Road Trippin...

Wednesday morning, Dan, the boys and I, Nana, Papa, Uncle Steve, Aunt Jackie and Baby Henry all headed to Sikeston, Missouri to meet up with Uncle Bryan, Aunt Allie and Alyssa to celebrate Bryan's 30th birthday!!!

We did a little shopping at the outlet mall there and then headed to lunch at Lambert's, home of the throwed rolls!!!
All the kids (with the exception of Henry!) even got to catch a roll, but they fly so darn fast, I never had my camera ready to get the perfect picture! I did however, manage to get Dan as he was about to dig into his roll!!!
Papa, Bryan, and Allie's meals all came in an actual skillet!!! This isn't such a great picture of the birthday boy, but check out his lunch..."the rooster!" Allie had an enormous pork steak and Papa had the big ole ribs!!!
And finally, here are a few pictures of the four oldest grand kids!
Darn sun...
Then it was off to the hotel for a little swimming...you know, to work off all those calories!!! What a great way to start the birthday celebration!!!

A Saturday Swim Meet

Last Saturday we went to Maddie's last swim meet in Sparta. Maddie honestly swims like a fish and LOVES it! She is truly amazing in the water!!! Anyhow, we had been trying to get to them all summer but something always came up on our end (or there was bad weather!) so this was our last chance!

We got there in time to see Maddie swim in two races! She won her individual race and came in second in her relay (with 3 other girls!)

Here the boys are greeting Maddie! (Jack had spent the night at Nana and Papa's so he wasnt' there!)
Here Maddie is jumping in for the relay. She swam the anchor and made up TONS of time!!!
Here is Maddie, the fastest swimmer of all the girls in her age group!!!
Unfortunately, the boys were getting a little antsy after a few hours there, so we had to leave before we saw Maddie get all her medals! Luke made sure to give Maddie a hug though before we headed out!
Can't wait to see you in the Olympics, Maddie!!!

Monkeying Around!

Ms. Laura, a friend of mine and teacher at the boys' daycare, and I decided to take our boys on a little field trip to Monkey Joe's, a huge place with tons of different inflatables! Anyhow, it was a Wednesday so Dan stayed home with Luke and had a little one on one time with him.

We arrived there early so there weren't too many people there which was great!!! I did, however, dress them in matching clothes (their Yankee shirts!) so I could spot them easier amidst the crowd!

What goes up...(here are Jack and Nick walking up the stairs to the slide!)
...Must come down!
Boys will be boys....here are Jack, Nick, Ethan and Noah...
And here is our attempt at getting the boys to smile for just one picture...didn't happen...
After a couple of hours jumping, the boys were all wiped out and it was time to head home (well, we had a few stops at the mall!!!) and get some lunch! I went ahead and bought a pass so we will definitely be heading back there in the future!!!

A Party Filled Saturday!

A couple Saturdays ago (I know, I know...I'm slacking again!!!) our family had three birthday parties to attend. The first party was Kate's first birthday!!! It was a luau themed party and of course the boys had a blast, playing with Kate's big brother, Luke!

Here are Kate and Jennifer opening up her gifts!
And here is the cutie patootie Katie bug trying out her cake! I LOVE her lei!
Boys will be boys as they barely ate anything and instead spent the majority of the day playing on the swingset! The day was so nice there was no whining or complaints about being hot!

Kate's big brother, Luke!
Jack and Nick playing on the swings!!!
And Luke with his, well Kate's, pink bunny! This kid seriously LOVES pink girly things!!!
We had to leave Kate's party a bit early to make it to party number 2, Rachel's 5th birthday party at a local firehouse. Rachel is one of Nick's friends from daycare and according to Rachel's mom, she thinks he is "hot!" :) Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera out because Nick was a bit cranky and didn't want to participate! I was too focused on dealing with him to even think about pictures, but all the other kids sure did have a blast and I don't think any of them (with the exception of Nick!) had a stitch of dry clothing on them, as water play was a must!!!

After Rachel's birthday blast, we headed to birthday party number three, Maya's third birthday. Maya is a friend of Ms. Laycee's, one of Luke's teachers at daycare. Ms. Laycee was the party planner and definitely had the kids jumping. There were bouncers, a little "roller coaster," a pinata, a memory game, make your own sundaes and even musical chairs!

Here we are singing "Happy Birthday" to Maya!
Dan even got in on the action on musical chairs....he tied for second, with the other adult player in this picture, so they decided to step out of the game and let two others play for champion!!!
We didn't get home until about 10ish and wow, were we tired and stuffed with cake, but it was a great day!!! Happy Birthday to Kate, Rachel and Maya and thanks for letting us share your special day with you!

Furry Family Additions

The boys have been BEGGING for a hamster for the majority of the summer. Friday, after the zoo, and before a pool party (crazy summer!!!) we headed to PetsMart to pick out our new pet! I had researched the hamster idea a bit and found that they are a bit more nocturnal than I'd like - no need to keep the boys up later than they are already staying up - so we opted for a guinea pig, well, two guinea pigs!!!

Here the boys are on the drive home!
And here are Tivey and Spidey! Two more males added to our already highly charged testosterone house!
Jack is the proud papa of Tivey, short for Electiver - a name he came up with all on his own!
And check out Luke just looking at Tivey - his eyes say it all!
I would normally put a picture of Nick with his loved pet here, however, he isn't too keen on holding Spidey, short for Spiderman, yet! Maybe by my next post! :)

And here is their new home. Luckily they are downstairs in the playroom so we don't hear them (or smell them, although so far so good on that front!).
Here's hoping we get past the free 14 day trial period!

We're Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo

Last Friday, the boys and I went to the zoo with my friend Theresa and her daughter, Reagyn. The day was BEAUTIFUL...luckily we got there by 9, so it wasn't TOO busy!

Right when we got there the boys and Reagyn wanted to get their picture taken with the seal statue!
We saw TONS of animals and even rode the train!
The kids were great, and they LOVED posing for me!!! Here they are on the "bug!"
We had lunch and then we went to see the stingrays...my favorite ocean animals...I love them! But, touching them, that was another story. They were SLIMY!!!! UGH!
Reagyn is just going into first grade, but Luke wanted her to push her at all times!!! Reagyn enjoyed caring for Luke, thank goodness. Theresa is pregnant and due in August, I have no doubt that Reagyn is going to make an awesome BIG sister to her baby brother, Carter!
This was honestly one of the best trips to the zoo, the weather and company were fabulous!!!

Gadget's Garage!

Last week, I was a co-director of our church's Vacation Bible School. All three boys attended, well, Luke was officially there...on my hip. And, Nick was good for the first two nights and then BAM...he turned back into his MAJOR mama's boy!!! The theme was Gadget's Garage...check out the cool robots in the background!!!
We took a picture on Thursday, the last night, with all the kids...what a great bunch! Jack is the handsome dude on your left in the black shirt...Luke was at Pizza Hut with Dan and Nick, well, was standing right next to me!!!