Wordless Wednesday - Partying at the Barnyard

One Saturday evening in June we headed to a farm for my nephew Wesley's 3rd birthday party. My brother and sister-in-law are always soo creative and sweet to make Wesley's parties an opportunity for the cousins (and adults) to get together! We all had a fun time at the petting farm and getting to see one another!

All lined up... ready to feast!  Goat-eyes really creep me out:/

A newborn kid... so small!

The goat riding the turtle really cracked Nate up!! It was pretty funny:)

And this little guy came up! Nate was pushing him b/c he thought the little one was biting the big one :/

Then he stepped back to try to figure it out!

I asked him what the little goat was doing; but,  Nate just giggled.

No clue:)  But a sweet smile!!

Who knew this beauty was a chicken catcher?? Way to go, Hannah Grace!!

I loved tagging along with these two cousins!! They came up with some silly ideas and had a blast together!

And a cousin pic!!!! The secret to everyone looking at the camera is a dancing & singing adult! Too bad I don't have a picture of that, too!!

Their 1st CampOut

Grammie returned from Nepal safely:) While it was a little lonely not having my mom just a "phone call away" during a challenging season.

I am soo thankful for her heart and her example. For her courage to go alone to a foreign country where she had a few faithful contacts who lovingly took her in; and who wouldn't... my mom is awesome;)

And for her testimony! She said that she shared the news of Dad's death to some of the people that they had worked with a few years ago. People they promised that they would return to work with... and now it was just my mom they saw!!

So after this amazing journey to Nepal and back. After a quick week or so getting "settled" back at home, WHAT DOES my MOM DO?

Heads down to my house

ready to take some excited kids camping... on their 1st CampOut;)

They didn't go far:)... just the carport... LOL!! The weather called for rain and we were wanting a good and restful 1st experience:)

Decked out in their Nepali headgear, they were all smiles as we tucked them in.

Chris was in his usual bed attire... just the essentials:) LOL!!

Since the tent was loaded with girls, he slept in the backseat of the truck and had his own peek hole into the tent to check-in with Grammie.

And amazingly it was a "silent night"!!

As soon as Nate was awake in the morning, he headed outside to check on the campers;) We could hear them starting to move around and maybe a little face or two peeking around the tent!

They had a blast!!!

They did awesome:) We have some campers on our hands!!

I was laughing at myself though. Even though the kids were just outside, with my mom and I could even hear them settling down for the night...

Brian could peek in on them!

 I was still a little nervous!

 I can count with one hand (and a finger) how many times one of my children haven't been under my care overnight. And 3 of those times it was when I was in the hospital birthing a sibling!

Seeing  my "shy" and "momma" kids to want to start becoming more and more independent...

is a joyful (and terrifying) part of motherhood. And this is just the start.... oh, I know, yikes!

Our Fall Beach Trip

The cold weather has surrounded us this week! It makes me very thankful for our mild fall and our quick, "somewhat spontaneous" fall beach trip to visit my aunt and uncle.

They had contacted us earlier about meeting them for the day while they were visiting a local beach. While I was excited about the chance and honored by the invite, I was hoping to find a day we could get Brian out of the office, too:) But it didn't happen so the kids and I headed to the beach.

The crew was willing to head to a local aquarium, too!! So we even were able to squeeze in a field trip during our mini vacation;)

They spent a lot of time in the simulated turtle rescue center. Chris and Anna were at the diagnostic center and Nate like the clinic side where he got to "treat" the turtles.... I actually he was supposed to be giving an enema... LOL!!

Chris dancing with the turtles:)

The touch tank was a BIG hit;)

We tried to keep Nate dry... but he was soaked! Thankfully I had packed an extra outfit, so a quick change and we were ready for more!

And the sharks!!

We did some swimming in the freezing cold water. I actually didn't swim until I had to:/ We had a  scary event that thankfully ended with giggling.

We also swam in a pool (for the last time for the "season") and made a Sonic visit after dinner... a true kid's vacation:)

Unfortunately, I didn't get beach pictures or pictures with my aunt and uncle:( It was a treat to get the opportunity to stay with them at the beach. Not only because it's not often we get to see some of our extended family, but because...

sometimes you don't realize how much you need a vacation until you are away and get to relax a bit ( as relaxing as it gets with 4 kids)!!

Zoo Day

One of the blessings of being home schoolers is being able to take field trip days with the grandparents:)

It had been too long since we had seen Grammie. Since April she has made a couple of surprise visits to our home.... which we love:) But it had been LONG time since we had visited her in her neck of the woods which often leads to field trips:)

So to the zoo we went; meeting Hannah Grace, Thatcher and Aunt Jaclyn there;)... yes, cousins get to come on field trips, too!!

