Spring Break 2015

Spring break lended us the opportunity to visit with some dear friends in SC.  We visited a trampoline park, and true to Maryn's daredevil nature, she was fearless and tried desperately to keep up with the big kids!  Following our jumping adventure, we all took a more relaxing break for lunch at Chick-fil-a. Ahhh!

 We met up again later in the week to see Cinderella.  It was AG and Maryn's first real movie and they did great!  I love this pic....Maddox thinks AG is adorable!  

 When visiting SC, it is always fun to see one of my favorite nephews play baseball - Jay puts his whole heart into this sport!

 Mid-week, we took a jaunt to Hilton Head Island to stay for an extended weekend at their beach house.  What a treat for our crew!  Their family is adopting a little girl from Maryn's orphanage, a little girl that we met last year while visiting the orphanage....cannot wait to see her at home forever!

 Our littlest diva wasn't so sure about the beach....if one thought that she was going to walk, gasp!, on the beach/sand, one would be wrong!

 She was so excited to put on her "bathing soup" and apply sunscreen by herself.....and the talk about going to see the water was thrilling.....

 even her biggest brother got all smiles as he chatted with her about going to the beach!

 However, talking and doing are two very different things!  

 I am not going to lie....three days into the beach trip, I offered up $10 to the person who could get her to walk on the beach.....I didn't care if she was wearing socks, shoes, etc., I just wanted her to walk!

 TaaaDaaa!  "I did it!" is all we heard when Maryn finally took the plunge while holding Colin's hand!

 And soon after, she was all about the beach....even taking part in our crabwalk!

 Maddox enjoyed her morning workout with our friends!  Brooklyn is her bestie!  They even taught us how to do the Chinese hokey-pokey.....and then Maddox exclaimed, "I LOVE speaking Spanish!"  Hmmmm.....

 After a walk on the beach, we found some cool water fountains to play in....

 The big girls took their job seriously as they encouraged Maryn to play in the water!

 Dinner out was a special treat....we dodged the rainstorm and had a fabulous, memorable dinner outside overlooking the waterway....

 Back at Gran and Pop's, we took on the zoo!  Maryn was so excited to see the animals....she was a bit fearful of the giraffes at first....

 but they soon made friends when she treated them to an extra large piece of lettuce!

 Finally, after a week of fun, we came home to a sparkling clean home and the sweetest note from our renters.  We are so glad that we were able to assist in making someone's Masters golf tournament experience extra special!

The Hunt

Maryn wasted no time when it came to hunting for eggs!  She figured out all too quickly that there was candy involved :)

 She was so much fun to watch during the hunts over the Easter weekend.....

 She had a method....first she found the egg, placed it in her basket, then she took it out of her basket to try to open it....

 some were harder to open than others so she would then give the egg a shake and listen to see if anything was inside....

 finally, she would manage to get the egg open and make the cutest little "OH!" sound - pure joy!

 and then she would show you her treasure!  

Easter 2015

Even though we may have been a bit behind schedule, we were able to snap a few pictures as we were leaving to go to church.....I had a lady ask if the girls were going to match this Easter morning, and sadly, they didn't.  However, I thought we did pretty good in our blue!

 We arrived at Gran and Pop's house just in time for Maryn to jump in the swing and take a cousins photo....

 the family photo....Maryn was not having it!

 She does love her "Gan-Pop," aka Gran and Pop, so when she when their photo time was available, she perked right up!

 The love between these two continues to make my heart happy.  MK is such a great big sister to Maryn!

 Maryn's first Easter.  She insisted on wearing a necklace.....she doesn't have one of her very own yet so we had to improvise and let her wear one of mine....she was so proud!

Easter Day

For ten years, we lived next door to Ms. Ann and Mr. Chris.  From the time we moved in, Ms. Ann spoiled us with her baked goodies.  Each Easter, she surprised us with a bunny cake....it was awesome on every account!  Before we moved last year, she made us one last bunny cake and we indulged in every bite.  This year, the children started saying in January how Easter wasn't going to be the same without Ms. Ann's bunny cake.  So, I decided to make a bunny cake.  With Ann's help from afar, I conquered the cake and the children were, although a bit insistent that nothing was as good as Ms. Ann's cake, happy with the result!

 The bunny arrived Easter morning with a few goodies.....

 the boys were ecstatic too!

 We squeezed in a bit of egg coloring prior to getting spiffied up for church.....

 Maryn was a late riser but she was was so excited to see her water table and glasses!

 Breakfast with Cinderella was a hit for everyone!

 Maryn was rocking her new sunglasses!

 Later in the day, a game of bingo was played while the other adults hid the eggs for hunting....

 and then they were off and hunting outside for the goodie-filled eggs!

 Jay donned his police uniform and proudly showed off his golden egg....

 Pryce and Colin were all in - there was no mercy!

 Once the eggs were all found, it was time to head inside to do a bit of trading!