Playing with Friends

One of my lifelong best friends (Lauren) came into town while the kids and I were in ATL. Lauren and Jason just had their 3rd little girl 2 months ago. We took all the kids to a gymnastics place and they played hard! And then later that afternoon, they came over and we spent the evening swimming and eating pizza!

It is so fun to see our kids playing together and brings back so many memories from when Lauren and I were little!

jumping on the trampoline

about to jump into the "pit"

cheese!

this is the only pool picture I have...will post more when i get them!

Getting Spoiled

Since the kids are on spring break this week, we are spending the week at my parents house. Avery and Griffin get so excited when we come. Within an hour of arriving, they had gone room to room to pull out every toy, book, and dress up item!

Between the swimming pool and just playing outside on the trampoline and the little tractor, the entertainment is limitless! But Nina and Big Daddy added a few surprises for the grand kids to find.

BIG WHEELS!

I smiled watching the kids ride these around in the same driveway where my brothers and I spent hours on end doing the same thing...

Last spring when the padres were staying with us waiting on Graham's arrival, Big Daddy made the kids bowls of strawberries and whipped cream. They remember this from time to time and even had daddy make them some once...so Big Daddy hooked them up!

one of my brown eyed boys!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Happy first birthday to our little Graham Charles Parnell!

I just watched the video of Avery and Griffin coming to "meet" Graham for the first time the day he was born. All 3 of them looked so little! The video brought back many a memory from Graham's big day...hard to believe that it was 1 year ago!

The kids and I are spending their spring break in Georgia with my family so we celebrated Graham's birthday with Brent a few days early.

Graham didn't hesitate to dig in! He sucked/licked most of the frosting off first...and then ate a little cake. He seemed to enjoy it!

Avery devoured hers!

and Griffin only ate the frosting!

Graham loved his new ride! And had to fight for a turn with his own birthday present!

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Duke Gardens

The kids and I spent the morning at Duke Gardens with some friends. The weather is absolutely perfect out and the flowers are in full bloom. Lots of good photo ops! We walked/ran/jumped through the gardens and then spread out our blankets in a big grassy field and let the kids run wild. A few jump ropes, balls, and a climbing tree made for great entertainment. We ended the morning at the duck pond...need I mention that Griffin ended up wet?!

our big kids

Shane and Graham, completely occupied by drinkable yogurt containers!

our almost 1 year old - how can it be?

climbing a tree

enjoying the tulips

SCORE!!

Griffin had 2 soccer games last weekend. During one game, he "scored" 3 times - once in his goal and twice in the opponents goal!

here he goes...

about to shoot...

SCORE!

his victory dance!

Avery's 1st Socer Game

So after going to Griffin's first soccer practice and his first game, Avery was determined that she too would play soccer this spring. So we made a call and they had 1 spot left in her age division! So our little princess in now a soccer player too! (with her pink bow, pink soccer shorts, and pink striped soccer socks...)

She absolutely loved playing! She stuck with the ball the whole time - mainly on the periphery of the "pack" and not too aggressive - but she kind of skipped-hopped the entire time! She was smiling her head off and would wave whenever she ran by Brent or I.

She seems to understand the game and the concept of playing better than little bro, who needs lots of encouragement and reminders about what he is supposed to be doing!!

The weather was freezing for her first game - with wind gusts up to 50 mph! The players seemed to be fine but the crowds were miserable!

(Katelyn, Griff, Coach Leo and Bryce, and Mrs Kim)

Rhythm and Rhymes

Avery's class spent the month of March learning about rhythm and rhymes. They started out the month celebrating Dr Seuss' birthday and reading some of his works. The concept of rhyming suddenly "clicked" with Avery and for weeks now, we have spent our time in the car finding words that rhyme. They also learned all the old nursery rhymes that I grew up with. It's been fun hearing her recite some of them. Avery's class spent some of their craft time this month making several musical instruments. Today they ended their "unit" by having a very informal show for parents. They sang and played their instruments to 2 songs...

homemade mics and everything! (avery and garrison)

here they are, displaying their instruments

(garrison, avery, maddox)

After their musical show, they performed little skits to the nursery rhymes. Avery was Humpty Dumpty. The pictures are a little blurry and I couldn't get a really good one...but you'll get the idea!

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall; Humpty Dumpty had a great fall...

all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put humpty back together again.