Bell bottoms

E's friend around the corner had a 70's birthday party so we had to find an outfit.  This is what I came up with. I cropped an old pair of jeans that had a hole in the knee and added some fabric.  Instant bell bottoms. E loved it and had a blast at the party!

NC Zoo

We also made a trip to the Zoo during spring break.

A makes some fun faces.  He looks full of mischief.

A absolutley loved the carousel.  H really wanted to go so Nathan took both of them. 

There was a visiting dinosaur exhibit going on.  The kids really enjoyed digging for fossils, and seeing all the dinosaurs.  H was a little scared of them.  Some were very realistic and would spit water on them.

Nathan was really excited that this elephant was positioned perfectly for pictures. 

We spent 5 hours walking around the Zoo, then stopped at a Wendy's on the way home for Frosties.

Eno River Hike

We had planned on taking the children camping during spring break, but there was a fire hazard warning so we decided to camp in the backyard.  We went for a 2 mile hike at the Eno River with the kids beforehand to wear them out.  The kids were great and had fun!

H at the start of the trail.

A wasn't very happy to be on Nathan's back.

He did much better on my back, but after a short while he decided it wasn't so bad to be on Nathan's back.

If you look really close in the next two pictures you can see turtles on the tree branches in the water.  We counted 7 different turtles there. 

The kids nicknamed this tree the toilet tree.  Just lovely.

We had fun hiking then roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over Nathan's grill.  Nathan stayed out in the tent with them and A and I stayed inside in our beds.  I think our day was a success.

Easter Dinner

Nathan wanted to try something new on his grill so we purchased crown roast of pork for our dinner.  It turned out so yummy.  The pork had a Jamaican Jerk dry rub.  Nathan created a barbecue sauce from apricot and peach jam, chipotle peppers, and mango juice.  The rice stuffing complemented the barbecue sauce.  The dinner was rounded out with aparagus, zucchini, squash, and rolls.  We had our good friends, the Fagers, over and had a great time eating and chatting.

Easter

Sadly I didn't get any pictures of the children in their Easter clothes, but we did get some great pictures of the egg hunt we did Saturday afternoon.  Emily was our egg hider this year.  It was fun to see the kids hunt and discover all their loot.  Little A was so excited to be outside and carrying an Easter basket around.  He would put it down. I had to open an egg and show him what was inside before he decided to let go and eat some candy.

Birthday

My 32nd birthday came at the begining of April.  It was the start of the kids spring break and Nathan was off for the day.  Nathan and the kids made me breakfast.  Later in the morning I took H to her dance class along with E, and K (tagging along).  Nathan stayed behind with the boys and played Wii.  After dance class my good friend watched the kids while Nathan and I went out to lunch.  We had a simple dinner and then had friends over for cake and icecream.  It was a great day!

2 of my very good friends came with their kids for the celebration! 

There were 16 kids here for the festivities!

The yummy salted carmel chocolate cake that Nathan made me.

March Madness

During the month of March we did our house hunting.  We had been looking at homes in the area for about a year knowing we would likely return to PA.  We found a house that we really liked and was priced well.    By the time we had decided to call our realtor (about 5 days after it was listed) we found out it was already under contract.   A week later a different home came on the market that we just loved.  We decided that instead of waiting to see if it would still be there in April that I would drive up that week and look at it.  The house came on the market Saturday and Monday morning I took off with the 2 youngest and went up to PA.  I looked at 9 different homes that day included a chance discovery of a great home which was for sale by owner, which we made an offer on, and they verbally accepted.  They then led us on a week, ultimately accepting a different offer from another buyer the next week.  We were really bummed.  We started looking at the other homes that were still on the market and decided to make an offer on a different home altogether.  The offer was accepted and we are now in process of making it ours.  It is a new construction, nearly completed.  We are having them finish the basement for us while they are already set up in the house.  We are really excited and happy about how things have worked out.  Can't wait to move in 7 weeks!