We are having one beautiful day here in Tennessee. The temperatures are getting up toward 70 degrees, the sun came out around noon, and there is a pleasant breeze. To celebrate this wonderful weather (which is only lasting one day), we met our friends after school at a nearby park. We also needed to break the trend of not taking the camera out much. These cold months are hard ones to remember to take photos of our resident smiles.

The park play highlights include: lots of running around, giggles, trying new equipment out, one wet slide that slowed down Emily’s fun, post-lunch snacks, and lots of busyness. Despite being wet, Emily had no interest in coming home. The warm weather makes us all long a little more for spring to officially come.

Wow, they both looked at the camera and smiled together! We are so fortunate that Emily has such a great friend.

Emily will be getting a haircut tomorrow so this is the before photo, but what a great smile from her too. Not always what she is willing to give the camera.

The only way they would both look at the camera (or in the direction of) was to ask about the bug on my head. They were skeptical – does it show? Emily needs more gray shirts, her eyes sure look gray in this photo.

Our sweet girl. Having a great day of not acting too independent. She is wanting to show so much individually these days. She wanted to butter her bagel just like Emily did. She too will be getting a haircut tomorrow, but not expecting any huge style changes.

Our resident pixie friend. Without the awesome pigtails she would still be a pixie, but they sure do make the look complete.

We met up with our friends on Valentine’s Day for a playdate. It was a cool and rainy day so we chose a warm and active option instead. Our friend Lincoln introduced us to Gym Bugs and the girls fell in love (with Gym Bugs, not Lincoln – hee hee). They asked to go back immediately. It is a great place to work off our extra energy. Basically they have a room filled with interactive toys and gym equipment pieces for the kids to play with. The girls loved playing and then when we were done we got lunch at Chick-fil-a together. It was a great way to spend the day – with other little people we love.

I think the big kids were pretending to be chickens while they bounced. The little one was just loving bouncing and playing.

Emily found these fruit bins and fruit to sort. She played with them the whole time sorting them, resorting them, moving them, and finally cleaning them up. She did do other things, but always came back to them. Such a serious girl.

The less serious side of Emily. She seemed to love being in flight.

You have to love the serious face on Kenzie. What a silly girl! She had a blast.

They have this rollercoaster for the kids to ride. I would have thought it gimmicky in a catalog, but in person it is pretty cool and the kids love it. They were so good to share and put the car back for the next kids. Julia’s turn was next – can you see her excitement?

Julia’s turn!!!!! That is one happy kid.

What could anyone want more for Valentine’s day than a hug from Maeve.

We went back to visit the Aquarium this time with Daddy. We had to show him all of our favorite spots. Emily was excited to see the Garden Eel. We had learned about them just that week and the idea of getting to see one was cool. It is such a different visit with two parents. The kids get more freedom to pick the thing they want to look out without having to stick with the other kid. They seemed to enjoy their freedom and in the interactive section they were rarely together.

A serious Emily in the fish tank. She did look at the camera though.

Julia had so much fun looking at the fish in the tank she couldn’t stand still for a photo.

Julia giving her "cheesy" smile.

Mama has not crawled down the observation tube before and it was fun. We visited in the later afternoon and again the penguins were settled in for the night. We read all the arm bands we could see. It was fun to have a name for the different penguins.

Fantastic news from Julia’s 3-year heart check-up – All the areas of concern from her first visit have healed with her growth and are no longer there!

The visit involved an echo of her heart along with the visit with the doctor. Julia was a good sport and enjoyed hanging with Mama and Daddy by herself. The ultrasound went smoothly because they showed Cat and the Hat during the procedure.

We rewarded her good behavior with a strawberry milkshake after the exam. For Mama and Daddy it was a celebration of the good news, too. Emily enjoyed the whole exam at a friends house, to her own delight.

Oh Julia, how you make Mama laugh! When you went to bed last night you wanted to lay on top of all of your blankets. It is January and chilly, so Mama figured when you got cold you would just climb underneath to warm up. This is not what you did. You got up and found the pile of play blankets and drug three of them to your bedside and wrapped yourself up in one of them. Also with the blankets looked to be the clothes you had selected for yourself to wear the following day. Mama came in to check on you after you fell asleep and chuckled as she covered you with another play blanket to be sure you would be warm all night. Mama hopes your dreams were good ones, with your morning organized and your body toasty.

We planned a family trip to visit the Aquarium in Gatlinburg while Daddy had some time off. As life does not always go to plan, he was sick and unable to join us girls on the trip. We went on and made the most of our day without Daddy. The girls took naps in the car on the way. After they woke up, we ventured inside to see all the fish.

Emily was very intent on getting down to an interactive area and hardly looked at the fish exhibits on the way. Julia seemed interested in looking at most things for a few minutes each. Once we got to the lower level, the girls chose to ride through the sea tunnel and watch the fish. The moving floor was a huge hit with the girls. Both girls seemed to really watch the different fish and sharks around us.

Then the girls played in the interactive area for quite a while. They were very busy and just turned knobs, flipped switches, slid windows, and ducked in and out of a dark room to their hearts content. In the past we have visited and attended a preschool program, and Emily was curious why we weren’t seeing Jessica and doing a craft.

When we were finally done in the play area, we ventured into a new part of the exhibit about sharks. And then caught a ray feeding while we had a snack. After the excitement of the play area, the girls were most looking forward to seeing the penguin habitat. They have several tunnels to crawl thru and observe the penguins. The girls were a bit disappointed to find the penguins not active and hanging out in the warmer room of the habitat. The idea that it was near the penguin’s bedtime was too hard for them to grasp.

The last treat of the aquarium was Mama allowing the girls stay in the gift shop for a long time checking out all the fun trinkets and books. Normally the stay in the shop is brief, but for a treat we stayed a bit longer.

We went out for dinner on the way home and enjoyed warm bread with dipping oil and pasta. The only thing that could have made the day more perfect was to have Daddy with us. We decided that in about a month we might try the day visit again taking him with us.

Chris the scuba-diver and fish feeder. When he ran out of food to feed the fish he did a few tricks to entertain us. We caught two of his feedings, one with the Rays and the other in the Reef tank.

Emily checking out the penguin habitat. They loved climbing thru the tunnel.

The girls checking out a shark overhead. They found a lot of sharks to watch in this tank.

Julia peeking up at the penguin habitat. I think she was as excited to be able to look back and see Mama as to see the penguins.