Cherry Blossoms

Spring and I have a love-hate relationship. I love the beauty in nature that only spring can bring...BUT I don't love the allergies that come along with all the pollen in the air! 

However, I braved the outdoor weather a couple of weekends ago (with the help of antihistamines) and was able to get a few shots of our blooming cherry blossom tree. These were a few of my favorites!

Happy Spring!

Auburn's A-Day!

This past Saturday was A-Day at Auburn University, when the fans are invited to a Founder's Day celebration to watch a scrimmage game to preview the fall football team. This day was extra special since immediately following the game was a celebration to roll the Toomer's Corner Oaks for the last time:( Harvey Updyke you may have killed our oaks, but you will never kill our spirit!!! And to prove it, fans showed up in record breaking numbers for A-Day, 83,401 people to be exact!

We started our day at the Tiger Fanfest! I knew the kids would enjoy it since they had inflatables, always a crowd-pleaser:) I also thought that this might be a good place to meet Aubie. If you remember from my last {Auburn post}, Chloe was pretty disappointed that she didn't get to meet Aubie.

We also threw around the old pigskin and baseball:)

And although we didn't meet the "real" Aubie, this gigantic advertisement made up for it;)

Then we took a few more photos because I can never get enough.

You can't really tell, but the littles are doing the touchdown signal on the practice field.

And yes, Chris was forced to fake a smile for one.

Then, we enjoyed the scrimmage. I'm not an expert at anything sports-related, so I'll leave that assessment to people that know what they're talking about. I'll just say that the team looked good and we enjoyed watching them.

 

After the scrimmage, we headed down to Toomer's Corner for the final roll.

 

 

The crowd was massive, but somehow Chloe and I made it to the Oaks. It was pure chaos and toilet paper was flying everywhere, but it was so fun! I hate that the camera band got into this photo, but I love Chloe's expression. 

 

 

We lost Chris and Evan in the crowd, which really worried me since my phone was on the fritz and Chris had left his phone at home. Luckily, we located them pretty quickly. Check out this aerial view of the crowd. Wow!

 

 

After enjoying Downtown Auburn for a bit, we made the looong trek back to our car. We passed by the stadium and took a few photos with the Bo Jackson statue.

 

  

Silly Daddy and Evan

 

 

And guess what!?! In a random spot by the stadium, we found Aubie. I'm really beginning to think that Chloe has a genie in her back pocket. I thought for just a moment that Evan had overcome his fear of costumed characters as he ran towards Aubie...but he stopped just short of Aubie's outstretched arms, proclaiming, " I don't like Aubie!" and ran in the other direction. Chloe, of course, was overjoyed.

 

 

These were such good memories. One day, Chloe and Evan can tell their college roommates at Auburn about how they attended the final rolling of the original Toomer's Oaks;)  

Zoo Day!

This weekend marked the Montgomery Zoo's annual fundraising event, Zoo Weekend! It also usually marks our first zoo trip of the year and it was such a beautiful day to get out of the house. Chris had a couple of home improvement projects to work on (to be featured in an upcoming blog), so it was just the littles and I.
 
Our first stop was the bird house!
 

 
We also met a few "characters" while we were there!
 
Chloe and Ronald McDonald
 

 
Chloe and Princess Aurora, A.K.A. Sleeping Beauty

 
The littles and Tinkerbell! Tink was my favorite! Isn't she the cutest?! Evan seemed to like her too, since she was the only one that Evan would agree to take a picture with;)
 

 
Chloe and Captain Jack Sparrow
 

 
The littles had a great time looking at all the animals!
 

 
 
" Ohhh. What's that, Momma?"
 

The elephant exhibit was Evan's favorite. This elephant was doing a little "let me in" dance at the door. I think that he was hungry.
 

 
And at times, we got a little silly:)
 

 
We rested in the cafe, and I got the cutest picture of the littles.
 

 
We also enjoyed the zoo's park for a bit.
 

 
But, the highlights of our day had to be feeding the giraffes (which I didn't get a picture of), Chloe riding a pony, and petting a sting ray!
 

 

The Montgomery Zoo really is a great place for a family outing, and I hope that it continues to expand...I'm looking forward the future butterfly house exhibit! The littles just loved it and we can't wait to go back!

Easter Sunday

This is the final post of our Easter weekend.

After an uplifting and thought-provoking service on Sunday, we headed to a family egg hunt at the home of one of Chris's relatives. The littles and I have celebrated Easter with this side of the family since Chloe's second Easter. However, since Chris worked nights and/or weekends, this was the first time that he was able to attend with us. In fact, this was the first year that he was able to watch the littles Easter egg hunt!

As soon as we got there, Chloe and Evan spotted a puppy.

They were especially excited about seeing their Nana and playing on the swing set!

While the adults without kids hid Easter eggs, I took the opportunity to take a few pictures with the littles.

And then it was time for the egg hunt. I helped Evan hunt, but in true Chloe form, she struck out on her own. I was only able to get a few shots of her...running in the other direction:)

Nana brought the littles surprise Easter baskets! Can you tell how much Evan wants to take pictures? He usually has a quota and I think our Easter weekend was maxed out! Ha!

We played for a little while longer!

And Chloe caught up with her gal pal, Cheyenne! (I have a photo from the previous Easter of the girls on this swing, so I had to get one this year.)

It was such a fun weekend celebrating the eternal salavation that God gave us by sacrificing his only Son! I hope that everyone enjoyed their Easter Sunday!