Earl the multi-tasker

It's not enough for Earl to play with a tennis ball and blanket individually, he must do as many at once as possible. Except it's not as graceful as you might expect.

Favorites

When we were driving home from Gatlinburg, Andy and I asked the girls to tell us what their favorite thing was that we did on the trip.

Abigail said, "Swimming in the river AND the pool.  It was neat that we could swim in two places."

Hannah said, "I really like to walk in the woods, so that was my favorite."  So what if she was carried part of the way.

And they both agreed that cousin time ranks pretty high, too.  In every picture I can find, they pair up the same way: Clara and Hannah, Abigail and Benjamin.

Oh, and Earl!  Thanks to Aunt and Uncle K for renewing the regular pleas for an indoor dog.  You know, to go with our horses, dogs, cats, turtle and chickens.  Maybe someday!

Andy and I first went to Gatlinburg on the way home from our honeymoon.  I'd been there a few times during my summers in nearby North Carolina, on the other side of the park.  And we've been back on one family vacation and Andy's trip there with friends.  We absolutely love the national park and we really enjoyed being there with such important people to us!
Though visits are busy now and full of schedule adjustments and accomodations (thank you, nursing baby, well balanced meals for children, Diabetic lows, etc.) we know that someday the trips will be calmer and we'll all wish for the chaos of 2012.

Sibling symposium in Gatlinburg

Here are some of my highlights from the Gatlinburg trip:

• No matter how many walks, or times of day, the mountains didn't seem to faze Earl. His tongue never hung the whole weekend, but once we were only an hour out of town, we needed a spatula to get it off the ground. 
• Ben whistling in the van to Beach Boys songs. 
• The latest reminder that the cousin pairs are Clara/Hannah and Abby/Ben. 
• Hannah loves rice and beans at any Mexican restaurant. 
• Playing the category pool game, while doing cannonballs with Andy H.
• For some reason, Earl loved to sit near the kids while the ate almost every meal. 
• Almost any of the kids "trying" to pull Earl in one direction is, for them, like pulling a statue. 
• If there's ever a need for a project, theme or group effort, Aunt Kristi will be in the middle with supplies and a game plan. 
• Even on vacation, AJB goes Craiglist 4-wheeler shopping, and is always brainstorming for A.J.'s first vehicle. 

(Belated) 3-0 Birthday post

It's been a while since we celebrated the big 3-0, so here are some highlights.

We went to Greenville to meet up with the Anderson friends, and take in a baseball game in person. (Atlanta and Gwinnett were both on the road that weekend.)

Kristi and I took a country drive up to Hartwell, and had some down home local BBQ.

Took in a little Bruce cuisine, of course.