Girl's Night

Saturday night Claire and I had girls' night. We ate chocolate dessert, I let her paint my fingernails and we watched Sound of Music. We had such a good time. I love having little girls and can't wait until Keeley is old enough to do these fun things and join us for "girls' night". While Claire and I had some mommy and daughter time, Nathan and Keeley got to have some daddy and daughter time. He took Keeley to the park and let her play. I love that they were able to have some special time together. Nathan is such a wonderful dad and makes it a priority to take Claire on daddy-daughter dates. This is a tradition he started when Claire was 2 and now he is beginning to continue with Keeley. We love our girls so much and enjoy being with them so much!

Our visit to the Biltmore Estate

Whenever we go to "daddy's office", Claire can see the Biltmore in the horizon. She screams and gets really excited...there's the "castle". A few weeks ago, we had lunch with some friends and when she found out they were going to the Biltmore that afternoon, she was crushed that we couldn't go with them. We promised that we would take her soon. Well, being the bargain shopper that I am, I noticed this week they were running a special. Buy one ticket get one free! I knew we had to go! We didn't tell Claire at all. She didn't know we were going to the Biltmore until we drove right in front of it. It still didn't click with her that we were going inside. She was thrilled when I told her and could hardly contain her excitement! To her, the Biltmore is just one big "castle". In her mind it was the castle that is in all her fairy tales. I can still remember visiting the Biltmore when I was her age. It is pretty amazing to see as an adult, but there is something really magical about seeing it as a child. I loved watching the joy and excitement on her face as we toured each room. She LOVED Mrs. Vanderbilt's room. (It was pink, purple, and yellow.) I asked her today which room was her favorite and she replied "The mommy's room. It was pink and purple. And you know I like yellow too."

The Biltmore house is still a privately owned home that has been open to the public since 1930. It is the largest home in the United States. It boasts 250 rooms, 43 bathrooms, and 35 guest and family bedrooms. It includes a bowling alley and an indoor swimming pool. Currently there are 8000 acres of land that belong to the estate, but originally Mr. Vanderbilt owned 125,00o acres. It is quite an awesome sight when we think about how state-of-the-art this home would have been in 1895 when the home was completed. We truly enjoyed our tour and look forward to many more visits in the near future. We are hoping to purchase a year pass so that we can go and experience it anytime of year. Our friends who have a 12 month pass, say they do something different everytime they go. There is just so much to see and enjoy! I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures from our visit. My plan is to post as many tourist attractions as I can on my blog in hopes that all my friends will come visit :)

Summer Days

This summer we have spent A LOT of time at the pool that is within walking distance from home. Claire, Keeley, and I would spend many of our afternoons playing in the pool. Claire and I both have made some great friends as well. Laurel and Abel have been a Godsend to us. Abel is five and the girls play so great together. Laurel, her mother, and I have really connected. She is a wonderful christian lady with a lot of the same interest as me. We have enjoyed watching the girls and just talking.

Last Sunday was the last day the pool was open, so we decided to all go as a family. Claire FINALLY went under and just a few days before had FINALLY decided she was brave enough to jump in by herself. (Well, at least into the 1ft.) It has been a great summer. (I am already ready for next summer!)

Cinnamon Playdough

The other day I finally found a recipe I had been searching for! When I was little I loved playing with playdough, but hated the way it left my hands smelling. My mom would often make cinnamon playdough for me. I LOVED it because it smelled so good! I have so many fond memories of helping my mom make the playdough and then the two of us playing with it together. I had asked her a few years back for the recipe and she had lost it. Finally, thanks to the internet I was able to find the recipe! Claire and I made our first batch last week. I hope Claire one day has as many sweet memories of cooking and creating things with me, that I do with my mom!

Bittersweet Trip Home

This past weekend, Nathan, the girls, and I went to Illinois to celebrate my brother's birthday and to say goodbye. It was so good to be able to spend one last weekend with him before he deploys. We originally were going to go home the weekend that he deploys for his send off. He requested we come earlier, because he will not really get to spend much time with us that weekend. He will have to spend most of his weekend with the families of the men he oversees. He said he would rather have us come when he would be able to spend time with us. I really hate I am missing his send off. It is hard knowing I won't be there, but I am thankful for the quality time we had together by going up this past weekend. Saturday we spent the day in the pool and then we celebrated his birthday that night with my parents, Rebecca and Rebecca's parents. Sunday night was his going away party. He had a really good turn out and it was good to see some familiar faces from high school. Sunday morning we had to leave :( It was VERY hard to say goodbye, but hopefully the year will fly by and he will be home before we know it!