Katie's back!

We were so excited to have Katie come and visit. She is always so much fun to have around. She came into town on Ben's birthday and helped us celebrate. One of the things that Ben got for his birthday was a tent. We decided to put it up and have a movie night and camp-out in the living room. I didn't get a picture of the finished product, but it was awesome.


Of course it wouldn't be a visit from Katie without her making crapes for us each morning and cookies for us every night. I think we have a new favorite cookie (it is the old chocolate chip cookie recipe, but with M&M's), they were delicious.


After having Katie here for three days, she was off to North Carolina for a week at the beach with the Bryson's. We missed her tons, but it was fun to have her coming back for more fun. When she got back, the fun started once more. One of Katie's favorite things to do when she visits us is to go fishing. We fished two evenings and caught about 35 fish. It is nice to have an extra set of hands, because it seems like someone always has a fish that needs to be unhooked. Here is one time when Michael and Emma each caught one at the same time.


One day Ben was able to take work off and we went out to Monticello. They just finished a new visitors center that is beautiful. We checked out the museums down there, and then had a picnic.


After that we hiked/walked up to the home. It is about a 1/2 mile, and the kids liked picking up rock and messing around on the way up. This is a "round about" that Michael found. They went up and down it quite a few times . . . and even managed to talk Katie into trying it a few times.


At the top there was lots to do. One of our favorites was the garden. And the view was spectacular.


It was a really fun day. A little hot . . . but fun.


I think one of the favorite activities with Katie, for my kids, was going to Walmart. One day we went there and she bought each of them a gift of their choice. It was some very difficult decision making, but everyone was all smiles.


The last day she was here we went swimming at The Grove pool. We were one of the first ones there. As Emma was getting into the pool she discovered that a frog had taken a wrong turn somewhere and found its way into the pool. Michael immediately jumped in to swim with the frog.

The frog was caught fairly quickly and released into the pond. But it made for an exciting morning.


On the way to the airport we took Katie to lunch at one of our new favorite restaurants. It is an Irish Pub that has the best fish n' chips we have ever tasted.


I am so grateful to Katie for being so dedicated about coming to see us. This is her fourth trip (five if you count the visit before the beach and after the beach as two visits) out here since we moved (which is just a year ago). We love having her with us!