Mommy's Birthday

My birthday was Saturday and it was a wonderful day. Andy and the girls and I went to the big farmers market in Greensboro and got some wonderful veggies and fruit. In fact I am eating some of the blackberries we got right now. We grilled some chicken and some corn we got at the market. The girls helped to shell 3 pounds of crowder beans and we had them as well. C & J's favorite part was our trip to Dioli's bakery. Everyone got to pick a treat. I got a slice of peanut butter cheesecake. Andy got a slice of tiramasu cheesecake. The girls each choose a cupcake with more icing than I have ever seen. We still have half of each in the fridge!

I love breakfast food more than anything so we went out to brunch yesterday after church. Mom and dad came as well as Jarrett and his girlfriend, Miriam. It was a wonderful brunch. We were outside and it was a beautiful afternoon. The girls got to order for themselves for the first time and they chose very differently. Usually I order a meal and split it between them, but this was special. Carly chose chocolate chip pancakes and Joiner chose an egg and cheese croissant. I was sure they would want what the other had, but I was wrong. They contentedly ate what they so proudly ordered.

The first pictures were taken with my new camera.

The whole gang out for brunch

Joiner is diggin' the egg and cheese croissant she wanted.

Carly enjoying her chocolate chip pancakes.

Carly's blue cupcake mouth

Joiner's red cupcake mouth

Homeland Cremery

We went to Homeland Cremery on Tuesday last week. It is a dairy that is about an hour away in Julian, NC. They sell their products at Whole Foods. We got to see the cows and the area where they milk them. We had a hay ride and got to visit all the donkeys and cow pastures. At the end we could feed a 1 week old calf and "milk" a wooden cow. There were also hens and roosters and turkeys. It was a fun morning. At the end of the tour, everyone gets a little cup of their homemade ice cream, so that is mainly what Carly and Joiner talked about.

Petting the baby cow

The whole gang eating their ice cream

Joiner "milking" the cows

Joiner feeding the cow

Carly "milking" the cow

Carly feeding the baby cow

Carly, Ellison, & Joiner as Cows. What a trio!

Hanging at the Zoo

We went to the zoo with Daddy Friday. Unfortunately we picked the hottest day of the year so far to go, but we had a fun time. The girls are not usually dressed alike, but they picked their clothes and this is what they wanted. A matched set!

This sculpture was too hot to sit on. This is a huge Rhino right by the rhino area. The girls were really able to see them well this time as it was early and not as hot.

All aboard the helicopter!

What a pair!

Carly, elephant rider

Riding on the Tram

Pretending to be flamingos

My Little Monkeys watching monkeys

New Door

We were pleased to get a new back door Thursday. We have been playing with it for the last few days. It opens and closes so silently.

We joke that the dogs are alligators as we can only see their eyes. Now with our new door our alligators are gone. Here are three of our "alligators."

Mulch Day

We had 8 yards of mulch delivered Thursday to fill in our back play area. The truck has to leave the mulch at the front of the driveway because of the risk to the power lines, so we have to walk the full length of the driveway to drop the load. It doesn't sound like much, but after 100 loads, it gets old. Andy and I worked through nap time and we were able to finish it in about 3 hours. Last time, my poor mom helped me finish it! It was a very hot day to work, but you can see we had lots of help!

This was the first time that we put mulch in the back play area. The girls were 18 months old. They would walk back with me with the full wheel barrow and then they would ride to the front. You can see they are having a "nana" while they work. Where does the time go?

Carly and Daddy are hard at work.

Carly is dumping out her little wheel barrow

Joiner is showing us her raking skills

Farewell Lunch

Our good friends the Archers are moving today. For more than a year Paige and I have been swapping kids once a week, mostly on Thursdays. For our last Thursday together, the boys came to our house while their house was being packed. Andy is on vacatioin this week and we have been working in the yard. So the boys were helping us pull weeds and move mulch. Needless to say, this is why poor Coleman is without a shirt. He was so dirty at lunch time, that I just stripped him. You can tell he doesn't mind.

Leah came over to wish everyone goodbye, so we got to have one final picnic in our kitchen. The whole gang wasn't around, but it was still a full house.

We will miss the Archers terribly, but we wish them so much luck on this new adventure. We love you, we miss you, and we will see you real soon! Carly and Andrew already have their playdate planned for when we stop by on our way to Mamie's. I wish I had that conversation on tape!

First Movie

We went to see Up today. It was the first time the girls have seen a movie in it's entirety and in a theatre. It did not go fabulously. They both behaved beautifully, but the sound was very loud and we were scared often. I should say that our girls scare easily, so it is no fault of the movie. I packed a very reasonable portion of Chex Mix and cranberries for each, but they stretched it to go the whole 90 minutes. Joiner has learned when she is scared to put her hand on her mouth and she sat like that for a good part. It was a wonderful movie with a truly sweet message about how it is the little things in life that we remember. I know that is true about our first movie experience today.

This picture is as we are leaving so I think everyone looks good considering our red-rimmed eyes!