Weekend Fun

Benny's new ride...so excited! It's easy to push, even with this heavy child in it. I traded in my double stroller at Once Upon a Child and got this one for only $10! I'm motivated to take walks now.

Last Saturday we went to Greenville, SC for the day.

It's a city just under 2 hours from us. Falls Park, Greenville's #1 attraction on Trip Advisor, was our first stop. I couldn't believe something this beautiful was located in the middle of a city.

We ate a packed picnic next to the falls.

The bridge in the distance is the one we were standing on in the first 2 pictures.

I liked that you could get right up next to the water. We followed the manicured trail along the falls.

The water at the bottom was calm.

This is a mini waterfall coming from a creek.

These tree roots were neat to see on the side of an eroded hill.

Here's a smaller waterfall further down stream.

Josh and Jackson had to explore and climb to the tallest rock.

My little Huck Finn found a dead snake and took it home. It's in a glass jar filled with alcohol on the deck.

We followed the trail all the way to the Greenville Zoo. Our passes would have got us in for free but we chose to play in the creek instead. The zoo was way too crowded and I didn't have my ID.

On Sunday after church we brought Addy's good friend Quin home with us. She's my favorite but sadly her family is moving this summer.

We took a walk back in our woods to an area we hadn't been before. We found a hole at the bottom of a tree with something in it.

Coyote pups!!! We couldn't tell what they were by sight but my flash picture showed us.

So crazy! We've seen several coyotes in our woods and hear them when sirens go by.

We also found this random lake in the middle of the forest.

Nearby was an old abandon barn or house.

Crossing the creek.

Hunting for crayfish.

Got one! He's now on our front porch in an aquarium.

Back home playing kickball, even Nathan came to join in the fun.

Spring clean up of the deck. Loving the nice weather.

Weekend in Raleigh

Last Saturday we visited Raleigh, the capital of NC. Our first stop was the NC Musuem of Natural Sciences.

The museum was free to the public but our passes got us into the special dinosaur exhibit for FREE.

This is a prehistoric sloth. The kids are crazy about sloths and made me take it's picture.

Our favorite part of the museum was the research center. They had drawers of bones, furs, and all sorts of other animal and plant parts to touch.

Jackson was in heaven. This was possibly his favorite place ever!

Please excuse his goofy faces. He hates having his picture taken but really wanted me to take these.

They also had a fun play area for the little boys.

Hey Joyce, look over here for a picture! We all kept saying "look at this" the entire time.

We stayed overnight in a hotel which included ordering pizza and swimming.

Addy was really good with Benny in the pool. Love to see her care for others.

More swimming and free breakfast buffet in the morning. Everyone's looking at a big TV playing cartoon network in the pool area.

Sunday we headed to the NC Museum of Art, also free to the public.

We weren't able to see everything because this place was so huge. And the kids got bored pretty quick.

The weather was nice enough to walk around outside. We'll be back to see the rest of this place.

On our way out of town we stopped in Durham at the Museum of Life and Science because it was FREE with our passes.

It ended up being our favorite museum of the weekend! They had an outstanding butterfly garden and insectarium.

They also had a barn yard, train ride, and dinosaur trail.

Jackson enjoyed this area most since he's dinosaur crazy.

There was a pond with tons of turtles and ducks. They also had bears, wolves, and lemurs.

The kids loved the mist area. There were several sections of mist and tunnels.

Benny could have stayed here forever!

We barely made it through the indoor section of the museum before closing. We'll be back here again too.

The kids slept on the way home. Aaron feel asleep with food in his mouth. Now that's tired!

Good Bye Wintertime

We got enough snow to try out our new sleds but not enough to get out of school or cover the driveway.

Feb 26 - Snow day #2, school closed. We were supposed to get 6-8 inches but got less than 1!

The kids had a blast sledding down our driveway before the snow melted later in the day.

Even Nathan came over to join in the fun. He's our neighbor 3 doors down.

Here's what the woods look like in the wintertime. I'm surprised by all the orange leaves still on the trees.

Saturday we went back to the Scheile Museum. We planned to visit the planetarium but didn't know there was a special event...fossil fest!

Along with the fossils, they also had live animals to pet.

A new visitor on our back deck stopped by to eat the cat's food.