Hungry Mother State Park

During the weekend of Ashlyn's (and my mom's!) birthday we drove up to Hungry Mother State Park in Virginia to spend a long weekend with my parents. We stayed in a cute little cabin (no tv or phone!) and had to get creative on ways to keep us entertained. We decided to try out this thing called "geo caching" and had a great time! You type in the coordinates of these hidden "caches" into your GPS and then go on a search to find them. We found 6 or 7 in the park itself and it became a contest to see who could spot it first. Anyway, it was something new to do and the girls loved searching for a "treasure". We also celebrated Ashlyn's birthday and my Mom's birthday while we were up there. What a great visit! Who knew that 4 days without a tv could actually be fun?!

Here is the cabin that we stayed in....very nice!

Our first Geo Cache! The girls were intrigued.

Looks official!

Ashlyn and Hannah happy with their treasure.

This was the main office for the state park....it also had a little museum in it.

On our way to find another geo cache...Hannah found her hiking buddy.

Ashlyn couldn't pass up a picture with Grandma and Pepaw

Pepaw shows Hannah something across the lake.

On the nature walk....Hannah couldn't keep up. :)

We found another one! This time in a hollow tree.....tricky!

Ashlyn and Hannah inspect the findings once again.

Grandma and Ashlyn at the top of the trail.

And here come Pepaw and Hannah! She picked a good hiking buddy!

Very happy that Pepaw is a sucker for his granddaughters!

Now it's Daddy's turn to show Hannah the lake....this time from much higher up!

The birthday girl!

The Tangled DVD!

Her new doll, Eva....so far she has been a hit!

We saved the best for last....a bike from Grandma and Pepaw!

Hannah found this horse at the play area and promptly named him "Macaroni and Cheese"

Trying out her new bike

I'm not really sure if she is my daughter....because I surely wouldn't be holding a hairy caterpillar!

Stephen at the spillway

Our cute kids :)

All day long Hannah had been saying she wanted to ride in a boat....we finally decided to take the whole family out on a paddle boat and she was a very happy girl!

Hannah and her crazy expressions!

Ashlyn's 5th Birthday

For Ashlyn's 5th birthday we had her party in the fellowship hall of our church. Eight of her friends showed up to decorate cupcakes and play some games! They loved musical chairs, and all of the balloons were a big hit. Ashlyn had a wonderful time.....hard to believe our little girl is already five! She is growing up so fast and is ready for Kindergarten! And she is so proud to say, "I am five!"

Wearing her cupcake dress that Grandma bought

All the fixin's for some yummy cupcakes!

The final product - all the girls got to decorate 3 cupcakes!

"Happy Birthday, dear Ashlyn!"

Blowing out the candles

The cupcake boxes that each girl got to take home as a party favor

It's always fun to watch the birthday girl open her presents!

Top Row: Annabeth, Karter, Jean Marie, Hannah, Natalie
Bottom Row: Sarah, Bella, Marissa, Ashlyn, Barrett

Enjoying her balloons after the party is over

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday was a beautiful day - what a glorious way to celebrate the resurrection of Christ! Here are a few pictures taken after church.

Ashlyn with Dr. Bailey - she seeks him out every Sunday :) Possibly my favorite picture of the day!

Our almost perfect family shot....Hannah just didn't want to smile!

Sweet Sisters

Happy Birthday, Pepaw!

The day before Easter just happened to be my Dad's birthday as well, so we met them halfway between Augusta and Anderson in a small town called Abbeville. We toured the square (didn't take long!) and then had a nice dinner together. Happy Birthday, Pepaw!

Easter Egg Hunt!

The day before Easter we went to our church Easter Egg Hunt and the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Well, except when Hannah saw the Easter bunny.....she is not a big fan of him. In fact, I had to hold her for the next 30 minutes because she was afraid that he might come and get her. We did manage to convince Ashlyn to get her picture taken with him.....she wouldn't get too close, though!

She made sure she had a good arm's length between them :)

I need candy!

Sporting her bunny whiskers

Finally, a picture of and the girls!

Don't they look sweet? I'm pretty sure about a second after this picture was taken Hannah pushed Ashlyn away and started screaming. :)