So we stopped, looked at them, patted them, even named some......

(just this minute realized we are all three wearing pink--when did I become so girly?!)

Snack Time!

Finished the weekend off with a little slip-N-slide action, while mom and dad planted flower beds.

Mommy's little makeup artist.....

I had to stay late at the office tonight, and came home to find this........

And this...........

(yes, that would be my eyeliner.....)

However, there was also this waiting........

All things considered, not a bad night! :)

The Festival!

Wow, we had a great Memorial Weekend. We decided to go to the Festival in the Park, Roanoke's Art, Music, and Family festival. It was so much fun!

We started with ice cream of course....

Moved on to face-painting....

It was only $2 each to have their faces painted! I thought it was such a deal until I realized what I am going to spend in cleaner to remove the paint from the carseats and clothing!

Climbed some rocks.......

(ignore the hideously white legs)

All the fried food you can handle.....

Great Day!

We're Still Here!

Okay, so I'm embarrassed that its been several weeks since I've posted, but we're still here! Everyone is alive and well!! Tommy and I spent 4 days in Denver, at a chiropractic conference. It was really great, and I managed to squeeze in a little time with my parents too! The last few weekends have been crazy, between work on the deck, Mother's Day, and Tommy's fight (which I will blog about as soon as I get the pics and hopefully video!) but it's been fun!

Yesterday, I went to check out a bird's nest that an industrious little bird built about 6 hrs after we had put up the base of the deck. We were sure that with all the commotion, the bird had left for a quieter, safer spot. So I was sooo excited and surprised when I saw this:

The girls were so excited to see the babies, and we stood back and watched the Mama Bird as it brought a big worm to the nest. It was like National Geographic in my backyard! It was so cool!

While Tommy and I worked on the deck, the girls managed to have a little fun.

Now you might think it mean of me to stop, go inside the house, get the camera, and take a picture of my child stuck on top of her playset. But I wanted you to see how Ava spent most of her afternoon. She would get stuck, I would free her.........and I-kid-you-not, 45 seconds later that child would be stuck again. I freed her the first 4-5 times, after that Abbi (ever the loving sister) got really good at wrapping her arms around Ava's waist and pulling her (like a little wounded army man) into the fort. Crazy Ava Claire!

Why, Dolly.....

We had a good amount of beer leftover from last weekend's intensive decking (no, it's probably not a word) so after loading up my crisper, (who needs vegetables) I took the box with the remainder down to the basement. So imagine my surprise this morning when I stumbled upon this, while heading to the laundry room.......

Imbibing dolly might actually be kind of fun, I wonder if she plays poker..........

On another note, saw this (off the new, but rail-less deck!) this morning:

gorgeous cardinal, sooo beautiful!

The Easter of the Deck!

Wow, did we have an Easter! Most of the (entire) Dickerson family came to our house this weekend and we had an old-fashoned deck raising (?)! We had a little over 20 people over to our house throughout the course of the weekend. We started with a deck that looked like THIS.........

Yep, we bought a house with a deck that looked like this (cringe)

And ended the weekend with a deck that looks that looks like this..............

Cheers, hooray's, some wild arm flailing!!!

Thanks to many hard workers and a truly obscene amount of food(no joke: 2 hams, an entire turkey, stuffing, 4 potato dishes, 5 various creamed, noodled salads, 3 trays of rolls, bags of chips & dips, fruit/veggies trays, much beer......) We made some great progress. Obviously, we still have a railing and stairs to complete, but the majority of it is behind us!

The Easter bunny (although tired) made it through the construction zone and managed to leave baskets and stuff some eggs!

Egg dying is serious stuff......... requires great concentration

Everybody say "No more pictures Mom!"

My little Easter Bunnies!!

Boats and Cherry Trees

On Wed, the girls and I drove up to Annapolis, MD! We met up with my Aunt Jeanne and Uncle Eric who had docked their houseboat there, and my Grandma Marion who was visiting them.

The boat was really cool and the girls loved all the neat compartments and storage hatches! Of course nothing was better than when Uncle Eric let them be captains, complete with boating hats!

After a great boat breakfast, we headed into D.C. to see the cherry trees. They were beautiful!

If you look closely, you may be able to see my lens cap, bobbing in the Potomic, I imagine the wonderful adventures it must be having! (concidently, my husband did not share my excitement upon hearing of its unexpected departure)

Okay, so this isn't a cherry tree-but it is beautiful!

Great day!!

The First Blog!

I'm so excited to finally be starting this blog, after weeks of blogging intentions! I hope it aids me in keeping track of fun memories, keeping in touch with friends and family, and indulging my creative side!

We had a lot of fun this weekend and made the most of the great weather. The girls and I visited a friend's dairy farm. It was amazing! We arrived a hour after twin calves were born. We were able to go and pet the babies, it was so exciting for the girls and me!

Twin girls, 1 hr old

I know it's ridiculous, but how cute are the boots!

It was really amazing all to see all that goes into the milk process. There is an elaborate system of tubes and pipes that take the milk from the cows to the refrigeration vat. (Warning - mature cow content!)

The girls got to bottle feed 2 wk old calves, Charlie and Bunny.

The girls loved the little calves and getting to pet the big cows, but they were equally thrilled by the cats!! Which made me feel kind of guilty when I realized that not only do we not have any pets, we don't even have any plants at our house! So, there may be a pet on the horizon.....

(hello sea monkeys!!)