Motherz, With A 'Z'

Yuula was so proud that she made he own Motehr's Day card this year. She kind of taught herself how to write those letters. I'm not sure if that's a good thing.

This year we upped the ante and brought Mommy breakfast in bed. Mainly because I knew she wouldn't get up for anything less than food in her lap.

I had a few surprises up my sleeves. First stop on the list was Columcille. Yeah I don't know what it is either, but it's awesome, enormous, and we're going to have to go back real soon. 

Then after a short detour, we finally pulled into Remembrance Stables, where I got Laura some time on top of a horse. Of course that time would have to be another day because even trainers are Moms to someone, but they were nice enough to give us a little tour of the place. Stayed tuned for that little adventure...

Look at the size of this damn horse

Yuula got to see the brand new foal

I really feel a strong bond with this guy

Next: lunch. And for some reason no one serves lunch on Mother's Day. Just a lot of late breakfasts and early dinners. But Mother wanted a sandwich, so after trying Thisilldous, Riverton Inn, and Johnny's we ended up back in Stroudsburg at Sweet Creams, and you know what, it's where we'd rather've been.

After lunch we took a nice stroll down Main Street and splurged on Starbucks. We got Oprah-approved chai lattes because, I don't know it felt maternal. They were okay.

We drove around for a bit and then stopped off on route 447 for a little riverside action. Laura fed the boy and Yuula picked flowers and threw them into the stream.

 The sun was going down and I know all Laura had on her mind was pork steak.

Kind of like us, in cat form. 

 there it is!

We threw the boy on the swing, and he just lumped there

We ended the day with a little hammock time for Mommy and her mommied

Swinging Back Into The Thing Of Spring

Another morning of yardwork ahead, but I need help stretching.

This year we have to new things to worry about, like Yuula scaling rocks.

Planting the first flower of the season

We had a little visitor in the middle of the day that broke things up, little Bella from dance class. They enjoyed putting dirt in each others hair and just being filthy in general. 

That is not the serving plate. That is Laura's plate.

and yes we got ice cream again. So what of it?

Mama's Birthday Food And The Back Of Yuula's Head

This is what we get when Laura picks breakfast

Cherry Valley beeswax play tent, and the back of Yuula's head

Getting the royal treatment at the garden center, and the back of Yuula's head

Yuula is taking Kathy's job, and the back of Yuula's head

This is what we get when Laura picks dinner

and the back of Yuula's head

The Germans Are Known For Their Balloon Expertise

I wish the cat had driven

Yuula got some dunking lessons, on par

dinner provided by Brad & Erin, pork steak, no surprise

we don't see this on our road

Fort Wayne fashion is still in question

Looking on from atop Mount Brad at her puppy balloon creation

She wasn't the only one styling some balloon art

Then we found this...

Dylan got trapped

It was like a party

Good thing we had her bathing suit

Coloring Bridge To Cold Cookout

For their final day here in the Poke-A-Nose we thought we'd take a relaxing drive down to Easton and let the girls loose in the Crayola Factory. The place was bigger than I thought'd be and spanned the history of the crayon from its first wax pencil to the its latest shade of inchworm. Some of the activities were overwhelmed by aspiring artists and oddly enough, 17 year olds on spring break, but we still managed to find plenty for the girls to do.

this was a car that you can color on

I wonder how many kids transfer this idea to their family vehicle

she didn't quite get the color explosion

I feel like she really shined at the sculpture station

this piece is entitled "Dead Hippo Floating in Lake Wallenpaupack"

the chalk walk was intimidating to all of us

forever immortalized in a Spiderman coloring book

silly mirrors are self explanatory

the colordance wall was quite fun

so much fun that even I got in on the action

After that we hit a nearby park between to bridges along the river that had plenty of slides for these three. I think Yuula may already be due for an upgrade.

Yuula was in charge of ot letting the ball fall in the river

I was in charge of not letting Yuula fall in the river

she's a slide fiend

Then to home where despite the plummeting temperature and occasional gusts of wind we went ahead with the preplanned cookout of pork steaks. No one seemed to mind too terribly, except for Madison who wore gloves (but no jacket) thru dinner. We even had a visitor who proved to be a big fan of sweet potato fries.

Laura and her stack o' meat

simple & delicious

sweet potato fries make one bold

And then as the sun went down completely we made a fire and everyone got in their fair share of s'mores as we thought back over the past few days and found out that everyone's favorite moment was simply "Kitties!".

dry wood makes for easy bonfire

a roasting tutorial

charred to perfection

first s'more

second s'more

Good times!