Fall Break Fun

For fall break this year we headed up to Kansas City along with Glen and his kids, Jeff & Andrea and their kids, Kelsey and Kristi. On the drive up we stopped to find a geocache.

 We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge and the kids were thrilled when we walked in and saw this.

First the boys headed right over to the big bucket filling with water.

And down it comes!!!

Kayla and Kambria started off having fun on the smaller slides.

 

They were having a blast and perfectly content.



Then they discovered they could go up into this water playground

And travel down these yellow or red slides. When Kayla went up I was a little skeptical that she would be brave enough to go in these tunnel slides by herself but out she came with a huge smile on her face.

Meanwhile the boys were off having a fun time of their own going down all the different slides.

This 3 seat slide was fast and fun and part of it when into a tunnel that was pitch black.

The first time I took Kayla on it she said "I'm scared" as we were in the dark but in the end she loved it and we went over and over again.

 



Taking a break in the hot tub.

Having fun on the large water snake.

After three hours of water-park fun we headed over to the T-Rex restaurant to eat dinner.

Outside the doors we were greeted by this guy.

And once we walked inside this dino gave us a friendly hello.

The views and scenery of this restaurant was pretty spectacular and fun.

This is the view we had from where we were sitting.

Time to eat!!!



More views of the restaurant

Don't let these faces fool you....

They were loving every minute of this dino experience.

We topped dinner of with the Chocolate Extinction dessert which was made to resemble a volcano.

That evening several people went to The Beast haunted house in downtown Kansas City and had a good time.

I think they even got a little scared.

We snuggled into our rooms and went to bed.

The next morning we headed downstairs after breakfast to the hotel arcade.

Kelsey and I both won big playing Deal or No Deal

That's a 200 ticket winner!!

Boys counting up the tickets.

Then we headed back to the water-park for some more fun.

Me and Kayla coming out of the "blue" slide which was fun and fast.



Kayla was having a blast and we went on slide after slide after slide.

 



 

 



We even managed to get Kelsey to go down a slide....once!

That smile on Austin's face says it all.

These kids were in water-park heaven for two days!!

(And I'm pretty sure the adults had a fun time too).

Another Tooth Bites the Dust

  Austin lost another tooth....that is number four for the year. 

After he fell asleep that night, I went into his room and noticed this note that he had wrote for the tooth fairy. It took us a while to decipher what some of the words were but we finally figured it out. Here is some help with the translation:  I lost a top tooth. I hope that I get a 93 dollar. I think you are a good 2013 tooth fairy. From Austin. Night. Tooth fairy I like you. Keep this note 10/3/13 tooth fairy. 

Well the tooth fairy didn't quite leave the 93 dollars that he had asked for (Austin has a toy in mind that costs 93 dollars which is why he must of asked for that much). But, he received three dollar coins for this tooth which he was super pleased about.

Scripture Power #150

We reached 150 days of scripture reading on our chart and so we gave the kids a couple options of things we could do to as a family to celebrate.

(forgive the blurry I-phone picture)

They chose to go swimming and since it has been about 2 months since our last swim we had a great time. Kayla even got brave enough to jump of the diving board all by herself without anyone in the water to catch her.

2 Months Old

Brooklyn is now 2 months old and her biggest accomplishment this last month....Smiling!! One of her first most memorable smiles was when she was about 6 weeks old and laying on the bed next to her dad. He was talking to her and she grinned from ear to ear so he kept talking to her and she smiled again! A couple days later she was falling asleep while I was holding her and I kissed the side of her mouth. She responded with a smile so I kissed her again and she gave me another smile. So I kissed the side of her mouth a third time and she responded again with a smile. It was a sweet unforgettable moment.

 And there is the mouth-wide-open-smile 

 The kids adore her.

Austin is a big help and will happily hold her or feed her when I am needing my hands free to cook dinner or fix Kayla's hair for school.

 And Kayla is always at her side telling me what Brooklyn needs according to Kayla.

