6.30.2011

"A Radical Vacation"

(Which is what Brooklyn called it COUNTLESS times!)

So, I may be a bit behind on blogging about it, but it sure doesn't take away from just how nice it was to get out of town for a few days. It's amazing what kind of adventures a family of 5 can pack into 4 days of travels.

After leaving bright and early friday morning, our first stop was for a nice picnic lunch in Winterset, IA with some of our favorite people! Kate (whom we named Savannah's middle name after) and her kids, Ava (Brooklyn's best friend for life) and Austin, met us at a really nice park for some good leg stretches and playtime. It was so nice to see them! What a great family they are :-).





(Brooklyn was so thrilled to finally learn how to slide down the fireman pole all by herself!)





(Jeremiah was completely taken by these little remote controlled toys. He and Austin hardly put them down. He is all boy :-) )

(Brooklyn and her bff, Ava)

(note the cute little random boy in the pic who was very determined to be included in all the picture-taking fun :-) hehe)

(we just couldn't pass up a photo shot in one of the many covered bridges there!)

Our next stop was just a few short hours down the road to my grandparents house in Tarkio, MO. Last time we were there was when I was 6 months pregnant with Savannah, so it sure was great to be there for a weekend.

(future tennis player??)























Next stop, ROYALS GAME! And it was so fun. We checked into our hotel (right across the street from the stadium) and started our 3/4mi walk to the stadium. It was a tad on the warm side that day (heat index of 103), but the kids did really well overall. We were so lucky. Once we crossed the bridge to the edge of the Royals parking lot, a very nice employee of the Royals stopped by with his golf cart and offered us a ride to our gate (*jaw drop*). Let me think...pregnant lady, 3 small children in tow, nice warm day...yup, we'll take a ride, thanks!



(this was one of the few times that Brooklyn did not have a terrified look on her face as we sate in our upper deck seats that she was CONVINCED would make us topple over the edge)





(we were pretty excited to have found the AIR CONDITIONED hall of fame)





(after many innings of "where's dat yion" from Jeremiah, he was pretty thrilled to actually be taking a picture with "dat yion")

(we even got a ride BACK!)

After a nice swim at the hotel's outdoor pool, we exhausted the kids and had a fun sleepover party in our suite. The hotel even included a hot dinner! Yes, we were full that night. Early rise the next morning (and another hot breakfast buffet), then we were off to see Mimi, my grandma, just down the road about 20 minutes. Then ursing home she's staying in has a nice little entertainment area with a bird (named "baby"). Oh my word the kids loved that bird!









AFter leaving Mimi's, we had our longest day of travel, heading to Souix Falls, SD to see our good friends, the Kohls'. There's a chance we may have run into a few detours from all the flooding, adding on several more hours of driving, and blowing a tire in the meantime. That didn't stop us from thoroughly enjoying some good car time on our "radical vacation". Like when Savannah snatched daddy's Dorito bag and dumped half of its contents in her lap...

(look of guilt? I think so)

...then passing it on to her big brother




Yes Brooklyn, I'd have to agree. It really was a radical vacation. :-)

6.05.2011

Ahh the bliss of summer

I have to admit that I've finally reached the point in parenting (maybe it's the number of children??) that I've started doing a much poorer job of picture taking. Well, enough's enough. Now that I'm 'just' a mom and no longer a daycare provider, I'm back at it.

We've been soaking up every ounce of sun there is out there lately. We are so lucky to have kids that want only to be outside. Now that we purchased a lawn hose (we haven't even had a place to hook one up at our many previous homes, so this is a treat!), we've been making great use of our NEMO sprinkler! Here are a few pictures of our fun today :-).





"I think I'm so stinkin' cute because I'd rather make all kinds of faces than smile for a camera"

"turn your back for one second, mom. I promise I'll find something to get into (literally)"

Yes, that's Jeremiah hiking up his shorts that seem to continually fall down while Savannah - so eager to be like her big brother and sister - is trying to jump over the sprinkler.


Brooklyn simply can not hold back her excitement as she's on her way to dump that cup of nice cold hose water on daddy's toes.




How on earth did we get so lucky?? :-)