Family Visit and Trail Running

Reid's parents and his sister Amber came to visit.  It was so great to see them.  It was their first time seeing Millie so they had fun snuggling with her, and playing around with Brooke and Owen.  We spent a day at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga which was really cool.

The butterflies were much more active than they have been in the past.  Brooke loved that they were landing all over her.  Isn't that one above beautiful?

 

 

 

Owen really didn't like the butterfly room, this is his grumpy face.

 

This sea turtle is named Oscar, he lost his back flippers when he was in an accident with a boat.

Don't those sharks look freaky?

 

 

Lunch at TGIFridays

Reid and his dad grilled ribs one day.  They were amazing! Those are Reid's  crazy meat eyes!

Owen had croup when they were here, and was pretty grumpy and exhausted the whole time.

Brooke adores Amber.  She loved seeing her and hanging out with her for a little.

A couple summers ago Reid and I starte doing a little trail running.  We really loved it and Reid kept on doing a little here and there while I stopped running altogether, gained a bazillion pounds and had a baby.  Since having Millie, I've been trying to get running again and Reid has kind of taken off going on longer runs and really getting into it. Anyways, there was a trail race we wanted to do and Reid's parents kindly drove up to the mountains with us and watched our kids while we ran.  Reid did a 17.5 mile race, while I thought I might be able to handle the 10 k option.  We got to start together and run the first 3 miles together before we split off.  Reid did great and I finished my 6 miles before any of the runners from the 17 mile race finished so that was a victory for me. We had a great time.  It was fun to get to run together in such a beautiful area.

Easter Weekend

We had a fun time over Easter. Our kids really got into decorating eggs, even Owen only broke about half of the eggs he dyed :)!





We invited a few of our neighbors over for an Easter Egg Hunt which was great. We live next door to two families, one that has triplet 5 year old girls and one that has twin 5 year old girls, funny huh? Then we also have some neighbors that have 4 boys. So we didn't have to invite too many families in order to get a good turn out. Also, let's just say we didn't mow our lawn so it would be easier to hide the eggs, ok?




My sister Elizabeth also came out for the weekend and we went to Dollywood, had smores, took her to a local restaurant where she was weirded out by the printed Bible veses on the menu (life in the South), watched a lot of movies and had a grand ole time!

A Visit With Grandpa

Reid's dad came to visit on his way to a conference in Kentucky and we had so much fun! Living far away from family, there is nothing quite as fun for Brooke as a visit with her grandparents. She just loved all the attention and we all had fun!
Friday night, we went downtown to Rita's, our favorite ice cream shop from Pennsylvania. They have the best Gellati's, Italian ice layered with yummy custard, so delicious! Rita's might be the only thing we actually miss from Pennsylvania!

Then on Saturday, we went to a fall festival, where they had a petting zoo, wagon rides, and a lot of fun games and activities. Then we went miniature golfing, this is the second time we've taken Brooke miniature golfing and both times she insists on taking the ball up by the whole and then carefully putting it in. She really doesn't get why we all start so far away! We had so much fun, we just love seeing our family!

Uncle Nate

We had a fun visit this past weekend with my brother Nathan. Brooke kept saying "You're so silly Uncle Nate". She loved having him here. We went to Dollywood Splash Country on Saturday, I thought Brooke would love it, but she was not so impressed and just kept asking if we could go to the "real dollywood" with roller coasters! I was pretty frustrated, as much as those tickets are I wanted her to be LOVING it. But, we still had fun and it was great to see Nathan!

Happy 4th of July

My sister Marti came down from Illinois for the 4th and we had a fun, busy weekend!
We met her in KY on Friday morning and went hiking in the Cumberland Gap.




Then that night we went to a Smokies baseball game. It was a fun game and they had a preety cool fireworks show after the game.






Saturday morning, we had a bike parade with some friends.



Then Saturday afternoon, we barbecued and then went downtown for the 4th festival and fireworks show. They had a ton of fun kid crafts and there was a concert by the Knoxville Symphony.









We are so glad Marti got to come down and hangout with us. We had a great time! Happy 4th of July everyone!