Wedding Trip

It all started on Wednesday morning (trip to Saundra's Wedding in North Carolina). Alison's parents also left Wednesday morning back to their home. The funny thing was we both made it to our destinations about the same time, however, we traveled through three states (not including MI) and they stayed in the same state. Our first destination was Gatlinburg, TN. We decided to make an overnight stay there to do some sightseeing and hang out in the Smokey Mountains (my idea). What a great time, we found this resort in the woods and our room was a log condo. That evening we walked the strip (very touristy area, like Wisconsin Dells or Niagara Falls).

Thursday morning, we ate a pancake breakfast then headed to this tourist thing called Ober Gatlinburg. It was a Tram (cable car) that took us two miles up a mountain. At the top was a lot on entertainment for kids. Alison and I were able to convince Megan (via candy) to ride with me to the top of Mt. Harrison on a ski lift. At the top of that, was a Awesome view of the Smokies. Once we finished there we took the scenic drive over to North Carolina through the Smokey National Forest. I recommend that drive to anyone. There are a lot of scenic turnouts to stop at to view the awe inspiring views.

Once we left the Smokies, we continued our trip to Raleigh, NC to meet up with the Voakes side of the family. Friday we found this neat park near our hotel (we also ate at a Waffle House - first time) and hung out there with my dad. Once we decided to leave we ate lunch at the Sweet Tomato (love that place). It is a healthy buffet style restaurant, mainly salad, soup and pasta. From there the kids and me took a nap, while Alison went shopping. Friday night was the rehearsal and dinner. The dinner was great, Saundra and Vince (new brother-in-law) know this couple who own a smokehouse type restaurant and they had pulled pork and chick, and other stuff, but the pulled pork and their BBQ sauce is out of this world.

Saturday was the wedding and the twins birthday (2 years), it went very well, Megan was a flower girl and I had to read, which at least I didn't skip and any lines as I did for another wedding a few years ago. The reception was at a golf course and the weather was 70 plus degrees, so you know what I had on mind (skip the dinner and go golfing), but I sucked it up and stayed.

Sunday we traveled home, we only stopped once to eat and get gas. I love driving through, Northern NC, Virgina and West Virginia. No offense Roger and Beth, but Ohio is boring. The girls traveled GREAT, only few sassy moments in the car, but all in all a great time, with the family.

Enjoy the Pics!!!

Rain, Rain Go Away

These pictures are from last week, although very fitting for the day. I don't think it stopped raining all day!

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays, and Easter

We sure did celebrate this weekend! Started out with Mike's birthday on Friday (and celebrated Annette's), then Annalyse and Meredith's on Saturday, and then Annette's real birthday on Sunday along with Easter. We sure were busy!
We had a great time coloring eggs on Friday, I think everyone (young and old) had a lot of fun! Saturday morning, the girls went to an egg hunt/party. The girls got a ton of eggs and candy - so much the Easter Bunny would not have had to come. The girls sure were excited Easter morning finding eggs. Annalyse was more worried about what was in the egg then keep finding eggs like the other two!
Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Big Girls Weekend

Here are some pictures of mine and Megan's big girl weekend. We had a very busy but fun weekend, just the two of us!
Egg Hunt Saturday -




Painting Pottery Sunday -

What a Difference a Year Makes!

Last year about this time (actually, about May I think) I took the three kids to the park by myself and I said never again. There were too many different steps and too many different openings to watch two 1 year olds and keep an eye on Megan also. It was just too stressful at a place to have fun. Last night, we tried it again. It was quite relaxing! The girls went off and played on their own. The little girls had a blast going down the big slides and Megan was able to climb across and climb up everything on her own. I was able to enjoy watching them play instead of being stressed over who was going to fall off of what. The little monkeys even mastered climbing UP the big curvy slide.

On a different note on the topic, last year we were supposed to renew our tabs for the van at this time (Mike's birthday). Well, apparently we never did that - a sheriff officer let me know on October 28th!!! (I went to court and they dismissed it). I am happy to report that this year the tabs made it on the car by April 1st!!!!!!

Easter Bunny is Coming to Town

We went to visit the Easter Bunny at Morley Chocolate Factory today. It was Megan's first picture smiling with the Easter Bunny since she was about 9 months old. The visit was a BIG improvement from last year when she was crying and screaming and hiding behind the stroller. The bad part is that she may be ready for the characters at Disney World now! The twins didn't exactly like the Easter Bunny but somewhat tolerated sitting on him. They at least waved to him and took an egg from his hand, something Megan wouldn't do until this year. The Easter Bunny had kind of a scared look on his face (as much as a stuffed bunny can) when he saw TWO SCREAMING girls getting on his lap.



Before we went to visit the Easter Bunny we went to an Egg Hunt in a township close to us. We thought we would try it out since the twins will be gone for our town's hunt next weekend. The girls had a fun time and Megan won a raffle prize (she sure is lucky). She won an egg decorating kit.

Splash Universe

Sorry everyone for our tardiness on blogging. Below are pictures from a small trip we took to Splash Universe in Dundee, MI. Pretty neat place, they were having a great special so Alison decided we should check it out. We thought the kids would have a lot more fun than they did, but of course we were wrong. Megan enjoyed it when she played, but decided to hang lowmost of time. Annalyse was the only one of the two twins to enjoy the kiddie slide/pool. At one point she must have went up and down the slide for nearly 1 and a half hours. Meredith hated the kiddie pool. For some reason she didn't like walking in there, so when we sat in there, her toes had to be above the water. They both enjoyed the lazy river, Megan on the other hand didn't. All she really wanted too do was play in the hotel pool. The rooms had bunk beds so Megan loved sleeping on the top bunk and the twins slept on the bottom bunk. It was also nice, we were not that far away from Uncle Bob, so he was able to come over Sunday and Monday night to hang out at the water park. Overall, it was a good time. Yes Uncle Ronnie, we went to Cabelas too.

Nothing else to report right now, just waiting for the weather to break and stay warm. Right now it continues to tease us. Two days are warm and the other five are cold. Oh well that is Michigan.