Tweetsie Railroad

We just spent the last 5 days in Blowing Rock on a little mini family vacation with Evan's side of the family.

The highlight of this trip was taking Ethan to Tweetsie Railroad. Evan nor I had been there since we were small kids, so it was an adventure for all of us. Ethan loves trains so he was really looking forward to it. If you didn't know- the Tweetsie train is one of the oldest and largest running steam engines on the east coast. It's pretty neat.

Of course riding the train is the largest attraction in the park, but there were plenty of other things to do. Lots of rides, shows, food, and activities for the little ones. This was Ethan's first ever trip to an amusement park. He lasted about 4 1/2 hours, which I thought was pretty good considering he'd been up that morning since 6:15am...hardly containing his excitement.

 

It was such a beautiful morning. Blue, sunny skies and temps in the 70's.

 

I love this picture! Waiting for the train to start.

 

Cowboy in training!

 

 

Daddy and Ethan driving race cars...Evan was in heaven. The two of them already practice naming all the Nascar drivers.

 

These two are best buddies!

 

On the little train with cousin Shane.

 

Aside from the train, Ethan LOVED the petting zoo. I think he could have spent the rest of the day in there.

 

This was a picture taken just for MiMi. She loves reading the grandkids the story of The Three Little Billy Goats.

 

They let the baby goats wander around the zoo so the little ones could pet them. They were precious.

 

 

 

 

We had a great day at Tweetsie! Perfect weather, good company, and NO crowds. Had a picnic lunch and enjoyed the beautiful mountain scenery.

 

Ethan LOVED the train and continues to talk about it on a daily basis. He likes reminding me that "the cowboys shoot their guns...bang! bang!, and it's very loud!" "I had to cover my ears, but it was just pretend, mommy." :)

 

Until next time, Ole Tweetsie!

 

 

 

Strawberries & Spring

Last Wednesday we enjoyed a little trip to DJ's Berry Patch in Apex with our favorite buddies to pick strawberries. It was the perfect mid-week activity.

The little ones were very excited and did a great job of finding and picking only the red berries (after much instruction :) ).

 

These two are twins at heart!

Later that evening, I decided to try my hand at making chocolate dipped strawberries. They were delicious.

After visiting the strawberry patch, it was evident that the season has a long ways to go. Most of the berries were small and green. So, you know what that means...many more short cakes and chocolate dipped strawberries to come!

 

 

 

 

 

Last Thursday was Ethan's spring program at school. It was just precious. It started off with a beautiful slide show of the children throughout the school year (I wish I'd had some tissues!), and ended with about 5 or so songs that the children sang.

 

Much like the Christmas program, Ethan did very little singing...but did manage to participate a little more this time around. He was more interested in waving and mouthing "hi daddy!".

 

 

I love this picture because each child is doing something completely different!

 

 

 

It is so hard to believe that Ethan's first year of preschool is coming to an end. WOW. That went so fast. We couldn't have asked for a better experience, or better teachers. It has been such a fantastic experience for all of us.

 

Three year old preschool here we come!!!