To celebrate Natalie’s spring break Jolie, Grandma, and a bunch of kids came to visit. We were delighted and the girls were so excited. They arrived in the afternoon and Grandma and I surprised Emily with checking her out early from school. Nichole, Jennifer and the kids have never seen snow and they had been delighted with some snow in Gatlinburg. Still more came the day they arrived and we enjoyed playing at the park with the snow falling on us.

Snow here does not always last long and this snow shower ended before we left the park. Natalie gave Emily a ride across the park.

The "oldies" bundled up to stay warm.

What could be better than swinging while it is snowing?

Our silly kid slide photo!

We moved a few things around to make it easier to sleep and play. The under-the-bunk play space was just the perfect size for Mikayla.

The girls were excited to take their Daddy to the Children’s Museum.

Natalie is getting a lesson about how to make a call with a rotary phone.

Dylan is taking a trip on a rocket ship!

Posing with Anakin Skywalker. Who knew it was so easy to visit the outer reaches of the universe in one afternoon?

The kids enjoyed the train room. They even stopped long enough for a photo.

One afternoon we had a picnic at Norris Dam. We took the walk to the middle so we could see off both sides of the dam to compare. It was a cool picnic. Thankfully it was a sunny day and the sun kept us warm.

Of course we had to stop at Krispy Kreme doughnuts and enjoy a dozen or so. We were sad that the visit was short, but it was good to visit for the time we had. It will have to tide us over to summer when we will visit again.

The majority of our trip away was spent camping at Florida Caverns in Marianna, Florida. Emily and Julia knew who we were going to visit with and they were very excited. Julia had been nursing a cold so she was shy when we got there, but it did not take her long to feel her freedom and play with the other kids. Our campsite was pretty full, but thankfully we had one of the larger sites. We were able to fit three cars, one camper, two tents, a picnic table shelter, and still have plenty of room for the fire, chairs and play area. Jolie had planned it all out very well.

In total, we had four adults and five kids including one infant. Natalie did a great job of playing with the younger kids and Julia tried to keep up as much as she could with the older kids. It was fun to watch Dylan play with his superhero characters right along side of the camper and tent toys. His superhero toys even had their own sleeping bags just like the dolls for the girls. They all loved coloring in books at the table.

For our activities, we spent time in a field kicking a ball around, some short hikes, and a cave tour. Everyone seemed to do really well in the cave and the darkness didn’t seem to bother the kids. We got to see two bats along with puddles, cool formations, and a few seconds of absolute darkness. Our evening entertainment were owls calling to one another. They were some of the most unusual calls I have heard. They were not distracting enough to keep us awake, but fascinating to listen to. I would call camping a success. Despite some rain, it all worked out and we staying dry and warm. The girls seem ready to try it again.

A scene of Florida

Julia playing with the tent, camper, and family of dolls. All the kids enjoyed these toys a lot. I noticed that Julia would gravitate to it when the other girls were busy doing bigger girl things. She enjoys her solitary play a lot. I was explaining to Emily about how Aunt Jolie’s camper closed up, and she described to me how she would do it. She then told me she knew all about it because of the camper toy. I was impressed, but didn’t let Emily actually help take the camper down.

Happy Baby Mikayla! She got her “floor” time in the pack-n-play so that she wouldn’t eat dirt. She was moving around the play yard pretty well and got the idea about crawling as soon as she got home. Maybe she wanted to be able to move around like those big kids.

Mama time for the little one.

Maybe one of my favorite times and definitely my favorite photo. The girls were bouncing along the trail as much as their hair was. Emily was trying to be a big girl just like Natalie and having a blast. They just look lost in conversation as they spend time together.

After kicking the ball around at the field for a while they decided that the hill needed to be conquered. They decided that they would play Jack and Jill (renamed to Jackie and Jill). They would recite the rhyme at the top of the hill and then roll down. It took Emily a few tries to figure out how to roll down the hill.

They must teach rolling down hills at school, because Natalie was an expert at it. She even perfected a dramatic ending to her roll.

Dylan and Natalie had been getting Superhero tattoos and were showing them off to Jolie.

Coloring was another of the activities that got pulled out a lot to do. Here again, Julia took advantage of a quiet moment when she didn’t have to share the crayons with anyone.

Three strong Nobles women! Thanks for inviting us to join you and hope to do this again in the future.

Grandma rode with us to Orlando. It was nice to have a little extra company in the car as we traveled. The stay at Jolie’s was very short, but lots of fun. All of the family came by and enjoyed a dinner together. And before dinner we enjoyed some time out at the pool.

The girls got to play in their new bathing suits (thanks, Nichole) and enjoy the cool water on a warm afternoon. Emily had been looking forward to her visit with Natalie for quite a while and was so excited. The girls had a blast swimming together. They poured water, swam around, and jumped into the water a million times.

Dylan wasn’t left out and enjoyed running around the house with Emily, watching TV together, and driving push cars in the house. He enjoyed the pool, but couldn’t compete with Natalie in the pool.

Julia did her own thing for the day. She hung out in the pool until she got too cold then cuddled with a variety of people. Then shortly after dinner she was rocked to sleep by Grandma.