Spring Break, Part 2

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Everybody had stayed well for 24 hours so we thought it was safe to keep our plans to meet Johnnie and the kids in Lubbock. We all dressed in our green to keep from getting pinched.

This picture below is how to eat your lunch and ice your head at the same time. She hit her head on the corner of a drawer when she bent down to pick something up. The eye roll was just a bonus...for my sake.
We met Johnnie and the kids at Joyland Amusement Park. Johnnie's friends Stephanie and Zachery came too. I had really fretted about this trip. I can not handle rides. I get sick just watching them. I knew Luke and Rachel were both tall enough to ride all the rides, but Kate would need someone to ride with her. I was going to do my best to ride with Kate. I took Dramamine with me and prayed that I would not throw up. Well we got there and I found out Rachel was tall enough to ride the rides as the adult. You have to be 60 inches and she just met the requirement. God does answer prayers!! I was so relieved and happy to get to sit and watch my kids have so much fun!!!

Here are all the kids ready to ride some rides, except Sydney and Wade who just looked hot and bored most of the day.

The kids had smiles on their faces ALL DAY LONG!! It was such a fun day and the park was the perfect size for our kids.
Rachel, Luke, and Tenley are in the car on top of that big roller coaster.
The Wild River Log ride was the favorite ride! It not only dropped you really fast, but it got you really wet too. Kate is sitting behind Rachel but you can't see her.


Here are Zackery and Luke on the log ride. Apparently it is so much fun the workers even take rides when they can.
Johnnie riding with Miles and Kate. Miles was too small to ride most of the big rides, including the fun water rides, what a bummer, but he was just tall enough to ride this ride. Next year buddy you can ride all the rides like Tenley!!

This was a hard ride to get a good picture of, but this picture shows how much fun everybody was having.
We got in really late Thursday night. Kate threw up at 4:00am Friday morning. This was after the kids shared drinks all day at the park!! Tenley and Miles got the bug two days later. Nancy got it Sunday night and Steve got it Tuesday. Apparently this bug takes two days to incubate and lasts about twelve hours. I am so sorry everybody got sick!!

Crazy boys playing at McDonalds.
On Saturday Tenley had her fifth birthday party!! This was also a special day because we got to meet, Jessica, Chris's only cousin on his mom's side of the family again. We had not seen her since she was two. She is almost eight now. The kids thought she was great!! Luke had another little girl to pick on...she fit right in.

Tenley wanted her hair done like Kate's when her momma was getting her ready. They both were wearing purple too!!
Here is Rachel and Kate with Jessica. She is such a pretty little girl!!
Having fun on the jumper.
Here is a picture for Granny and Pop Pop. The cousins that were there, we are missing Mac and Ian, with Jessica.
We had a good Spring Break this year, except for the stomach bug. It was nice to have the kids home and to get out of our schedule for a while. We are all back in the groove now.

Spring Break, Part 1

We always try to do something fun with the kids for Spring Break. This year we were limited on our fun due to Chris's work schedule and Wade being seven months old. I was determined to do as much as we could with Wade in tow and close to home. We made a last minute decision on Saturday to head to Abilene to visit the zoo. Kate had been asking to go back to the zoo since we went to the Fort Worth Zoo in February. Both Luke and Rachel had been to the Abilene Zoo, but Kate and I had never been. We called Granny to see if she would be able to join us at the zoo. She was able to meet up with us. The kids were excited to see her...and so was I...an extra set of eyes and hands are always helpful!! The Abilene Zoo was a neat little zoo. It is small, but the perfect size for us this day! Some of the highlights were the INDOOR reptile exhibits; a family of lions including momma, daddy, and about four cubs; the bridge that goes over the giraffes; and the trash can in the raccoon exhibit.

The bridge over the giraffes gives you a whole different perspective of them. You can even buy little crackers to feed giraffes. They come right up to the bridge and take it right out of your hand. We were too late to feed them though. They only get to eat an allotted amount of crackers a day and they already had their quota. I was pretty disappointed...this was supposed to be the highlight of my trip to the zoo!

This tiger sat in his bathtub of water most of the time. He did jump out for the kids to see him at the end of the day.
I had a hard time getting good pictures because of the fencing in front of all the cages. My camera would focus on the fence and blur the animals.
Looks like Luke is going to join the lion family for dinner! I guess he did not realize he would be the main course!
After the zoo we all went to eat pizza and then stopped by Granny's house for a quick visit. It was such a fun day!! Completely unplanned but everything turned out great!

