roanoke trip

ella with coal the puppy-- jaime let us "puppysit" for a while-- which trilled ella to no end! we have recently found two different puppies that we have found new homes for-- we don't need 3 dogs! so, getting to puppysit for a while was all we needed to remind us that puppies are cutest when they go home to someone else!



ella and jarron's lovers spat. i know that ella adores jarron-- and jarron knows the exact buttons to push-- super cute! she was sooo mad at him! and i have no idea why!



gracie and coal playing-- big momma needs a puppy to play with!



fisher and jase-- how stinkin' cute! they would be soooo much trouble if we lived closer to them!




make-up-- nuff said!


the trip started out pretty slow. i had been sick all monday morning with a stomach bug-- praying that the kids didn't get it, and chris was already gone to new orleans for a business trip-- i had to get out of my house, i was sick, exhausted, tired, blahhhhh! so going on with my plans to roanoke was the only option!



me, kelsey, and sister in law denise- but denise has been around us forEVER! so, she might as well be a sister too! we took the kids, mom and jarron to carvins cove (roanoke's resevoir) for a picnic in january-- it was FREEZING! but the kids and mom seemed to really enjoy themselves. there aren't tons of opportunities that the four kids and mom all get together. so this trip was too perfect for getting them all together!







the kids all ADORE mom and jarron- i love that our kids have a great "fun" uncle. the uncle that is for playing ONLY! and jarron fits the bill perfectly! jarron does an amazing job teasing them, pestering them, and loving them... thanks for being so amazing to our kids!



i took the kids to roanoke last week for a visit with mom and dad- jarron's last couple of days before he went back to california and kelsey was meeting us there of course. it's easier to plan visits when we can meet at the same time- instead of her driving 5 1/2 hours to me, or me to her.

our trip to roanoke

i have not been to my parents house since the middle of august for jarron's going away party-

i was very excited to be going- i have a soft spot for my daddy and getting to spend anytime with him and getting to see ella and fisher with him is worth our trip anytime. dad got called to work on saturday morning before the zoo and came home sunday long enough to make chris' favorite biscuits and "jimmy gravy" ella got to show pop-pop some of her dance moves and her love of sparkly dresses... and fisher was himself- climbing on things going up and DOWN the stairs and just wanting to look at dad- (they look lots alike- but i have no pictures :()

this trip had an extra bonus- kelsey and jopo were in town as well... we got in late on friday and fisher woke up a little disoriented to say the least. ella understood but fisher was really confused by rocky, annabelle, kelsey, jopo, nanny and pop-pop wanting to see him-

saturday morning we went to the mill mountain zoo- (nanny has three favorite places of all time- 1-the beach 2-carvins cove 3- mill mountain zoo) check one off the list! fisher loves to go anywhere that he can run freely- ella will go anywhere that taylor is going- so... win win nanny happy, fisher happy, ella happy = chris and kara happy!



it was a beautiful day and denise-jeremy- taylor and jase met up with us at the zoo- ella and taylor were thrilled to see each other and the boys were off and running-





kelsey and jopo were extra added bodyguards for fisher and ella and i am always excited to get to see my sister(fighting tears- i miss her a little too much) i think that this was the longest that we had EVER gone without seeing each other!







the zoo was amazing and the kids loved every square inch of the place- the leaves,the breeze, the animals, the open space,
the constant "look at this" it was amazing-








it's great to watch fisher understanding things more- he really liked watching the animals and roaming all over the place- he is at a great age!









i have mostly butt shots of the kids- they stayed on the go!

the zoo has a playground now- and they all took turns going down the slide- fisher willing to try anything was great- he is almost dangerous-








*a side note- we finally convince ella that she should go down the slide- i am going to take her and taylor both- her croc boot gets stuck on the way down and bends her poor little leg back pretty far and quite disgusting looking- our luck- we get chicken on the slide and this would happen-she will make it though-






ruby the tiger was an attraction to the zoo a while ago (back when i was a kid)- she passed away and this is the memorial for her- the kids loved playing on it.





we rode the train that circles the zoo for our grande finale!





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after the zoo we went to lunch at our favorite macadoo's

then the kids went to take naps and mom kelsey and i got in some much needed girl time and hit the mall for some limited (the store) therapy- it was one of the first times that i have ever been in that store and not bought something! i got a little christmas shopping started for ella and fisher in the disney store-

after dinner ella and nanny had a tea party (with orange juice) and ella loved it- she got to wear a hat that belonged to my great-great grandmother- it was a great trip



*another side note- for the first time ever- i won (two times) playing Phase 10- kels, jopo, and chris- don't call it a comeback and i challenge you to another game anytime!

*also... kelsey and i are going to run 2 5K's in the spring- one in johnson city and one in raliegh- i will keep you posted on our progress!