Tweetsie Tradition

Scheduling our annual summer trip to Tweetsie was no easy feat this year due to many busy schedules. So we fudged a little bit and went technically before the school year ended. No biggie to miss one day, right? 

So the first weekend in June the girls and Luke and I headed to Hickory and Brian headed to St. Augustine for a cool trip with the Davidson Gridiron Club. We were all excited for our travels...

Whenever the girls go to Hickory, they always ask to go paint pottery. Nana and Poppy are sweet to always oblige. :)

Whenever we ask the girls what they want to do on the weekend, they always respond with "go to a jump park". We always find a reason not to go :), so you can imagine the joy they felt when Poppy and Nana suggested we go to Hickory's newest jump park, Defy Gravity.

And I have to admit this particular trampoline park was pretty cool...

 

 

The next morning we rose with one thing in mind...Tweetsie! So in case pottery and a jump park weren't enough fun for one weekend, my lucky children were also going to get to visit the Wild, Wild West. 

Tweetsie was sunny, cool, and empty! How do we luck out every year?!?

 I love that we hop off a ride, decide that was super fun, and hop on right again. No lines!

  We are split...is the Ferris Wheel our favorite?

  or the Tilt-a-Whirl??

 Or the scrambler?? Too many good options. So we rode them all numerous times.

 

This time we let the girls gem mine and they found crystals.. 

Luke was an active participant in this year's trip although he wasn't so sure about that Mouse Train...

Apparently Collins has turned into a teenager because her new favorite rides are the ones for the older kids...eek! Not pictured- the Round Up- the scariest ride at the park which my daughter LOVED! It is a cylinder that spins as fast as it can and then tilts you up at a terrifying angle so you feel like you are going to fall out. Not fun for Mom!

 

 One more time on the Ferris Wheel before it was time to go home...

I hope my kids don't outgrow Tweetsie anytime soon because the laughs and squeals and the mountain setting are too much fun.

And I'm thankful to be able to go with this group!

After Tweetsie, we ate burgers downtown Blowing Rock and decided we had the energy to walk around Bass Lake (at least the adults did)...

 

Back in Hickory the next morning, we visited Glen Eden park before hitting the road for home...

Despite this mean face, this trip was nothing but smiles. So much fun! I would have told you it was definitely the right decision to skip soccer and the last Monday of school until we realized that Collins missed her last art class of the year. She was upset which I felt badly about. But the memories made that weekend were worth it. A great summer tradition continues on!

Field Day for Collins

Time for that most wonderful day of the elementary school year...field day! And this year, not only was Collins participating, but I was too. Anne, who I had become friends with over the course of the year, was in charge and she needed help. And having such happy memories of field day, I was happy to step up.

Of course that meant a lot of lifting and hauling and walking in 100 degree weather. Hello first day of June! My daughter was a bit over-heated as well...this is her after the dunking booth and a Kona ice.

 She had a great time with her cute class...

  She and Oddette were partners in the sack race, and they all found out...

that it's not as easy as it looks! Field day went all morning for Collins, then she got to come back to her classroom for an End of Year pizza and movie party. Talk about a good day.

End to Binastics

Gymnastics came to an end for the year, and Addie was pumped for her "End of Year" show. One last day to do "binastics"- our girl's favorite activity. (And I really hope she never starts calling it by its real name.)

She did really well and showed off her skills to her Dad, Gigi and Pop Pop. We were all proud of her...

She already wants me to sign her up for gymnastics for next year. But first, a little break for the summer. That just means a lot more gymnastics at home. :)

Welcome Summer

When Memorial Day rolled around, we were ready for the unofficial start to summer. We filled the long weekend with every summery activity we could think of...

We started with strawberry picking despite the many complaints from my children. I only convinced them to go when I said I'd make a strawberry dessert with our haul. Of course once they were there, they totally got into it...

Good berries this year...

Addie being Addie.... :)

Next up? Emma's birthday party! The girls were very excited because not only did Emma have a giant bounce house in her backyard...

she also had a trampoline. Which made Emma's backyard WAY cooler than our backyard. :)

 

 Saturday night plans? Believe it or not, Brian and I celebrated our 10-year anniversary! We had a delicious dinner at Mandolin, and the kids got Aunt Alli as a babysitter. :)

On Sunday, we made sure our house was appropriately patriotic...
 

before we headed to the pool with the Moores. 

And the grand finale for the long weekend? Collins's first sleepover! Bennett invited her over for a slumber party, and she was beyond thrilled. She had been asking for a long time to have a sleep-over and a lot of her other friends had done had one, so we thought it was the right time. We all went over for a cookout at the Flynns and then Collins just stayed. She didn't seem nervous at all.

Pictures Alex sent...adorable!

She had a great time, but did not get a lot of sleep. She came back home excited for the next one!

On the actual Memorial Day holiday, we did absolutely NOTHING. We were far too ambitious the rest of the weekend. But man, what a start to summer!