Spring Break Road Trip

For the past few years, the Mattingley cousins have converged on Nana and Grandpa's house for Spring Break fun, and this year was no exception. Jason had to stay and work, so the kids and I left him in the charge of the gerbil and the fish and took off on our own.

The kids love this electrical box in Nana's front yard! It was used as a Jedi jail, home base for tag, and even for painting fingernails!

We surprised Nana with an early birthday party...

...and had an Easter egg hunt.

And what would Spring Break be without a ride on the Metro? We've decided the kids care more about riding the Metro than the actual destination! Here they are lined up at the station, ready to go.

Why sit when you can stand? Notice the lack of other passengers nearby. There's something about a group traveling with that many kids that sends people either to the opposite end of the train or to another car altogether. (In their defense, the kids were very well behaved.)

Here's our group on The Mall in DC headed towards one of the Smithsonian museums.

Julia and Courtney checking out a giraffe at the Museum of Natural History...

...and looking down at the elephant in the foyer. It was a lot more crowded than we expected, so we didn't end up staying too long.

We had a picnic lunch on The Mall...

followed by tag for some...

and digging in the dirt for others.

The Mattingley cousins

There are four missing (partying elsewhere for Spring Break) and one on the way, due to arrive later this year.

Ice Cream Fun

We were having ice cream for dessert, and Jason gave Alyssa exactly what she asked for... "a big bowl of ice cream."

Getting every last drop... She is definitely my child!

Happy Easter!

Adventures in Photoshop

Jordan has been playing around with Photoshop lately...

Jordan waving from the ceiling

Alyssa holding her little sister

Mom chowing down on a moon pie

Good Grief! Another Snow Day??

In the 11+ years we've lived here, I can't remember ever getting snow three different times in the same winter. And definitely not as late as March. Sadly, the school calendar wasn't prepared for such an event, and the kids will now be in school on Memorial Day. But at least we got enough snow (4-5 inches) to make it worth it... maybe.

Alyssa takes the first trip down to clear the slide.

Courtney attacks the photographer.

Jordan knew Jason would be out later to shovel the driveway and carefully stockpiled a supply of snowballs in advance...

...then launched an attack from the porch.

Jason is not one to ignore a challenge, and a pretty good snowball fight ensued. Not sure there was a clear victor.

Typical North Carolina, though, by the end of the week, it was 78 degrees, and we all got sunburned at the kids' soccer games that weekend.

There's a Deacon in our House!

Jordan was ordained a deacon last Sunday and passed the sacrament for the first time today. It's been a special (and emotional) two Sundays as I've watched him reach these milestones in his life. He is an amazing kid, and it's been indescribably wonderful to see how excited he's been about turning 12.

Happy Birthday, Jordan!

Jordan turned 12!! (Not sure how that many years have passed that quickly, but somehow it happened.) The weekend of his birthday, Jordan invited a few friends over for a birthday sleepover. There were lots of pictures taken - especially during dinner, as they tried to outdo each other with their antics - but here are the highlights...

Jordan chugging directly from the Pepsi bottle. Only allowed on birthdays...

Jordan has had these same friends over for several years now, and we always have a picture in this pose! His friends unanimously agreed he was a lot heavier than last year.

My personal favorite: One of Jordan's gifts was a set of Nerf dart guns (which were immediately ripped open and unleashed on our home). After they'd been running around for awhile, I told them to pose with their guns so I could take a picture. Chris had a different set of guns in mind... =)

The birthday cake

Here he is a few days later with a panful of brownies on his actual birthday.

The obligatory now-you're-a-deacon birthday tie...

And here's what he really wanted for his birthday! Concerts available upon request.