Springtime plantings

Spring is in the air! We went out to my favorite nursery to buy flowers and hanging baskets. They always have a beautiful display before Mother's Day. Rebekah loved this giant Adirondack chair.

 Emma got a hanging wall planter from Grandad & Kris for Christmas. It was just like the one they worked on together last summer. We worked on it together. Then I realized that I did not buy enough plants for the top of the hanging. Emma had a packet of wild flower seeds, so we added those on top. 

Flower & Garden Show

It's been a long cold winter. It was so nice to get out and see spring flowers everywhere. 

We could only find a place to park at the very top of a parking garage for the festival. One benefit was that we got this great great few of the historic downtown.

Biltmore Estate

Sheri had all kinds of crafts and activities planned for the girls. We had a great time hanging out together.

One of the things the girls enjoyed the most was tie-dying eggs and decorating them with gems and fairy tattoos. It was a fun experience for the girls.

 Another day we got to visit the Biltmore Estate.

I felt like I was walking up to Downton Abbey. 

The architecture was really cool. I loved all the weird gargoyles carved in the stone.

 The house was so HUGE! So big and so many rooms. It was overwhelming.

The gardens were amazing.

Everything was in bloom and beautiful. It was so great to see. It made me happy just to be there and walk around. Emma even commented that it was the first time she had seen me smile in a while. 

Yes, it has been a long winter. 

 While we were on the tour we saw this:

Its a mother ground hog carrying her baby back to it's home (or an new hole, I don't really know why she would be carrying her baby out in the open like that, I don't even know how many babies ground hogs have...)

We noticed this cool path up to another lawn and gazebo. We wanted to walk up there and check it out, but it was raining. That did not, however, deter Emma. You can see a little purple spot on the photo below as she was running back down the path.

Easter Egg Hunt

Two in one day!!

First was one with our HOA.

Second was with the town. 

Rebekah is wearing one of the scarfs she got from Great-grandma Adeanya.

Cherry Blossoms

Time for the cherry blossoms!! Hooray!!

It has been such a long and cold winter... it feels great to see the world come back to life.

Emma was a little cold in her shorts and t-shirt. She forgot to bring her jacket. I gave her our picnic blanket to wrap herself  up in.

Rebekah was fine in her shorts. She loves to climb around on the rocks at the FDR memorial.

 We  took a few selfies while walking around.

 We walked down to the MLK Jr Memorial. 

In these pictures you can see how many people were around.

You can also see just how big the MLK Jr carving is.

 There is a short wall around the MLK memorial. On the wall are several of his quotes. These were two of our favorites.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."