Chris ended up getting Sunday and Monday off. Chris took the Rachel, Luke, and Kate to the movies to see Rango. After the movie we all went to the park. This was Wade's first time in the swings. We actually went to the park by our old house, so this is the same swings the other kids took their first rides in. We did not plan it that way, but it was just something I thought about on our way home.




After the park we went to eat burgers at Fudruckers. Rachel spent the early morning hours of Tuesday throwing up her dinner. Chris got sick at work on Tuesday. They were both pretty sick. Rachel threw up four times!! Rachel was better by Wednesday, so we did a little shopping and got everything ready for our trip to Lubbock on Thursday.

More to come in my second installment of Spring Break 2011.

Miniature Golfing

Our family went miniature golfing last Friday when the weather was absolutely beautiful. It was a fun little family outing. I am really making a post about miniature golfing so I could show you this picture...

and this one....
and this one too...
I thought it was so funny to watch Chris golf with Wade strapped to him!! Wade did not seem to mind a bit. Chris got one under par, so the handicap did not hurt his game any!!

Love this smile...
Kate played golf a lot like you play pool.

My four little stair steps.

Blocks

Treasured moments like this.....

....makes Momma's heart smile!!!

Kate Can Skate

Our little three year old Kate has always been our most independent child. She continually does things to amaze me. She learns most things out of necessity to keep up with her older brother and sister. She can ride a bike (still with training wheels), ride a scooter, work a hula hoop, bounce a basketball, jump off a diving board or pier, go down the scariest slides, swing herself (since she was two!!), and she can even roller skate!!! Luke got roller skates for Christmas. Within a few days Kate was asking for roller skates. She had some Christmas money, so we went and got her a pair. She wore them for two days solid and learned to roller skate. Luke went to a birthday party at the roller rink a few weeks ago, so I took the girls so they could skate. Kate was not scared. She went right out there and even played the games and competed in the races.

Love that smile!! She even looks like she has been in a few roller derbies with her missing teeth!!!

The other day Chris said to me, "Does it surprise you Kate can hula hoop? She can do everything else!" So true!! We can't wait to see what trick she accomplishes next. We love you Baby Kate!!

By the way, she does not like to be called Baby Kate any more. She wants to be just Kate. I am sorry she will always be Baby Kate to us. She is just growing up too fast!

Sleeping On The Job

Wade fell asleep while he was playing in his highchair after lunch. He was snoring, so I just had to tape it. So sweet!!

Seven Months

Our baby boy is seven months old today!!! He is growing and changing everyday!

He can sit up really well now. He started sitting in the shopping cart at the store this month. This has really made shopping fun for him and me! He looks so cute sitting in the basket. He draws a lot of attention when we are out and about. His red hair attracts lots of looks and compliments. The cheeks and smile don't hurt him either.

Wade now bathes in the big bath tub. It make a lot less mess and gives him more room to kick and splash. Sitting up makes lots of things easier including bath time.
Wade has really started using and exploring with his hands. He grabs everything in sight, and what he grabs he likes to eat!! On the eating front, he loves to eat anything and everything. He gets excited and impatient when I put him in his highchair. I can't feed him fast enough! Meal times are still his favorite times of the day.
Sleep. Well, sleep is not something Wade does a lot of. His naps are about thirty minutes long which does not leave a lot of time to get things done. When he is awake he likes to be held and entertained. He does play in his toys, but usually for only about 15 minutes. He might be doing a little better at night though. He goes to bed between nine and ten and wakes up between seven and eight. He needs some help finding his pacifier during the night sometimes though.

Look at all those teeth!!! There are seven of them!! Now when he smiles they really show up. Along with all the teeth come drool, drool, drool. It is a real challenge to keep his shirt dry even with a plastic bib.
The surgery on his little eye did not work. :0( We are still having the same problems. The doctor wants to do the surgery again before he is 10 months.
Thanks to Kate walking out the door I got this sweet little picture above.
Wade also enjoys going for walks in the stroller, being sang to, and watching the dogs. With the weather getting warmer, he likes to be outside in his swing or walker.

We just love this little red headed boy to pieces!!!