We make our Dad a tie for Father's Day!

We love our Daddy!!!

We loved celebrating Tyson and all the amazing Father figures in our lives. We are blessed with the best Grandpa, brothers, brothers in law, uncles, friends and more!

The girls loved making his Father's Day tie again this year. As I stood in the kitchen and let them take over his tie creation, I could hear the girls say, "more glitter!!!! More puff balls!!! More paint!!!"

We forget every year that Tyson should tie a tie before we decorate and paint it. This tie becomes nearly impossible to tie but he still loves it!

Tyson is the favorite in the family. 

The cool head under pressure, the silly word maker, the best bed time routine man and the most loving father and husband. 

Well I had to include this little chocolate faced chica climbing barefoot in front of our church building because.... well, it's totally normal for her. 

We enjoyed a trip to Sandy Point Beach, MD on the Saturday before Father's Day. The girls love how playful Tyson is in the water with them and the games he plays. I love floating as a family and the fact that this beach has zero big crashing waves so I feel so very safe. 

Celebrating Father's Day is even better with Ribs, sweet potato mash and roasted carrots. I mean, just the very best for our man!

I'm happy to celebrate Tyson and all he does for us. We are better people because of him. We love him!

Getting outdoors before Tyson's started his new job. Hiking and Canoeing

We got super lucky that Tyson had about a week in-between his old job and new job. So we took advantage of that time and tried to get some bucket list items checked off. 

We had the first week of June head up to Shenandoah and hike a trail to a beautiful waterfall that we've seen many pictures of. I was so excited because I knew the girls would love it!

We drove part of the Skyline Drive again and Haddie fell asleep again for most of it. Taryn spotted a lizard and loved climbing all over the rocks. 

Empty roads with the dense clouds hanging low. 

We started off on our hike and it didn't take long for the girls to start complaining. Maybe they were tired from the day before that was spent at Masssnutten, a indoor water park. Or maybe it was just the weather? 

Tyson and I were determined to continue on. We convinced the girls to keep walking and tried to keep their spirits up. We saw about 4 deer cross the path in front of us and it was so fun! But then it started pouring rain. Like, we were drenching in seconds. The girls really started complaining.

But we knew it would only take 20 minutes to get to the waterfall and that meant we would be there any minute. 

I turned to talk to Taryn who was behind me and I heard Tyson say, "Oh gosh. OH GOSH!" I whipped around to see a black bear running to the side of us, about 25 yards away. WE FROZE.

We started backing up slowly and watched as the black bear darted into a bush near a campsite in front of us where someone was cooking lunch. We didn't stick around to make sure the campers were ok (oops.....but there were tons of campers so I'm sure everything was ok.)

We decided at that point that it was time for us to turn back. If the whining and the rain didn't get to us, a bear should did! 

We got back to the car, changed our soaking clothes and ate lunch in the car (because it was still raining.) That's when Tyson, who had pulled out the map while eating, discovered that we were on the wrong trail for the waterfall. Turns out we followed a "Detour" sign because of flooding that wasn't well placed. We followed hikers in front of us and were on a loop that would have taken hours and led to nothing. 

So maybe it was the Holy Spirit trying to save us from having an extremely miserable hike. We would have had no food because we left everything in the car due to the short 20 minute hike it was to be, we would have been cold and even more wet, and who knows what else would have been on that trail. 

This was the happiest the girls got on our little hiking adventure. Back by our car there was a water fountain. Because the girls were already wet, we let them have at it. They giggled like crazy. 

How is it that something so small could bring big smiles to their once saddens faces just moments earlier??!!!

Needless to say, we wore these girls out and decided to cut our trip short because the rain had come sooner than expected and the rest of our outdoor plans were squashed. 

We took Memorial Day to explore Pohick bay again (almost 1 year later!) and rent paddle boats (not very fun) and a canoe (fantastic!) Their rentals were cheap and the girls LOVED it!

We sang songs, paddled to see interesting points around the bay, talked and laughed as a family. 

Tyson said one of his favorite family memories was made on that boat- singing altogether. 

It definitely was a terrific family adventure. We all ate our lunch on the boat as we paddled along, saw fishes and unique birds, and just loved spending time on the boat together. The girls were hard workers, sharing the paddle and really getting into the rhythm of padding. 

So though hiking in Shenandoah didn't go exactly as planned, this day made up for it!

We loved having that week with Tyson home in-between jobs. We were spoiled for sure. Tyson would pick Taryn up from school, walk with us to school, played with Haddie and had special dates with her, and we got to sneak in a few day dates as well while Haddie was a preschool and play dates!

Days like this don't happen enough, which is why we loved it so so much!

Taryn's last field trip for the school year at the Zoo! and the end of year celebration.

For her last field trip of the year, Taryn's kindergarten class (and basically all the kinder classes in a 50 mile radius) went to the National Zoo. It was a hot day but we are masters of the zoo, so it was a breeze!

