Chattanooga

On May 22, Chris ran a marathon in Chattanooga, TN. It was in the mountains and the entire race was on a trail. (crazy!) We had never been to Chattanooga and have always heard great things about that city so we decided to drive and meet him there after his race.

The day before, Chris had just gotten stitches taken out of his knee where he had gashed it open. I can't believe he was even up for an afternoon of walking around. :) We all had such a fun time and started with lunch and the Creative Discovery Museum.

Brooklyn thought this "floating ball" was so cool!

Lauren, making a design out of rubber bands.

Katie & Lauren, inside the tunnel.

Lauren, Chris, Brooklyn & Katie, making music!

Brooklyn (pink), Katie and Lauren all playing in the kitchen. We were here for a LONG time! The girls all loved this part.

Lauren at the sink.

Katie in the tree.

Brooklyn really LOVED this car! She played in it most the time and had a hard time sharing it with the other kids until we showed her the kitchen. :)

Next we took them to Coolage park. It is a park downtown, next to the river that has fun water spouts and an old fashioned carousel. Katie jumped right in. She is so sweet and makes lots of friends wherever she goes. It took a little convincing for Lauren & Brooklyn, but once they got in, they had fun.

Fun in the water!

Brooklyn and her very cute "cheesy" smile.

Katie sitting on the Lion statue.

Daddy & Lauren (before she was brave enough to go in)

We also took the girls on a carriage ride. Our horsey, Snowman, took us around the block. The girls loved the co-pilot, a dalmation named Clarabell.

Katie, Brooklyn, Lauren

We finished the night with a movie, Shrek Forever After! This was Lauren & Brooklyn's first movie! They spent the first 45 minutes quiet with a tub of popcorn. They got a little restless in the middle, but we brought in blankies and the both fell asleep before it was over. Katie, Chris and I really liked the movie!

The next day, after sleeping in and a big breakfast, we went the the Aquarium.

Lauren & Brooklyn, amazed by the alligator.

This is the alligator the girls were staring at. It swam back and forth right in front of them a few times and then sat up with its head above water, just like we usually see from regular land. It was really neat to be able to see what he looked like underwater too.

Of course we had our bad moments too!

(Brooklyn, mad she is not being held)

Katie and the fishy's.

Playing outside the auarium. Good jump Katie!

Next we went to Rock City. I had seen the pictures and advertisements on the side of the interstate many times as we have traveled to Florida and back, but never really knew what it was. This was, by far, Chris' and my favorite part of our trip. It is on top of Lookout Mountain with massive ancient rock formations and gardens. You follow a beautiful path to the lookout point where you can see 7 states: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennesse & Virginia.

Mom & the girls

Walking along the path

Brooklyn, Chantelle, Lauren & Katie

Lauren & Daddy

The girls patiently waiting for ice cream. :)

We made it to the top! We had such a great time with the girls and Chris and I are really looking forward to more trips with them. This was the first trip we have been able to take with no port-a-cribs, no bottles and no diapers! It was a success.

Preschool Programs

Katie, Lauren and Brooklyn all enjoyed preschool this year! Lauren & Brooklyn grew so much during the school year. Brooklyn LOVED the art projects while Lauren would rather not get messy. :) Lauren's favorite part of the day was music. Lauren loves to sing. They got really good at climbing on the playground, counting, coloring and playing with friends.

For their end of season program they sang "How much is that doggie in the window." It was so cute! It stressed them out a little though. :O Katie LOVED Miss Cynthia and especially loves her friends! She would go every day if I let her. Katie is very creative and made several art projects each day. She is starting to read and practices writing words daily. Katie is such a sweet girl and loves trying new things.

Kara's Graduation!

On May 1st, Kara graduated from SVU, Southern Virginia University!

Our family drove from Tennessee to Virginia on Friday night and got into Lexington where we were staying, at around 1:15 a.m. By the time we met Kara and let the girls cuddle with her for a few minutes, it was 2:00! Saturday Pres met us for breakfast and then we all went to the school for the graduation program. The weather was great and it was held outside, which is really nice for a family with 3 rowdy girls. Of course we sat towards the back, but Lauren and Brooklyn went to the potty 17 times, Chris was all over taking pictures and Katie made new friends to play with, so we never really sat in our seats. :)

Chantelle, Brooklyn, Chris, Lauren, Kara, Pres, Katie

Lauren & Pres

Katie & Pres

Brooklyn escaping again, yet looking very cute!

