The most important day of the year!

I had a birthday (shout Hooray!) last week and had an awesome day. Rob and I went horseback riding (thanks, Groupon!) and I got to ride an enormous Percheron draft horse named Belle. We had a trail ride through a nature preserve and it was a beautiful, peaceful, sunny morning. All the trees are flowering right now and it was just lovely.

We had lunch with friends and then other friends over for dinner that night. I had a huge chocolate cake. I received wonderful, thoughtful gifts. On Saturday the girls decorated my door and Rob made me waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. Can my life be any sweeter, really? Thank you everyone who made me feel special today!

Eloise drew this poster of me and labeled all the things she loves about me. My very favorite is the "curly hair that keeps awesomeness in".

Weekend Getaway

Rob had some work in Wilmington, so the girls and I hitched along for the ride and spent a couple of days on Wrightsville Beach. The water was awfully cold (ice on your ankles cold), but it was 80 degrees and sunny skies, so we enjoyed plenty of long walks, shell collecting and playing on the sand dunes. Most of the pictures below were taken from one spot--as I lay on my towel watching the girls play. It is SO nice to be at a stage where they need minimal supervision and can entertain themselves and each other for long periods of time.

Maddie and Sarah saw dolphins one morning from our hotel window. I got to go on a long run on the beach. Rob accomplished some good work (interviews and research). Bea and I made up a great story about a mermaid who lost her necklace. I cherish the memory of her sweet little face close to mine and the tiny grains of sand all over her cheeks. It was a pretty great weekend...

Sunshine in January

**just found this in my folder...WAY behind schedule this time**

A little behind schedule, but we do have a good excuse, as we've been getting the house ready to go back on the market. Pictures of updates to come, but if you know anyone moving to Charlotte, please have them email us.

But BEFORE we started all the work, we had 10 days of crazy fun with my parents in town. Crazy because Maddie and Eloise were wrapping up their middle school musical, Annie, and had a busy schedule of rehearsals and performances. Crazy because Rob was starting his new semester at UGA and now he's gone two days a week. Crazy because we tried to cram all sorts of projects and activities and delicious meals into one week.

But so so fun! (It's always fun with Nanny and Grandpa.) Fun because we got to see the girls perform and they did great! Fun because we learned how to make taffy.

Fun because I got to paint and watch movies with my dad. Fun because we took a walking tour of uptown Charlotte. Fun because my mom and I set up 3 sewing machines and made a huge stinkin' mess and a ton of cute stuff!!!!

Our tour of Uptown Charlotte: