Weekend Retreat

We just returned from a wonderful weekend retreat to the mountains of NC. We spent the weekend with the Bazley family in Asheville and had such a great time. Amy was my roommate in college and our girls are only 3 months apart....little Ella is just precious and Gray had the time of her life!! We were a little worried about the weather due to the snow the NC mountains have been getting all winter - but we got so lucky and couldn't have asked for better weather. Temps were in the mid 60's and our entire weekend was spent outdoors!! We can't wait for spring!!! Gray just loves being outside and we are already working on our list, planning for a summer full of fun activities!!

Saturday was perfect!! We packed a cooler and packed both families up in the car for a day of hiking! We visited Dupont State Forest and hiked to Triple Falls. The waterfalls were beautiful and overflowing with water due to all the melting snow and recent rain. The hike was an easy one, thank goodess!! Parts of the trail were still covered with snow and ice. Ella and Gray loved every minute of it. We even met a group of horseback riders and we got to pet the horses. Gray just loves animals and still has not stopped talking about the horse licking her hand. We had a picnic lunch that was picture perfect.... Saturday night was "make your own pizza night" and we got to catch up The Peckham Family and The Parris Family. It was great seeing both families and the kids played all night long!! Sunday we got up and went to the park - another beautiful day where we went on a trail hike and let the kids play. Swings, slides, monkey bars, basketball, sandbox... whew!! Thanks to the Bazley family for a wonderful weekend!! We look forward to another trip this summer!

On a side note.... these waterfalls were just amazing. It only takes a moment to realize that the simple things in life can make us the happiest. Gray is at such a fun age and it's things like a hike, a waterfall, a horse or a little bit of fresh snow can make her giggle all day long! Our goal: To be appreciative for the beautiful and SIMPLE things in life every single day!

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day!! This is my favorite holiday.... lots of pink, lots of candy and lots of LOVE!! We had a great weekend - Grandma came to visit!! Gray just loves her MiMi and I think she had a sugar rush for the entire weekend due to the amount of candy she was given!! Having MiMi here gave Paul and I a chance to get a few things done. We made our first trip to IKEA and FINALLY purchased a wall unit for Gray's playroom. The toys were beginning to get out of control - and now we have the most perfect, organized space to keep everything. It was a fun project, pictures to come soon! We also got to enjoy a wonderful dinner out Saturday night. We had some great company too - Laura and Andrew, our neighbors, were able to join us. Thier daughter Caroline is just a few weeks older than Gray. We think they are just great and we're looking forward to a lot more time together as the weather gets warmer!

Happy Valentines Day from the Zytnik Family - we hope it's filled with lots of sugar & LOVE!!!

Friends....

Nothing makes me happier than to see how much our little girl loves her friends! Friends are so important and I can only hope that as she continues to grow into a little girl that we will be able to teach her more and more about the value and importance of friendships! Gray has grown to absolutley love her friends at school... she loves all of her "weekend" friends (the kids of our great college friends)...she loves her neighborhood friends.... and just a few weekends ago she was just so excited about spending the weekend with Tatum & Keegan Sipe in Hickory. We talk about her friends every night. We say all of thier names while we brush teeth and talking about her friends at school is really the only way to get her up and moving and motivated to get dressed Monday through Friday. Her little heart is so tender and she just lights up when we talk about her friends!!
Now I know this might be silly - she's not even 2 yet. I have a feeling that most of Gray's friends now will be her friends for life. It just makes us smile to see her love other kids - and I hope she is blessed with as many, if not more, wonderful friends that we have!! Enjoy the pictures from Hickory - we got close to 12 inches of snow!! We had such a great weekend and celebrated Tatum's 2nd birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese!! Stay tuned for pictures in a few weeks- we're going to visit another friend, sweet Ella Bazley in Asheville.
Celebrate your friendships - the help make us all better people!!