Sweet Puppy

Easter 2014

We had a very enjoyable Easter this year.  We started things off the night before, making some cookies for the “Easter Bunny”.  Neither of the girls really believe there is an Easter Bunny (definitely not Nina, but maybe Lyla believes) but we made some cookies together then set out the baskets after the kids went to sleep.

We don’t have an Easter Bunny delivering treats, but we actually do have an Easter Puppy!

After church on Easter morning, we went out to my parents’ house for Easter lunch and egg hunting. 

The Williams family was in Asheville for the weekend, so the egg hunt was just for Nina and Lyla this year. Between community activities and this egg hunt for just the two of them, they’ve certainly collected their share of candy this Easter!  

  

     

Thanks to Mark and Uncle Bo, there were some very challenging hiding spots for eggs, but we think the girls found them all. 

We are blessed to be able to celebrate this resurrection day with a wonderful family on such a beautiful spring day.  Happy Easter!

Spring Break

Nina and Lyla have been on Spring Break this week.  Since we didn’t go anywhere, we’ve tried doing something fun each day to enjoy the week off school. 

On Monday, we met up with the cousins and took a trip to visit PB.  As always, he had an afternoon of picture taking planned, so I snapped a few while the girls were posed for his pictures.  We had brought their Easter dresses for some pictures, so here’s a little before and after shot of the five girls.

Tuesday was rainy and cold, so I took the girls indoor swimming which they really enjoyed.

The sun was back out on Wednesday, so we set out for a trip to Great Falls National Park.  The day started out rather chilly.  We raced through our picnic lunch because the girls were freezing, but once we got hiking along the River Trail, we warmed up quickly. 

Of course we had Cayenne with us.  She was so into the sniffing and exploring of all the new things along the trail that I figured it would end up being a great day if she didn’t pull me into the Potomac!  I was surprised at how far the kids wanted to hike.  We took the rather challenging (for kids) River Trail and climbed rocks and hiked anywhere we could go with two kids and a dog.  Thankfully Cayenne is very athletic.  She looked like a little mountain goat on some of the rocks!

However, as I expected would happen, they kept wanting to go further and further on the River Trail, and only wanted to turn around when they were completely exhausted.  That means, of course, that we still had to make it back to the parking lot, but we found a much more direct and easy to traverse trail on the way back to the car. So while there was still a lot of moaning and groaning about tired legs, we did eventually make it back to the car. 

I had to keep reminding them that all along the River Trail they were the self named “Adventure Girls” who I need not worry about when it came to climbing rocks and handling the River Trail.  They could do it all, they were Adventure Girls.  Well, it took a lot out of the Adventure Girls to make it back to the car, but we did make it back!

On Thursday, Nina, Lyla, Cayenne, and I got to meet Mousey for lunch, then we went back to their house for jump roping, snake hunting, and stick picking. Sounds like a good afternoon in the country!

So, we’ve had a nice spring break week.  While it isn’t over yet, its winding down.  Nina said to me today that she wished spring break wouldn’t end, and even though that can’t be the case, it’s nice to know that summer break isn’t too far around the corner.

An Afternoon Fishing

Yesterday was another beautiful afternoon, so we met some friends over at our neighborhood ponds for some fishing.  There were a few fish caught, but there was a lot of playing around the water and lots and lots of exploring for Cayenne.  After fishing, we got cleaned up and had some smores outside – another lovely spring day!!!

   

Spring!

Yesterday was a most beautiful spring day, and we spent ours with some fun activities outside.  Lyla started out the day with her first soccer game.  She did great and got her hair sprayed pink for the occasion (there was a soccer festival going on to kick off the season).

After the soccer game, we headed out to the neighborhood Bunny Trail that was being put on for kids Lyla’s age and younger.  They had activity stations that culminated with an egg collecting.  I won’t even call it an egg hunt because, as you can see, there was no hunting required!!!

 

Since it was such a beautiful afternoon, we came home from the bunny trail and sat outside on the back deck while the kids played with friends.  We have two beautiful trees blooming in the back yard, and already the bees are at work pollinating.  The blooms don’t last for long, so we’re going to enjoy then while we can!

After dinner we headed back out for another community activity.  They were having a flashlight egg hunt in the park for kids ages 7-12, so Nina and some neighbor friends got together for that egg hunt.  Nina collected a basket full of eggs, but unfortunately she didn’t collect the coveted “golden egg.”  There were a few special golden eggs that, if found, could be turned in for a special prize.  We didn’t find a golden egg, but we still came home with a basket full of eggs and some tired kids who crashed in bed after a beautiful and fun spring day!

 

We’re Back!

It’s been awhile since having done my last post.  The whole Simpson family was down and out with the flu bug that was going around.  So for over 1 1/2 weeks, we didn’t do much of anything.  Lyla was the first to get sick, then Nina followed, then Mark and I got it at the same time.   Not fun!  Meanwhile, Cayenne was finding herself in “the dog house” quite often, so she didn’t earn any blog posts either.  However, we’re back in the land of the healthy (mostly) now, so I’m glad we’re all feeling better just in time for the start of Spring Break!

Lyla is turning into quite the little student through this year of Kindergarten.  She loves school, loves her teachers, and she’s doing a great job reading and writing.  She loves “earning money” for her class store, sorting her coins and deciding whether to save her spend her money each Friday when the class store comes out.  The Kindergarteners earn money for good behavior, helping others, doing optional homework, etc. 

Lyla also started on a soccer team this spring.  She really enjoys soccer, likes going to practice, and we’ll see how she does at the first game of the season tomorrow! 

I took this picture with my camera phone, so it’s a little blurry, but this is Nina’s BFF crew in her second grade class (minus one other little girl not in the picture).  She has such a great teacher this year, she’s doing great with her studies, and she really loves her group of girl friends in her class. Second grade has been a great year.  It’s hard to believe there is only one quarter of school left!!  

Nina is still participating in a tumbling program, and as she says, “it’s totally my thing.”  She works on the type of moves that can be incorporated into dance and loves going to class each week.  I have a lot more respect for what she does after trying to hold my own back bend. In the back bend position, I could barely lift my leg in the air, yet she looks so graceful going into a backbend, then taking her legs over her head into a walkover.  It’s given me a new appreciation for all her hard work! 

With everyone feeling better and spring break right around the corner, we’ll no doubt be back to posting more frequent updates.  It feels good to be getting back to normal!!