Another Great Season

Nate had his last soccer game last Thursday. It was a bit of an up-and-down season, in a few different ways. The weather, for one, was not our friend. It was suuuuuuper cold (for Alabama) towards the beginning of the season in February. And then I swear for the last month, it has rained every Tuesday, which is our practice day. (And they don't reschedule practices.) So maybe we can blame it on the weather, but I feel like Nate wasn't as "into" soccer this season as he was in seasons past. His aggressiveness dropped a level too. That may just be his personality, I'm not sure. (Maybe I need to look into some non-contact sports for him. Like golf, or even running track :)

He sure did have fun with his buddies though :)

Click here and here to watch Nate in action. (And I use the term "action" very loosely :) And then click here to watch the "tunnel" at the end of the game. The kids love this part!

 

After the "tunnel," Coach Kylie gave out medals. And candy. This is why she is their favorite coach :)

 

Jaquars!!

We love you, Coach Kylie!

Easter 2014

Saturday afternoon, Nate was running a fever of 102 degrees and was still hardly eating :( So I wasn't sure what to expect on Easter Sunday.

 

Lo & behold, he woke up happy (& hungry!) on Sunday so I was super happy!! My boy was excited to hunt for his Easter basket and so was his little sis.

 The Easter Bunny hid their baskets in extra hard places this year ;) and kids loved the "hunt." (I loved this tradition too, as a kid, and am happy to do it for my own kiddos.) We had a massive brunch, and then it was time for church. And even though Nate was on the mend, I had him stay home from church with Poppy just to rest and get some energy back. But of course I made him put on his Easter outfit for 5 minutes of pictures, ha!

Oh, dear. Melt me :)

Watching her shadow twirl :)

 We got to church a few minutes early, so Abby wanted to do a photoshoot with her new sunglasses and "purse" (aka sunglasses case).

My little Priss Pot

 That afternoon, I set up an egg hunt in our front yard for the kids. Nate was pretty disappointed he didn't find the "golden egg" at any of the previous hunts, so I made sure he did this time :) (And Abby got to find a "pink golden egg." Gotta be fair, ha!

Goofballs, ready to hunt

The golden egg!!!

And the pink golden egg!!

 Greg cooked a delicious ham dinner for us, but not before a little drama. He went on a bike ride - a new route - and not only got lost in the woods with his friend, but also crashed/fell over the handlebars. So....he was late getting back to cook, and a little shaken as well. Glad he was okay, and was able to come home to cook, ha! :)

The kids' egg placecards turned out pretty good!

Visitors!!

My parents ("Nanny & Poppy") came to visit on Thursday. Five minutes after they were into the door, this was happening:

Money nerds :)

 When my mom comes, she always brings some cute clothes for the kids!!! Check out a few of the outfits Abby scored:

A ballerina nightgown AND "Frozen!" Happy girl :)

Taking a walk with Nanny in her new nightgown :)

 Nate had a soccer game Thursday night, so we ate an early dinner and then headed out to the field. His team won and Nate played great! Lots of hustling, assists, and goofing off!

 Friday morning, the kids were out of school so we had a lazy morning. And we dyed some eggs!!

 We met Greg for lunch at a new local spot called Taco Mama. Too bad the weather was rainy, or Mom & I would have been sitting on the patio with our margaritas!!

 After naptime, we had a movie date and I *finally* got to watch "Frozen." I think I'm the last person on Earth to see this movie! :) Loved it.

 Saturday, I asked Abby to get dressed for the egg hunt and this is what I got:

(Not happening!!)

 We headed to Snow Hinton Park for the annual Easter Fest put on by First Wesleyan Church. Abby headed straight for the petting zoo first!

You can tell here that Nate isn't feeling too hot :(

26,000 eggs and a TON of people!!

Again, Nate is fading here :(

 Poor Nate didn't eat breakfast and by the time we got to Easter Fest, he was a bit shaky & weak. When we finally met up with his bud Jack, and I noticed they weren't even talking, I asked N if he wanted to go home and he said yes :( Poor thing.

 So, Greg drove Nate home (luckily we had two cars there!), while Nanny & I stayed with Abby. Poppy got tired of the LONG lines and decided to walk home. (Yes, I'm serious. I think it was 2+ miles. He just does not "do" big crowds, ha!)

 

Now, the lines for bouncy houses etc were super long, but Abby didn't seem to mind. She and neighbor Caroline just ran around the whole time, collecting "flowers" (aka weeds).

 Then it was finally time to do some bouncy houses!!

 When we got home from Easter Fest, Miss Priss needed a nap and Nate was resting too. After naptime, Nanny & I walked to a nearby park with Abby. She had a ball and loved it being "all girls!" :)

Poor Nanny, Abby made her get inside the "truck" haha!

Juice boxes, peanuts, and wine on the back patio. Perfect ending to a great day! Plus a 3 generation selfie :)

 We got takeout for dinner (BBQ for the boys and chinese for the girls) and since it was such a nice night we ate out on the patio. Click here to view a brief concert by Abby after dinner :)

Sunday was Easter and I will blog about that separately. It was another beautiful day, and Nate had fun despite still recovering from being sick.

 

Monday, the kids had school but I let them play hooky!!! We headed to Treetop Family Adventure in Birmingham and it was so much fun (and quite the money pit :) !!

Go-kart selfie :)

We moved onto Putt-Putt and Abby lasted all of 1 stroke. Not kidding, she lost interest after this picture:

 So Nate & Poppy just played and the 3 girls watched. Nate got pretty good and was very into keeping score. He got three "2's" and loved when he beat Poppy on a hole :)

This is what Abby did the whole time. Pointed out the holes.

Look at that concentration!

In a world of her own :)

 The kids needed to cool off, so we headed inside for mini-bowling. The balls were the perfect size!!

 Click here to watch Abby "bowling" :)

 

Then, it was finally our turn to play Laser Tag. Poppy took one for the team and stayed with Abby, while me, Nate, and Nanny did laser tag. I had never done this and didn't know what to expect!! But it was So.Much.Fun!!

 We had the place to ourselves, so we got to be silly and loud and obnoxious. This boy was fierce with his laser gun :)

 At one point, Nanny was hiding from me & Nate, and we actually sneaked up on HER and scared her to death! It was great. And I don't think I will forget Nate's giggles for the next 20 years. He had a ball and so did I :)

 We had a bit of money left on our cards, so we headed outside to do the go-karts one more time. This time, we switched up drivers.

Abby was more than happy to go with Poppy...

....but Nate was very underwhelmed by riding with Nanny. He said she drove too fast and didn't follow the rules (b/c she "bumped" Poppy's car! :)

 Once back inside, we hit up the arcade and the indoor playground.

We got lots of tickets = lots of prizes!!

 Greg was teaching that night, but we met him after dinner at Summer Snow....the best sno-cones on Earth!!

 Before N&P left on Tuesday morning, Nate & Poppy took a quick selfie! #bestbuds #twopeasinapod

Onec again, we had another great visit with N&P and the kids were sad to see them go!!!