Haddie got to tag along too. She loves being with the older kids and they just adore her. Some don't have younger siblings so it's hilarious that they talk to her and treat her like she is 18 months old. She doesn't know exactly how to deal with that and gives them strange looks sometimes ....hehe! But the older kids love including her, and she loves that. 

We have or 5 or so favorite animals that we like to hit overtime we go to the Zoo. It really helps on crowded days to know exactly where you are going. On days where the weather is better, like those perfect January zoo days, we take our time to see animals that we normally don't see. But when you have kids that are ticking time bombs for melt downs, it's nice to zip around and get back on time. 

Taryn saw her friend Eva from church at the zoo. They go to different schools but it's fun to have them keep up their relationship despite that. They've known each other since they were 18 months old. 

Haddie was out within 3 minutes of me packing up the car and pulling out. She had so much fun! And there is a reason I always wear my workout clothes to the Zoo. It really is such a work out, thanks to the giant hill the Zoo is planted on top of. 

So many end of the year activities. It kept us busy! Haddie had a water day for her last day of preschool, then we zoomed to Taryn's school for her water day. Haddie joined in and Taryn took the best of care of her while I helped man one of the stations. I had several adults come up to me and tell me how kind and caring Taryn was to Haddie. I love hearing good reports about these two girls! 

Taryn read a poem and sang songs for her end of the year performance. She said she wanted to be a singer when she grows up (no more Veterinarian!) Above is the picture she drew for her class quilt of what she wants to do when she grows up. 

Mrs. Kenny- the best Kindergarten teacher in the world. Say what you want about Kinder teachers that you know, but I have got to say I have never met a better teacher, and I always thought I had the best growing up! Mrs. Kenny was perfect for Taryn and really made an impact on her and the class. I learned so much from her as well. Mrs. Kenny was loved and admired by all. 

Ms. B was the class helper and we loved her so. She was the sweetest lady and would notice every detail going on around her. She was the perfect fit for the class. We love her!

The kindergarten picnic was a fun way to end the school year. The girls are obsessed with picnics and loved that I broke out our picnic basket (circa 2009) from back in the days when Tyson and I were dating. 

These two walking to school each and every morning. They talked, they laughed, they fought which sometimes led to tears, but generally, it was a great time. With no prompting, Taryn held Haddie's hand and as I walked behind them, my heart melted. 

I have to say that the school year was made even greater with these wonderful ladies (Taryn's teacher with the white pants) We saw each other almost every day and chatted about kids, life and laughed together. These are great ladies who inspired me to be a better mom. I can only hope we get to be together this upcoming year. Thankfully, we live rather close to one another which is another cherry on top!

Kindergarten was a great experience for Taryn. Of course she rocked it. But it was a great experience for me as well. I'm only saddened that Haddie won't have a chance to have Mrs. Kenny because she will be moving. I'm excited to master 1st & 2nd grade with Taryn before having to do Kindergarten with Haddie. Now with Tyson's new job, I love knowing that the chances of us living her for the next 5 years is pretty good.

My Mother's Day 2017 in Virginia

There are a few Sundays a year where I get to have family pictures taken while in our Sunday best. Mother's Day is one of them and I love it!

Crazy faces and all :)

I loved the extra snuggles I got while Tyson was making dinner and the girls and I were watching something. I really don't sit and snuggle with them enough. Both girls love it when I just take time to "Sit." Note to self, do it more often!

Tyson takes pride in making my birthday and Mother's Day meals. He is all about attention to detail on those days because truth be told, he doesn't like cooking. But he can make the best egg salad sandwiches, silly cheese steaks and meat ball subs (I'm sure I'm forgetting some other items...) It was a yummy meal for us all. 

Chocolate chip cookies, one of my favorite treats. We haven't been making sweets for the past few months expect on special occasions. These are always the first to pop in my head when it comes time to whip up something. We're also trying to get rid of whatever is leftover so we don't eat it all!

See, I told ya, nothing like a good cookie. I must try them all! This was a lemon cookie ( so so good!) from a little bakery at City Center DC that Hilary Clinton loves. The next one was their famous chocolate chip cookie, which was meh compared to my homemade cookies. It was fun to see a new place and try some new sweets! 

The girls made these Mother's Day "cards" in Primary that day and I loved them! So to save them, I snapped a picture and I'm placing it here to remember :)

And another great thing about Mother's Day is turning it into a big weekend, making special requests for a few days. Walks. I love going on walks as a family. We go often and try to mix up where we go. This was Long Bridge park which meets Tyson's birding needs, the girls need to run everywhere and explore nature, and my need to be outside, because it feeds my soul to breathe in that fresh air and have the sun on my skin. 

It was a lovely Mother's Day and I'm thankful for my little crew!