Besides the busy day of ice cream on Tuesday, not much has been going on around the Toone household. I’m trying to be better about not overdoing so that in the evenings I’m not feeling too bad. I’ve had some nice quiet afternoons scrapbooking, while Analise plays around my feet – literally. In case you missed the photo in the 39 Easter Photo post, she’s quite infatuated with toes lately. She wakes up from snuggling in our bed in the mornings or after a nap saying, “Whe’s toes?” and goes looking for our feet. Then she always says, “Hey, toes!” I think she’s particularly pleased with my toes… they look really nice after my pedicure on our trip last weekend:) But if I’m at the computer or the table scrapbooking, she enjoys coming to play with my toes every so often.

Anyway, it’s been nice to be scrapbooking. I’ve got tons of fun scrapbooking stuff that I’m always looking to use, and I’ve got loads of photos from Analise’s early days to use. Tonight we’re going to the Spring Fling at Brian’s parents church. Games, booths, pizza, popcorn and hot dogs… should be fun. Then I think we’ve got some errands to run that I’ve been avoiding doing by myself. Groceries and Home Depot – how’s that sound for a fun Friday night?

Tomorrow Brian has a meeting at church in the morning, and then we’ll head to Oak Mountain State Park for a Samford Computer Science Department picnic. Should be a nice day!

Have I mentioned that my husband is amazing and is taking such good care of me? He’s doing so much lately, and this is his busiest time of year at school. He’s awesome… I hope he knows how much I appreciate him!

We’re on our way out the door for FREE CONE DAY at Ben & Jerry’s. Woohoo! If there’s one near you, I hope you get a chance to take advantage of this, too! Maybe we’ll even get a picture!

We’ve had an awesome last couple weeks surrounding Easter. I’ve included
39 pictures below summarizing a view of our Easter week life. Click
on each picture for a larger version. Click the “back” button on your
browser to continue to view more pictures.

		Kristine follows after a determined Analise runs up a hill looking for easter eggs at the first ever Clearwater Easter Egg hunt.
		The dogwood tree we planted in our front yard last year is blooming this year. Beautiful pink and white flowers.
		Before home church on Thursday night, Analise enjoys playing in the pile of dirt left by a water crew replacing pipe at the edge of our yard.
		Part of our home church gathers outside while Analise plays and people are still arriving. From left to right, the Hamby’s, the Saunders’, and the Toone’s!
		Analise loves toes. One night before bed, she wanted all of us to put our toes on the rocker. She was quite happy, even if a little “tarred” (i.e., tired).
		On the day before Easter, we enjoyed an Easter Egg hunt at Oak Mountain State Park. When we got there, there were Easter eggs everywhere!
		Analise reaches for an Easter egg at the base of a pine tree.
		Kristine holds Analise’s bunny easter egg basket.
		Analise and grandma walk back to us after visiting the ducks by the lake.
		Analise dances and plays in the dirt.
		Analise was so hot and tired after all her running around she decided she was ready for a nap. So she laid down on this blanket and all by herself pulled the corner of it over herself like a blanket.
		Analise’s friend Laurel enjoyed sharing her food by putting it on Analise’s plate for Analise to eat. Analise awaits eagerly the next piece of food.
		We had Easter dinner Saturday night at grandma’s house. Afterwards, Analise wanted everyone to get in a circle and “say amen”. This included the giant bunnies you see here.
		Analise and Kristine smile next to a wooden Easter bunny in grandma’s front yard.
		Smiling again, this time next to a well full of Easter lilies.
		Heading out the door for church, here is Kristine and Analise in their Easter outfits.
		Kristine and I took care of the kids during the Sunday morning church service. So here are all of Analise’s friends from church.
		Analise inspired everyone to wear hats … including her mommy!
		After church, Kristine and I dropped Analise off with grandma and headed out of town for a short weekend getaway in Lookout Mountain, Georgia near Chattanooga, Tennessee. This will probably be our last getaway before the Toone family becomes a family of four! I took my bike and went for a short bike ride before dinner.
		In the distance, you can see the waterfall from the Rock City rock garden park. Our B & B was just up the mountain on the right.
		Here is the view off the top of Lookout Mountain looking west towards Alabama.
		For dinner, we drove down the mountain to downtown Chattanooga and ate at Tony’s in the Bluff View art district. This large bridge is actually a pedestrian bridge that spans the Tennessee river.
		Here is the view of the sunset sky and the Tennessee River walk.
		A kayaker paddles at the foot of a large cliff with the Art museum perched above.
		I went for another bike ride Monday morning and snapped this picture of a large tree growing on the side of a cliff on Lookout Mountain.
		This old abandoned part of the roadway looks like it was carved into the cliff. Now, a large bridge spans the chasm that this old roadway hugged the cliff to avoid.
		Here is a picture looking through the old roadway underneath the modern bridge past I-24 a hundred feet below and all the way down to the Tennessee River.
		This is the view from the halfway point as Incline Railway makes its way from Chattanooga straight up to the top of the mountain.
		Here is the view from the halfway point looking back down the mountain.
		We “saw Rock City”! This amazing rock garden is almost like a maze and includes a waterfall, a view of seven states, a fairyland cavern, and amazing trees like this one growing out of, between, and over rocks.
		The happy getaway couple next to Mushroom Rock.
		Here is Kristine in front of the spot where you can view seven states on a clear day.
		I think Kristine was tired of me taking her picture by this point!
		We asked another tourist to take our picture here with the viewing platform for the waterfall in the background.
		This is one of Rocky City’s attractions: a waterfall cascading out of the rock into a pool below.
		This is the view from below of the swinging, hanging bridge which we had just walked across a few minutes earlier.
		Here is a pretty purple tree next to the walking path through Rock City.
		Finally, here is a view of the Tennessee River and downtown Chattanooga from Point Park at the spot where Lookout Mountain literally comes to a point and drops dramatically straight down to the river.

You might be wondering if we decided not to return from our short weekend getaway, since we haven’t posted in a while:) We did come back Monday evening, after 30 lovely hours of relaxing together in Lookout Mountain, GA. Brian prepped all the pictures to post, but I can’t seem to find them right now. And if I don’t post a blog now, it might be a while until I get back to it!

My husband is amazing… He picked a super location for both of us to enjoy. I would have been happy anywhere, just for a bit of time without mommy duties, and maybe a whirlpool to soak in. BUt Lookout Mountain, GA and Chattanooga, TN on a quiet Easter Sunday/Monday were perfect for both ofus. I think I’ll save the rest of my detailing for the post with the pictures.

We had a great Easter weekend, with an Easter egg hunt on Saturday and dinner with Brian’s family that evening. Sunday morning we went to early church at Brian’s parent’s church, and then worked in the nursery at our church. Then we dropped a sleeping Analise off at her grandparents while we headed off together. She had a wonderful time with Boppa and Bwacca (honestly, Analise came up with these names all by herself!).

It’s been a quiet week. Brian’s super busy with the semester coming to a close in less than a month. Today was Earth Day, and he had one of his classes working on a presentation for that. I’ve been chasing my busy girl and trying not to aggravate my back too much.

Exciting news… we just found out our friends Steve and Corrie are coming to see us in August! Yeah!!! We’re going to have a fun busy summer of visitors with my mom coming for most of June to help out with the new little one, my dad coming for a bit in late June, and the Hafflys in August. Anyone else want to come? We’d love to have you!

Ok, hope to be back soon with Easter and other pictures!

Josiah Timothy Toone