Brooklyn has also discovered her legs and will lay on the bed and hold her legs straight up in the air or kick them around. Her other big accomplishment this last month is her night-time sleeping. She will go to bed around 10:00pm and sleep for about 6 hours straight....it is wonderful!!

I do find Brooklyn sucking on her hands quite a bit especially when she is tired and trying to go to sleep. In this case it was her thumb.....she just might be my first thumb-sucker.

 Daddy's little girl indeed

2 month stats:

Height:23 inches 

Weight: 11 pounds 7 ounces

Head: 38 and 3/4 centimeters

She is growing fast!!



October 1st, 2013

Getting excited for Halloween!!

Wayside Walk-A-Thon

 The kids were excited to participate in the Wayside Walk-a-Thon this year. It could actually be called the Run-A-Thon because there is a lot more running going on than walking. This activity is a fundraiser for their school and people donate a flat amount or a certain amount per lap. Austin and Kayla's aunts in town both pledged 50 cents per lap so I told them to run super fast.

 Kayla with her friend Jackson

In the 20 minutes given to them to walk/run Kayla did 14 laps. Each lap is 1/8 of a mile so Kayla ran 1.75 miles. Great job!!

 This is Austin's third year to do the Walk-A-Thon so he is a pro now......he ran 18 laps which is 2.25 miles!! Awesome job!

 And of course it was nice having his dad there to run with and cheer him on.

Austin with his friend Braxton

It was a pretty warm day outside but these boys did awesome!!

Soccer Season Has Begun

5 Years Old

We now have a 5 year old daughter in our house which is hard to believe at times.

 Some Special Things About Kayla:

• Favorite Color: Green (I don't think she will actually has a favorite but says green when asked because she knows that is her brothers favorite)
• Favorite Shows: Sophia the First, Doc McStuffins, Strawberry Shortcake (she also enjoys watching Wild Krats and Teenage Mutant Ninga Turtles with her brother)
• Favorite Food: cereal, pop-tarts, and cinnamon rolls.....she loves her breakfast food
• Favorite Things To Do: color, draw, write her alphabet letters, ride bikes, jump on trampoline, and playing with friends
• Funny Words: first words out of her mouth in the morning for a long time was "I want a drink and something hungry." She also says ding dong instead of doorbell. Everyday after school for a month she would say "I missed you" when I picked her up but then one day I picked her up and she said "Mom, I didn't miss you at all!" 
• Personality: Kayla is friendly and outgoing....she will shout out hello to a teacher or friend that she sees and will be immediately friends to anyone we introduce her to. Kayla is also very independent in some ways. For example, after only a couple weeks of school she insisted that I no longer walk into the school with her and got upset when I did.

 Kayla holds a special place in our family. She is energetic, silly, creative, and smart. And although her stubbornness challenges us at times, things wouldn't be the same without her. Kayla likes to be a "little mommy" and help with the cooking, the laundry, and taking care of her sister. Sometimes she wants to be a little too helpful and wants to do things that she isn't old enough yet to do. So I have no doubt that being a mother and in charge on her own home is something that is in her future and something she will love doing.

One of Kayla's best friends is her cousin Kambria.....these girls love playing with each other, having sleepovers, and being silly together. 

Her other BFF is our next door neighbor Jackson who just so happened to be in the same Pre-K class as Kayla. They have lots of fun together and everyday she is wanting to go next door to see if Jackson can play.

Kayla was super excited about her birthday party this year. She made invitations and rode around the neighborhood with her dad to deliver them. It was a count down from days, to hours, to minutes of when her party would start. We surprised her that morning with a Sophia shirt to go along with the Sophia cake that she helped me make the night before.

 It was a full house of party friends!

(Buddy, Austin, Jackson, Braxton, Clayton, Ashton, Kambria, Emma, Mikayla, Emma, Katelyn)

 We played some games: duck duck goose, hide-and-go-seek, pin the tail on my little pony, and had a treasure hunt for the goodie bags

 Make a wish

 Eating cake and ice-cream

Happy Birthday Mikayla!!

We love you so much and are glad you are part of our family!!