Vacation...and Taters

Spring break arrived at our home and school late last week and we went on vacation! We headed to the beach for a visit to my folks. We had a FANTASTIC time! I'll give you a brief rundown on what we did. My dear Mom and Dad kept the kids while Matt and I got away for a little mini-vacation/honeymoon of our own!! (Hooray and Yip-De-Do Howdy!) We stayed in Southport ....in a motel right on the Cape Fear River. Absolutely a real pleasure for us both. And then, my Daddy made me feel very special for my birthday...he took me and my sister to one of those fancy restaurants (so fancy, I did not even know which fork to use for what! I sheepishly had to ask my sister.) But, oh, it was SO nice!! I ate baked stuffed grouper (stuffed with crab meat), some risotto (I did not even know what it was, but it was great!!) and a caesar salad. (They even put a little flower on my plate! How fancy is that?!) Dessert, you ask? Lava cake! It was so fun to get all dressed up and go!! (This was probably the nicest restaurant I've ever been to. And now...I am spoiled. Yessiree Bob. No more Bubba's Diner for me!) As if that wasn't enough, he took us shopping afterwards and let us pick out our favorite perfume. We had such fun spritzing ourselves with every kind of "smell good" imagineable...we were like two kids in a candy store! I smell so good now. (By the way, in case you didn't know, I have the most wonderful parents in the whole wide world.) The kids spent lots of time on the beach. There were no crowds at all...a good time of the year to be there. Oh, and another real treat...Rachel and my Mom got to play a few songs together in church...Rachel on the violin and Mom on the piano. Besides the fact that they both did absolutely perfect, it was special that they got to do it together. (It's possible that you may be able to listen to it online...I'll check on that and let you know later if it's been posted on their church website.) So, yep, this was a trip filled with nothing but good memories. Ah, it was just one of those vacations where we sorta hated to snap back into reality. But all good things must come to an end, and we are now returning to our routine. School kicks back in gear on Monday! Are we excited about that??? I asked Katie if she was. Her reply? A simple "No." She doesn't beat around the bush, that girl. But then again, Monday is her birthday...who wants to think about school when you're turning TEN years old?? Anyway, below are a few pictures taken while we were away. I really did not make good use of my camera while we were there...I should have taken alot more pics. We were just too busy having a good time!
Here's Katie and Cousin Hannah on the way to the beach...

Was the water really warm enough to go swimming??? No. But the kids went in anyway. :O) I do not know how they stood it! Brrr! It was like ice water!
And here's my wonderful Mommy :O) (She and I had fun antique shopping one day. Didn't buy anything but had fun anyway.)
Part of getting "back to reality" for us included a few chores. It was time to plant potatoes! Yay! I am always thrilled to get those in the ground. We all work together to get that job done and it goes alot faster that way.
Here's Matt discing the ground to get it ready...
And just look at those hard-working youngens...
My Grandmother's old bonnet kept away the gnats...they were out in DROVES today! Ugh! Don't I look just like an old grandmaw?? I sorta felt like one by the time we were done! We plant ALOT of taters! :O) Well, at least I smelled good while we were planting potatoes. Yes. I sprayed a little dab or two of my new perfume on before we went to the field to plant :O) Couldn't resist.
And finally the job is finished!
One final picture....just wanted to show everybody how pretty and GREEN things are getting around here! Quite a wonderful contrast to the crackly brown of the last year's drought!

That's all for now. Be back with another update soon!!