The graduate! Kara earned a degree in Business Management and Leadership. The next day she left for Spain and will be there this whole month. The girls ask for Aunt Kara every day and love to talk to her on the computer!

Kara and her roommate Ashley......soon to be Ashley HIATT! (My maiden name, for those of you who might not know) Ashley is marrying a distant cousin and Kara and Ashely will bee related....somehow. :)

SISTERS!

Another typical picture. One very happy and one very grumpy!

Lauren, Kara & Brooklyn

We are SOOOO proud of Kara and were very glad to share this special day with her. CONGRATULATIONS KARA!
Chris, Katie, Lauren, Kara, Brooklyn & Chantelle

Hoppy Easter

Easter was wonderful this year at our house! We had a lot of fun with friends and family....(KARA!) There were lots of fun events leading up to Easter that we were able to enjoy.

We took the girls to the Belmont Mansion which is at Belmont University in Nashville, for an Easter egg hunt. The Easter Bunny was even there!

The kids loved petting the baby chicks!

Brooklyn wasn't too sure about the chick, especially when it wiggled.

Lauren could hardly wait her turn and was SO happy to hold it!

The babies (I am told I cannot call them that anymore but it feels like they are!)

checked everything out while Katie waited in line to get her face painted and make a flower craft.

After the egg hunt and some lunch, Daddy drove us to the top of Percy Warner Park. There is a bench there, and a great view, where the kids like to play. They cheer for all the runners and bikers that come by and tell them "good job!" Now wouldn't those little faces make it totally worth climbing to the top of that mountain?
We also had a great Easter eggs hunt at the Adams-Albert's. This was actually the first hunt of the season and great practice for the girls. Lauren and Brooklyn needed a little help, but Katie was a pro. She found 2 eggs and came and put one in each of her sisters baskets before she was off to find her loot. She is a super sweet big sister!

Katie and one of her many eggs.

Chris

Katie, Brooklyn & Lauren

The Easter Bunny was really good to us this year! Lauren & Brooklyn got outdoor cars which they have been glued to ever since.

The Easter Bunny told me that he had a REALLY hard time deciding whether to bring them 1 pink car and 1 red car, or 2 pinks. He debated and thought WAY too much about. But, he brought 1 of each. Funny enough, they both want the RED! That option was never even thought of! :)

Katie was a sleepy head that morning, but she was just as loved. Apparently the Easter Bunny heard from Santa that she got a doll house for Christmas and she got 2 more dollhouse sets.

We had some great friends over for lunch on Easter Sunday. Sam and Jonah are so adorable and will be 1 next month. Every time I see twins I think they are just adorable and amazing. Then a split-second later I remember I have some too. Seriously!

Kara came for the weekend and we LOVE it when Kara is here! Our adopted Uncle Michael came too! (Katie has a serious crush on Mike!)

We decorated cupcakes. (Brooklyn)

Jocelyn & Claire

And of course had another egg hunt!

By now, the babies were pros! They knew EXACTLY what was in those eggs!

Katie....on the run!

And one of the cutest parts of Easter.....the dresses! The girls were so adorable in their dresses this year.

(Lauren, Katie, Brooklyn)

Katie pretending to not want her picture taken for the first time ever.

Brooklyn, a little unhappy at the moment.

Lauren and her sweet cheesy smile!

The girls are just so cute. SUPER BUSY and very exhausting but Chris and I are really enjoying these ages and I know someday we will miss it. Hope everyone had a great Easter!

(Lauren, Katie, Brooklyn)

Super Saturday

We had a very busy weekend! Saturday morning Chris woke up at the crack of dawn (does the sun even get up at 5:30?) to do an early morning run and then drove across town to run in a road race. He got home just in time to shower and jump in the car for all of us to head to the annual Albert-Adams Easter Egg Hunt. The girls had a great time!

Lauren and Brooklyn were ALL ABOUT the candy!

Katie was such a good "hunter" and her first 2 eggs she found she came and put in her sissy's baskets! So sweet.

Happily going through the loot!

Daddy, Katie, Brooklyn & Lauren

After an enjoyable hour, we jumped in the car and headed back across town to Katie's soccer game. We happened to be playing the Ladybugs and her old preschool friend Lauren was on that team when made it extra fun.

Katie improves each game. This is her second season and she really enjoys it and waves at us multiple times during the game! :) As with all of her teammates, her favorite part is the parent tunnel they run through at the end followed by snacks! Makes it all worth it!