This Easter past...

This past Easter brought a special visit from our favorite Wisconsin cousins. Eole love having an older sister and brother in the house, and she fell in love with her Auntie Susie. She would sneak into her Auntie’s room early in the morning to request snuggles…she even preferred these over Mommy snugs.

The cousins also brought their violin!

Eole asked to play every chance she could get.

The Easter Bunny came on Saturday morning and hid Easter eggs throughout the yard

Bunny slippers for an Easter Bunny egg hunt

“Hey! That’s my shiny egg!"

“I found my own shiny egg!”

The Haul (notice the cute hand-made basket by Cousin M).

 

                                                 Apparell'd in Celestial Light....


                           The glory and the freshness of a dream...



                                                     Ye Blessed Creatures...


                  I see the Heavens laugh with you in your jubilee

Camping Spring 2013: A Night to Remember

We decided to stay local for our maiden voyage camp trip this past spring. We’ve owned all the supplies for years, but finally decided it was time to put the ol’ tent to use. Falls Lake is a gorgeous state park with lots of short hike-in camp sites. We fell in love with a little peninsula  doted with dozens of well groomed camp spots. We hiked in the week before to find the perfect  spot with a view of the lake, a little shade, a little sun, and some privacy. We reserved on line, and Friday after work, we took off.

                                                           Eole helped Dad make the fire.

 

She and Mom especially enjoyed the s’mores.

 

 

 

We watched the sun set over the water. We got out some last minute wiggles, and set up the tent.

Then it was time to settle in the for the night. Eole fell right to sleep snuggled between Mom and Dad…Davyn less so….much less so. He was unnerved by so much space, and much like a wild dog, howled for most of the night and crawled in circles around the inside of the tent. Being that our lovely campsite is really only a few miles from the seedy part of Durham, the parking lot was gated and lock and we were as trapped as any hapless soul in the ninth circle of Dante’s Inferno! To top it all off, we went camping off season to avoid bothering other campers, but as fate would have it, a young couple reserved the site right next to ours. I’m sure the experience will delay their desire for children in the immediate future.  

Asheville Trip...last March

Last March a bout of Cabin Fever swept through our family, so we packed our bags and headed west...to Asheville! Some highlights of this mini-family vacation included:

Visiting an adorable animal preserve where we found this adorable hawk girl...

...and this cute baby boy fox 

We saw the bears come out of hibernation, and our own little bear so wanted to join them. 

We kept the cleaning lady busily employed at the Hampton Inn

 

We made new "friends" walking the funky streets of Asheville

 

 

We took a nature walk at Chimney Rock Park

 

And climbed many, many stairs to get to the top of Chimney Rock

                                              Dad ended up getting a triple-duty work out

              The view at the top made it all worth-while though; and then we took the elevator down

This winter we...

...rode the train at the Museum of Life and Science. You can actually take a
 "private" train ride if you are willing to ride when it is 28 degrees outside.

....got sick. But Eole found my hidden stash of
mei-meis (pacifiers) so she and Davyn had some comfort.

...discovered CREAM, and learned how to feed ourself

 ...grew some teeth, even if we did look a little funny when our
two front teeth did not grow in together.

...tasted snow. Eole wanted to build a snowman; 
she's going to have to wait until we move somewhere colder.

 ...discovered secret places to play and hide.

 ...went "fishing" at Ayr Mount.

...SMILED!

....continued to learn and grow at the Little Gym

Christmas Celebrating

On Christmas Eve morning, Santa left books for Eole and Davyn to read.

We decorated the Yule Log to burn while reading our Christmas Stories.

We had a wonderful dinner at Nana and Granddad's house.

Christmas Morning, Santa brought Eole a large color-yourself-playhouse.

One of Mommy's favorite presents.

Eating breakfast!

What we did in December

We cut down our own Christmas Tree at a local farm. Mom's critera was that the tree be cheap ($20!) and wouldn't hurt baby Davyn when he pulls it on top of himself.

At the tree farm...

Decorating the tree...

Making gingerbread cookies with friends

Acting out the Nativity with our friends, the Souter and Best families. Eole insisted on being Joseph.

Davyn was a wiggly Baby Jesus