Spring Break Fun: Game Ranch.

Wow.  Long time, no blog.  Our incredibly fun Spring Break week was immediately followed by a school week for Ben, so all my time, energy, and sanity went into single parenting four kiddos, working, and sleeping, leaving no time for blogging!  We're beyond thankful to have Ben back home and I'm ready to get back into the swing of things...I've got a lot to catch up on!

While I didn't get any pictures (sad!), the kids and I had a great (and chaotic) time enjoying a picnic lunch at Playtown Suwanee with Kristin, Katie, and Leigh Ann on Wednesday.  In case you weren't aware, I LOVED high school.  And I still love my high school friends.  Spice Girls forever!!

On Thursday, I braved the Game Ranch.  With all four kids.  On my own.

And it was awesome.

Seriously.  We loaded up the stroller with crackers, peanuts, apples, and carrots and showed up right as the Game Ranch opened (the animals are most hungry first thing in the morning).

For the first time in twenty years, I actually noticed a few changes at the ol' Ranch.  The most obvious was that the deer are now enclosed in a fence. :(  It didn't phase Babe and Harry, but I sure did miss sharing the trail with the deer.

The park wasn't crowded at all, so Emmy was able to walk through over half of the ranch.  She LOVED feeding the animals (and herself) and barked at absolutely everything.  The big kids got such a kick out of the fact that "Emmy thinks everything is a dog!"

This guy just chilled in the back of the stroller.  Have I mentioned how great of a baby he is?!?!?!?!

My sweet Harris made sure I got a picture of him in front of General Lee's house to send to Daddy (it's Ben's favorite part!) as we headed out.

We rounded out the morning with lunch at Johnny's before heading home for naps and room time.

Spring Break was such a great time for me to start preparing for a Summer of Fun with four kids!!!!!!  I seriously can't wait! :)

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Ben turned the big 3-7 yesterday.  What fun we had celebrating him!  The kids picked out his birthday card, gifts (two new Walking Dead figurines to add to his collection), and birthday balloons.  They specifically picked out a balloon that said, "Over the Hill" because they knew that meant someone was getting old.  Made me laugh. :)

Babe was the first one in our room on the morning of Ben's big day.  I can't think of a sweeter way to wake up then to hear her little voice whispering, "Happy Birthday, Daddy" and then climbing into bed to snuggle.  Love that girl.

Ben came downstairs for our morning tradition of balloons, gifts, and breakfast.  Unfortunately, Mimi got him the exact same gift I did (embroidered shorts from Belk), so he returned the pair I purchased and picked out a couple of new shirts for himself.  We didn't bother wrapping those.

Everyone was excited to open "Daryl Dixon" and "RV Zombie," though.  We laugh all the time because my kids have never seen anything remotely related to The Walking Dead or zombies (and won't for a long, long time!) but they can talk your ear off as if they had seen every episode ever released...they love these little toys!

We continued our celebration of Ben by visiting his new office and taking him to lunch at La Cazuela.

The kids and I then came home to get started on Ben's cake.  Their original plan had been to decorate a "zombie/policeman" cake.  That didn't happen.

They got so excited about the different decorating options that we ended up going with more of a "race car/horse" theme.  They never stop making me laugh.

 We ended the evening with the traditional Tuesday night celebration:  Chick-fil-a dinner and birthday cake.

 I couldn't be more thankful this man was born.

Happiest of birthdays to you, Ben!

G-Day 2013.

To say I was stressed about G-Day would be a bit of an understatement.

Don't get me wrong:  I'm a get-up-and-go kind of girl.  I don't like sitting at home.  And I love Athens.  But the thought of carting four kids (two babies!) around Sanford Stadium by myself (Ben was coaching in the Letterman's Flag Football Game) just didn't sound like fun to me.

I'm glad Ben talked me into going.  We ended up having so much fun.

We got to the stadium a little bit early and were able to goof off on the field before the flag football game (which was played right before the actual G-Day game) started.

I even nursed Thatcher "between the hedges."  I can't imagine many babies have nursed on the field before.  Ben took a picture so that one day our youngest will have his very own claim to fame. :)

When it was time for the flag football game to start, the kids and I joined my friend Emily and her four boys in the stands.  And yes, your math is right:  two adults, eight kids.  I didn't get to watch much football, but the kids had a great time playing cars, eating snacks, running up and down the track before they opened the gates to the public and things started to get crowded.

By the time the flag football game was over, the kids had been contained long enough.  Ben joined us in the stands for a little lunch from the concession stand and the first quarter of the actual game.  We then loaded up and headed over to the UGA Bookstore, where the kids found a nice, quiet place to "relax."  I nursed Thatcher, we changed diapers, and everyone chilled for a little bit before we headed back to the van and drove to Stegeman Coliseum for the the Letterman's BBQ.

I wish I'd taken pictures.  Our kids have absolutely no idea how lucky they are:  they spent the morning on the football field and the afternoon running around a practically empty coliseum (the BBQ was set up down on the floor) like they owned the place:  up and down stairs, in and out of different sections, through numerous rows.  It was so much fun to watch their imaginations take off and see them so thoroughly enjoying themselves.  I just have to laugh at their idea of a "normal" trip to a Georgia game, though.  I'm not sure spoiled begins to cover it.

Anyway, we ended the day excited to go back next Spring.  Hadley missed "playing at the tailgate," but we explained to her that tailgating starts back up when the season begins and she seemed pretty satisfied with that answer.

Can't wait for fall.

Busted.

There's no doubt this girl is my kid.

She is a candy fiend.  It's almost as if she can sniff it out...

And she knows exactly what to do with it once she finds it.

I found her plopped down in the middle of the hallway one afternoon, plastic eggs, candy, and wrappers strewn all around her.  Not only did she find the Easter baskets, she also knew how to open the eggs and was smart enough to take anything with a wrapper on it to Harris so he could open it before she ate it.

When I asked Harris if he knew how she got all the wrappers off the candy, he simply said, "She wanted it open, so I opened it."

Never a dull moment.

These Two.

Easter at The Way.

We celebrated Easter Sunday with our friends and family at Church of The Way.  After the morning worship experience, the kids participated in an "Easter X Hunt," complete with eggs, candy, balloons, bouncy balls, and other kinds of craziness.

A good time was had by all.

We also collected items for the "Saving our Seniors" program in our community.  I didn't get any pictures, but the people of The Way brought in TONS of toilet paper, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, and other personal toiletry items for low-income seniors in the surrounding neighborhood.  It was an awesome way to celebrate the love and power of Jesus!

I must have forgotten about my camera after the egg hunt, because I also didn't get any pictures of our Easter  celebration with Ben's family at Aunt Sally's house...

Ugh.

By the end of the evening, we were wiped out.

Can't wait to do it all again next year!

Easter at Granti's.

We headed over to Granti's around lunchtime on Saturday for our first (hopefully annual) "cousins" egg hunt at her house.  The weather was absolutely perfect!  The kids had a great time swinging around her yard while the adults put the finishing touches on lunch.

 We stuffed ourselves on bbq chicken sandwiches and asian coleslaw (my fave!) while the kids dined on chicken nuggets from McDonald's. :)

And then it was time for the egg hunt!  There were TONS of eggs FULL of candy.  Props to the "egg hiders" for making the hunt so much fun.

Once they were off, there was no stopping them.  Even Emmy knew exactly what to do.

Raven was lucky enough to find Tyler's "prize egg" full of clover.  I don't think she cared about it nearly as much as Tyler was hoping. :)

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, listening to music, swinging in hammocks, eating candy, playing with legos, and enjoying the company of one another.

 Granti's house is so much fun!