Hangin' with my Peeps

So, as mentioned in my previous post, March was a busy, busy month, in part because... MY FAMILY WAS HERE!!! Mom and Sis flew out for a week over their Spring Break! It was SO nice having them here... and of course I wasn't the only one ecstatic to see them! The kids were SO happy!!!

I decided with it being close to Easter I was going to try to make some "peep" shirts for the kids and Maddie. Seemed fitting since we got to hang w/our peeps this Spring.

 I thought the shirts turned out cute... but even cuter were the little models--lol!

 Check out this cool dude...

 And the fabulous Maddie in hot pink! 

 And my little goober! 

 It was funny when we were trying to get a quick group shot, I told everyone to hold up the peace sign. We all held up our two fingers, except Liam who held up his palm and said, "Peace, be still!" We had just done the lesson on Jesus calming the storm a few weeks ago in Sunday School, and his only reference to a peace sign was that--lol! Love that boy!

 Vassil wasn't exactly dressed in his bright colors, but we wanted to try to get a family shot. 

I love my PEEPS!!!

Anyway, we did quite a bit in the week they were here. I'm always worried they are SO bored when they come. I think it's better when we go to them... that way mom can make her shopping runs and do her thing without feeling cooped up. Same for Maddie. So we tried to do a few things while they were here. 

One day we loaded up and toured the Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, along w/the Museum of History. They are free, and pretty neat. 

We had a dino-mite time!

And actually, we've been to this museum a few times, and didn't realize there were dinosaurs... so this was new for us too. Unfortunately, the room w/the giant bracheasaurus and t-rex, had a little video showing the t-rex attacking the bracheasaurus. Elizabeth watched with such intensity... and later that night shed so many tears :(

She is such a sweetie and so sensitive some times.

We stopped for lunch at Pharoahs before hitting the History Museum. 

Yum! It was around this time Nana was holding Liam and keeping an eye open for a booth to open up, that Liam spotted an older man with a long pony tail and beard. He asked Nana, "Nana... is that man a pirate?" lol! Cracked us up!

Next up... NC History Museum. 

Check out the Tarheels...

So many neat exhibits that walk you through the state's history. 

This final exhibit was a replica of an old canoe that you were allowed to climb into...

So of course, we did! 

Anyway, the museum was a lot of fun... but since the Fam was here for a week, we needed to do a few more fun things. We decided a trip to the zoo would be fun.

 Gotta say, the NC Zoo is no where near as nice as our Zoo in KS. It is also further away and more expensive. BUT... it was something to do. I think we had fun, even if quite a few animals were off exhibit. 

 Vassil also decided to take the day off from work and join us for our zoo trip.

 It was a hot day, but we ended up doing pretty much the entire zoo (and it's a big/spread out zoo) without too much whiny from the kids. 

 The Africa side was probably our favorite... the chimps were cute!

 And the elephants were fun!

 Had to get a Rhino pic for uncle Matt...

All in all, it was a fun time!

When we weren't off doing things... we also had a lot of down time. Which is probably the kids' favorite time of all... time to hang out and PLAY with Nana and Maddie. 

One afternoon was spent playing in the car. I think they were driving to the beach if I remember correctly. My kids LOVE playing in the car.

Bella even hopped in and seemed to enjoy thinking she was going some place--lol.

Another day was spent making cookies w/Nana. Doesn't get much better than that!

The last few nights they were here, we made sure to march around the neighborhood in our KU outfits, doing a little Rock Chalk chant.... it must have brought us luck because we whooped up on NC State and UNC... But I'll post those pics in a bit. 

As you can see, we had a LOT of fun having Nana and Maddie here to visit. The kids have asked a dozen or more times when we get to go visit them. And Liam even said he had a dream about them the other day. Yeah, it's safe to say we had a blast and miss them SO much already! Looking forward to more memories made this summer!

Until then...