Spring Break 2011 in Pictures

Nicole and Adam blessed us by driving down for the weekend. We were able to have a lot of downtime with them catching up and hanging out and on their way home we met in the city at "Yeah! Burger," an all natural and organic (with the option of gluten free) burger place. A little pricey for a burger but definitely worth it! So cute, and they just opened another one on the other side of the city!


Yeah baby.

I really wish the flash wasn't broken on my camera.

It was so good to see them, and sad to let them go-but we were grateful for the time we did have!


Sunday afternoon (after Nicole and Adam left for the city for their show), Shane and I stopped at the Border's by our apartment for their last ditch sale weekend before it was officially closed for good. There were a few racks of books left for 90 % off (We grabbed a couple books, (a humorous book on grammar for me....because really without a little humor who can take a whole book of grammar?!), But our biggest purchase was these genre signs seen above. I thought it would be such a cool idea to have these in Shane's classroom. I was convinced they weren't for sale, but Shane thought we should at least ask. They said we could have whatever we wanted for a couple bucks each as long as we found a way to get them down ourselves(that would be Shane getting them down by himself) : )

We bought a bunch for school and even picked up this "food and cooking' sign for Nicole in case she wanted to use it in her new kitchen! It was a fun bargain find, but for now they are just hanging out in our living room.


Shane and I planned very little after Nicole and Adam's visit to ensure we would get lots of rest and feel like this time off was truly a vacation! Shane planned in the middle of the week for us to take a short road trip up to Greenville, South Carolina and enjoy their downtown and local parks.

The road trip was the perfect length-2 hours!

It was a beautiful day to spend outdoors (after popping a few allergy pills....). We had our picnic lunch and set out to find a good spot to settle down for a bit. In this picture Shane and I are walking along the river towards Falls Park.


We found a great spot right along a creek bank with the perfect view of the waterfalls and the suspension bridge overhead.

The creek that my orange rolled into

We didn't have ANY luck with my camera or the self timer and after approximately 15 attempts. . .

This is where we ended up

The falls from the suspension bridge (with children playing in them below)

Headed to the other side

This guy was just reading. . . in his suit pants and dress shirt-no big deal




Some man made "Falls" tucked along a path that led closer to downtown

Brick Pavilion set right along the river-great venue for an outdoor wedding-or just a party!

After stopping for some gelato smoothies at Luna Rosa's we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the downtown area. We had to leave our skateboards at home.


They tried to intimidate us at the Toy Store-but Shane wouldn't have it.


Shane listened intently as Old Man River told us all about the local gem mining opportunities.

Aaaaand I put on this dusty old mining hat just for you DAN MEEH : )

We saw some strange sights....


bronze mice. . . scattered throughout the city. . .

Hmmm?

Underground Cafe

Italian Restaurant--Gluten Intolerance Welcome : ) (that means yes they had a gluten free menu)

A leisure trip wouldn't be complete without a stop at the bookstore (and although we scoured the downtown area for one we left with no luck!) We were determined, and before getting back on the expressway we stopped at the closest Barnes and Noble and picked up a Tim Keller Book.



Mike Ford-you would be proud : ) (Great Read So Far!)

. . . . . . . . .

It is now the weekend and our break is slowly winding down to an end. It's 86 and muggy outside so Spring (or Summer for that matter) feels like it is officially here. We kicked off our Saturday with an impromptu Spring cleaning and it feels great to start of the season with clean closets and drawers!

Spring is here, and in a few weeks Spring ball will start. . . Go BEARS!

-M.W.