Dean Park

One of our favorite parks in town has the splash pad water up & running now so we've enjoyed a couple mornings there so far.  These photos are from our visit there last week.  There were several Cornerstone families there so Lily recognized a couple of her friends from church, which made it even more fun!  I think it will be one of the hot spots for us this summer.

Lily and her friend Lauren

Gladiator Assault Challenge

On the 19th, Justin participated in the Gladiator Assault Challenge in Boone at Seven Oaks.  His team was made up of 7 athletic guys, a couple of which who regularly run in triathalons and half marathons.  Since Justin doesn't consider himself a long distance runner, he was pumped to take part in this challenge along with friends whom he doesn't usually get to race with.  Our friend Phillip's 65 year old dad was on their team and wow, he is a machine!  I was so impressed.  It had 30 obstacles and was a little over 5 miles long.  They all finished under 1.5 hours and had a blast doing it!  And it was really fun to watch.  I took Lily with me, along with joining my friend Erin and their family.  As soon as we got out of the car and looked up at the hill that we'd have to climb to watch the guys, I knew bringing the stroller was not an option!  The kiddos, bless their hearts, were troopers in climbing the monster hill and then walking A LOT to get to the various obstacles to watch their daddies.  Erin's son Beckham was commenting "Daddy methy (messy)!" and his sister Larae would say "C'mon slowpokes!" They sure thought it was fun to see their dads covered in mud while they ran, hiked, climbed walls, balanced on beams, crawled under barbwire, slid into ponds and many other things I'm forgetting at the moment.  Ok, enough with my synopsis....here are photos of the day!

The hill we climbed to get to the viewing area.  Erin and I are both pregnant and here we were carrying kids up this thing.  About halfway up, Lily says "Carry you" which means she wants me to carry her.  Wowsers, that was no easy feat.  Phillip's mom joked that we should have at least gotten T-shirts for it! :)

And he's off!

The first muddy hill

Over the 9 foot vertical wall

At the top of the hill, making our way back down

The last obstacle

On the homestretch!

Post race

As you can see, Lily was not fond of getting very close to her Dad!

Team Maximus Decimus Meridius

From left: Phil, Tim, Mitch, Phillip, Jerod, Jacob and Justin

Mmmmm...Tenderloins

Lily had her first tenderloin sandwich last week.  It was a winner!

Men: Hard at Work & Kids: Hard at Play

Last week our friend Doug came over and Justin helped him fix our deck stairs.  They're so sturdy now, I love it!  His wife Marisa brought their two boys over so the kids could play while the daddies worked.  It was a great setup!  Lily and Ty play really well together (most nights she asks to pray for Ty, it's so sweet) and she just loves doting on Baby Drew.

Sorry this picture is really blurry but I had to include it.  This gives me an idea of what she might be like with Baby J, she is very nurturing and gentle with babies.  She wanted to show Drew this ball and just kept holding it up for him to see making cute faces at him. :)

Here are the men working hard outside.  

Every time Doug would use the saw, you would see Lily and Ty doing this...........

OH MY WORD. IS THIS CUTE OR WHAT?!?!

I think this is the pose they might use in their engagement photo....minus the crackers of course.

First of Many Trips to the Zoo

We went to the zoo last week with my friend Jessi and her daughter Scotlyn.  It was perfect weather for it and it was fun to see how much more Lily is into everything this year.  I've renewed our membership so there will be many more visits to come!

Their expressions here crack me up, especially Lils

 Enjoying a picnic lunch after the zoo

Crib Playtime

Lately when I go in to get Lily out of her crib after naptime, she insists that she stay in there and play.  And like on this particular day, she often wants me to put Jax in there to play too.  My sweet, spunky, goofy girl thinks that is a perfect recipe for a good time. 

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was beautiful and we celebrated by having brunch at The Cafe before church.  I am so blessed to be a mama to Lily and Baby J!

Waiting outside for our name to be called....this place is well worth the wait!  Isn't the necklace Justin gave me for the occasion lovely?!  I adore it!

Thank you to the staff for providing fun entertainment for little ones!

She lights up my life. :)

This is Lily's latest pose when I ask her to put her arm around someone.