I got some fun pictures...

and then Anna took off with the camera:) I have a little photographer in the making;)

Another funny memory of the trip was the 1st night;) We heading to Grammie's after soccer practice and so we didnt get to her house until 9:30ish! ALL the kids fell asleep in the van during the trip! Nate and Anna were still a little drozy and they fell back asleep within an hour or so...

Not Lydia and Chris!!

They learned about midnight and how it marks a new day when everyone is supposed to be asleep;) And then they got it into their heads to try to stay up to 2 o'clock! So they officially became the "2 o'clock club"!

Although my mom and I were tired, it was kinda fun to have the middle two "alone" for a little while... but we didn't share their excitement about staying up until 2am. Oh, and they didn't quite make it;) Thankfully:)

We also did an autumn swim before Grammie closed down her pool... we thought it was going to be our last swim for the season... thought;)

Anyone else having amazing weather;) It's really hard to stay inside to school on nice days like these we've had the last few weeks!!

To Mississippi and Beyond #3

Since Brian can remember, every trip to and from Mississippi included driving by the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. So he thought it would be a fun "on the way home" stop for us;)

The first night was just to relax...

because some of us were exhausted by then:)

And itch:/ It was about that time that we realized we had gotten into chiggers while walking to the stream in MIssissippi... some of us were miserable:/ But we pressed on:)

We spent a rainy 4th of July exploring the Space and Rocket Center. Lots for the kids (and adults) to see and do. We really enjoyed an IMAX movie about space and the Hubble telescope. Watching Nate's expression as the HUGE screen displayed beautiful scenes of space and space views of the earth... he was truly amazed.

After spending most of the day at the Rocket Center, we headed out for dinner before fireworks. We visited a chain called O'Charleys where we had a very allergy safe meal... phew! Very nice to have NO reactions while out to eat:)

It literally had rained ALL.DAY.LONG!! We were thankful that fireworks could be seen from the hotel we were staying. In fact, the kids played in the indoor hotel pool as we looked for the fireworks through the huge glass window. Finally...

we heard the booms and saw the lights;) We seriously had the driest view... well, minus Nate on and off my lap:)

No camera to catch the memory:/ I was at a pool on a rainy night... not normally a place to bring a camera:)

I think it was a good 4th for us;) Brian got to visit the Rocket Center and possibly spark some interest about space, space travel and the science/math needed to help space travel on his kids;)

The kids weren't too excited about space travel after they learned that urine on the International Space Station is recycled through a machine that purifies it into water that the astronauts drink. ewww!! But we learned it's actually more purified than our own city/county/well water. Yep!

And getting to see fireworks makes every 4th of July special:)

The next morning we ate a quick breakfast, packed up and hit the road again:)

To Mississippi and Beyond - #2

Since there were 8 of traveling together we stayed at different houses while in Mississippi.

The main home was Aunt Zanie Lee's. Grandma, Grandaddy and Anna stayed with Aunt Zanie Lee each night! Anna loved having her own room and bed:) LOL!!

Aunt Zanie Lee even let us get into her kitchen to cook safely for the kids... which we really, really appreciated. It definitely made traveling with food allergies a little easier to have a full kitchen available to us.

(And Aunt Aliene also opened her kitchen for us to prepare lunch and cookies on Tuesday!! It's just life with food allergies... maybe that's another post... bringing all the food I could think of!! But NO reactions... so it worked!!)

The rest of us stayed with Brian's cousin Bill and his family!! They were so gracious to us and the kids. Especially when the boys came in hyper off caffeine... they just rolled with the energy:) Very sweet. One of my favorite memories was getting the kids to bed after the reunion and sitting up listening to Bill and Brian reminisce and reconnect... just priceless!

Bill even offered to take the kids fishing one morning!!!

So he got out the tractor to ride (a very bumpy ride!!) some of us to the pond behind his home...

and the kids got to fish to their hearts content...

Nate picked up a pole and swung it into the pond himself... don't you know he caught one;)

Lydia calling out "15!" She's our little fisher-gal;)

well... until we all got hot and tired:)

My favorite fishing picture;) Just a very pretty place to fish!

Before we left Mississippi we also were able to visit with Brian's cousin Mac and his wife, Lisa!

They were so sweet with the kids and even gave into their soda infatuation:)

It was then that we finished packing up and headed north east to our next stop:)