Spring Break Trip for Joanna and Lily

As my spring break occurred several weeks after Wyatt's this year and poor Ken doesn't get a spring break, Lily and I decided to go on a "ladies only" trip for our vacation week.  I was planning on visiting Parkersburg to celebrate my mom's birthday, but alas, she was already booked in Holland for the week.  

After speaking to my dad and finding out he was going to a fishing cabin with his bff Rocky AND Rocky's daughter (aka my bff Rachel) AND her family, I just had to invite us along!  It was a fantastic decision.

LOVE this one.  So sweet.

Papaw in his element.

The Long and Wiseman crew--Oliver caught his yellow plastic fish every cast!

Lily's first fish of the day.  She loved looking at it, but wasn't too sure about touching it.

After fishing in the pond behind the cabin, we decided to drive down to Bemis for some trout fishing.

If you look REALLY closely, you'll see the Long/Wiseman crew on the bank.  I swear.

Dad and I went off on our own for a bit and I managed to catch my very first trout!  Lily spent her time crawling all over the rocks with Oliver and giving Rachel a run for her money.  ;)

Dad was pretty bummed that we didn't think to take a picture of me with my trout, so I had him take this picture as soon as we arrived back at the cabin. 

 The cabin was great.  We were definitely NOT roughing it!

Lily:   Rachel brought you this ballerina outfit.  You wore it EVERY day we were at the cabin until I finally hid it because it was so filthy.  You danced for all of us!

On Tuesday we had some snow.  It was pretty cold all day so we stayed inside.  We also took a trip into Elkins for a Kroger and McDonald's run.

Once it warmed up, Lily and Oliver enjoyed an egg hunt.  Thanks to Sheila and Rachel for all of the goodies!

On Wednesday, we went to a neighboring community called Davis for some lunch and playtime.  We had intentions of checking out some of the cool local shops but apparently Davis is closed on Wednesdays.  Who knew?

This is my favorite part of going to any cabin!  (See previous post.) 

Chowing on some pizza mountain pies. 

Lily rocking the look.

 We don't get to see the Longs nearly as much as we want, so this trip was wonderful.  Lily and Oliver are only 3 months apart, and I want them to grow up as good friends.  I think we're off to the right start.   

March Revisited

Well, March was interesting.

We visited with some PA friends at the beginning of the month.  The trip corresponded with Ken's birthday, and as these are some of his very favorite people, he was happy to be at the cabin for his big day.

And so it begins...Ken would LOVE to own one of these suckers.

This is how you sled ride at the cabin.  Bonus:  No walking up hills.  Downside:  Potentially getting thrown from the sled on the sharper curves.  Thanks again for that one, Tony.

Had to include this pic.  Yes, Tony is actually holding Lily.  Monumental, considering she has pretty much screamed and cried every time she's seen this man since the day she was born.  She's come a looooong way. 

Two (actually three!) of our favorite people.  :) 

The cabin is amazing for me.  We sit around the fire and reconnect with most of the main reasons we miss PA.  Every time we leave I am counting the days until we return.  This trip, Lily discovered the joy of fire.  We'll have to keep a close check on that, but truthfully she doesn't fall far from the tree on that one.  For me, there's nothing that compares with shoving a stick into the fire and stirring up some stuff!

I ate way too many mountain pies and too much taco dip (as always) and left a very happy girl.

Soon after our cabin trip, I was lucky enough to be the only one of the family to be completely floored by a nasty stomach flu. Sparing details, it put a damper in about a week of my March activities.  I'm sure the kids and Ken had multiple adventures that will remain an undocumented mystery to me.  

The rest of March improved, thank goodness!  Wyatt and I went to his classmate's birthday roller skating party and had a blast. I stayed OFF the skates (I'm sure my dad is grateful!) and Wyatt very quickly acclimated to rolling around the gym.  It was nice to spend some one-on-one time with him.

At the end of March, Wyatt went to Parkersburg for his spring break.  Grandma and Papaw planned a ton of fun activities.  A trip to Columbus, OH to visit COSI and swim in a hotel, bike riding, and watching a Superman I and II marathon with Papaw were some of the highlights of his stay.  He loved every minute of his time there!

Other March happenings:

Playing at the park with the cousins.  So glad it's FINALLY warm enough to do this!!  No pic of Wyatt, as he was up on the courts playing basketball with Ted.

Spending time with more cousins!  I know I keep saying this, but I'm just so happy that extended family-time is now a regular occurrence.  It's a REALLY good thing.  I swear Wyatt is here, too!  Hmmm...I need to do a better job of catching him in the act of hanging with the fam!

The end of March also brought in the beginning of baseball season.  Wyatt is playing on the Cardinals, which is fantastic because of his obsession with the color red.  More of that to come in April!