trip to durham

in may we went to north carolina to visit jason and lisa. it was our first time seeing them in their new home, which is super-cute and cozy. we had a great time hanging out, eating some awesome southern food (and ice cream!), and enjoying the sights and sounds of durham and chapel hill. a highlight for glenn and i was our double date with jason and lisa to see the musical, wicked! a highlight for mattie was a trip to the museum of life and science. you were wonderful hosts, jason and lisa (and max)! mattie talked about our time there for weeks after we got home. "where max go?" thanks for a great time!

reading "caps for sale" with aunt lisa

smelling a magnolia flower on our tour of the UNC campus

awww! you guys are so cute!

beautiful rose garden on the front lawn at UNC

where's aunt lisa?

family pic

shooting hoops in the dean smith center

enjoying some scrumptious carolina BBQ

cheese!

cheers!

playing letters with uncle jason

yummy desserts and coffee before the show

WICKED!

butterfly house at the museum of life and science

they were everywhere...and not timid at all!

mattie making new friends

getting a drink...kind of!

the dinosaur trail was fun, plus it was in the shade!

showing aunt lisa the flower on her shirt...or maybe the piece of fruit that dropped on it!

the museum had an awesome discovery center for young children - mattie loved it!

building with blocks

popcorn!

looking at pictures on the camera

miscellaneous

in an attempt to bring the blog back up to date...here are some pictures from april and may of this year! it's a start - more to come!

mattie loves to give our more mild-tempered golden retriever, sam, hugs all the time. she throws her arms around his neck and says, "awww".

glenn and i went to see hilary perform in archbold high school's spring musical, oklahoma! her last performance as a senior! you were great, hilary!

mattie and i drove out to goshen to help my cousin allison celebrate her graduation from goshen college. can you tell those 3 young ladies are sisters? :)

glenn organized a trip to chipotle for the mentor/mentee pairs before life planning in april. we all loaded onto the lockport church bus and headed to toledo. cloyce, playing cards? couldn't be!

our large group, waiting in line to order

cloyce ordering his burrito

we all got a burrito and drink for free! glenn knows the right people. i guess being fanatic about chipotle has its perks!

mattie discovered where we keep the candy in the car. another sour patch kid lover. :)

she loves slides! this is one of the playgrounds at harrison lake.

picnic at home one beautiful may day

this is an activity equally enjoyed by mattie and daddy...but it often makes other people gasp and hold their breath!

easter

we spent easter with the kauffman side at barry & lynne and grandpa's house. the highlight for mattie was an egg hunt around the lake. we realized that we hid the eggs pretty far apart... mattie often had to be guided to the next one instead of spotting it herself. but this way, each egg was a surprise! she enjoyed watching her collection grow in the basket. she didn't know there was anything hidden inside the eggs until we got back to the house - more surprises!

looking out at the lake with daddy - it was a beautiful spring day

she does look an awful lot like her daddy - big grin and blue, blue eyes!

this yellow hat was given to mattie that morning at church by katie immel's daugther, mallory

one of the first eggs mattie found, with gramma's help

grampa lending a helping hand

"oh, look!"

the wind kept blowing mattie's hat off

thanks for the cute outfit, uncle jason & aunt lisa!

hunting eggs was a family affair

mattie got tired before we made it the whole way around the lake

this egg was in a nest

picture time!

family picture

mattie's posed smile

showing uncle joel her collection of eggs. the hat looks good on you, joel!

opening the eggs - marshmallows and stickers. the marshmallows were her favorite - should've guessed that one!

her very own chocolate bunny from gramma & grampa. she promptly bit off the ears!

opening up another easter gift - a boz DVD, which has been a big hit!

coloring with sidewalk chalk. "make circle, mommy!"