Tea Party

Last week my aunts and uncles were in town. We had a ladies day one afternoon with lunch at Tea Leaves and Thyme and then some shopping. The girls LOVE Tea Leaves and Thyme because they can dress up. They (especially Macy) insisted on all of us wearing a hat for a picture. I'm not a big fan of putting a random hat on my head that has gone on who knows how many heads, but I took one for the team. haha The food was so yummy. I'm sure it won't be long before Kayla asks to go back again.

Mercier Orchards

While we were in Blue Ridge we decided to take a trip to Mercier Orchards and pick some blueberries. First we took a tractor ride around the orchards. The kids enjoyed that and we learned a lot of interesting information.

They had such a good time picking blueberries, and Macy had a great time eating blueberries. I can't blame her, they were wonderful!

For lunch we ate at the deli inside the orchard store. We sampled some wonderful juices, and bought a few yummy goodies to bring home. Macy was tired and found a nice little ride.

We enjoyed our visit and are looking forward to returning in the fall to pick apples! YUM!

Geocaching: Attempt 3

(Somehow I added this to the wrong post. This goes with attempt #2)

Next we headed to downtown Blue Ridge and searched out another one.

This time we found it! The kids were so excited to have found one!

They took a look at the goodies and really wanted to keep a couple. Unfortunately since this was a last minute plan we didn't take any little things to leave in their place. Kayla signed the book and we placed it back where we found it. SUCCESS #1

Geocaching: Attempts 1 and 2

So today when we were trying to think of something fun today I remembered about geocaching. We have never done this before and thought it might be fun. Marc's brother, Dave, quickly added an application to his phone and we were off. Our first adventure took us down a long gravel road, past some pretty scenery, to a dead end. FAIL #1.

Attempt #2 took us to the side of a road where we pulled over and hopped out. Couldn't find anything. FAIL #2.

A Splashin' Good Time

Friday night we drove to a couple of parks to try and find something fun to do. The girls found a couple of ducks and a small playground at the first park, but the second park held something much more exciting...
WATER!!

Even Brooke got in on the fun, although she wasn't really sure what to think of the freezing cold water.

Hiking to Fall Branch Falls

Friday morning we decided to take a little hike to see a waterfall. The girls had a great time exploring on our way up. On the way back down a couple of fighter jets flew right overhead and Kayla so much she screamed and started crying. It was really loud.

A Cabin in the Woods

One of Marc's co-workers graciously loaned us his cabin outside of Blue Ridge for the weekend. Marc's brother, three of his children, and Marc's parents joined us for a few days to celebrate his parents' 40th wedding anniversary. We've had a fun time exploring the area. These are a couple of pictures of our view. The only down side to staying here is that on the first night the girls slept on an air mattress in the basement, right outside of our room. The whole back side of the house is windows so they woke up bright and early - literally. That wasn't too fun, especially after not getting to bed until about 10:30 the night before. We learned and they slept in the bedroom with me last night and Marc took the air mattress.

Yum! Yum!

We gave Brooke her first taste of watermelon this weekend. It's safe to say she LOVED it. She gnawed on the piece until it was too small for me to safely hold. She had another piece the next day and gobbled it up too.

Macy's 3 Year Pictures

Kayla's 5 Year Pictures

We finally got around to taking some pictures of the girls. We usually take them somewhere each year, but with our new camera we thought we'd see what we could get on our own. The timing of the day wasn't the best, so all of the pictures that turned out were taken in the shade, but I think we got some really cute ones.