Vacay 2011

We took off on a Friday and drove nine hours to spend a long weekend in Pigeon Forge, TN! The drive there and back went very, very well. Three happy kids made for two happy parents!

The lodge that we stayed at was wonderful. We had a three bedroom, three bathroom condo complete with a pool! Immediately upon seeing the pool, Brooke was ecstatic. It had a huge slide - enough to even satisfy the big kids at heart (Blake!).

We played, ate, and relaxed ... and had a great time!

This photo album made with Smilebox

Wordless Wednesday...Summer Time Goodies

Our First....FIELDTRIP!

The trio got to experience their first field trip to a local dairy farm.  Being off school, I was able to go along and was glad to have the opportunity!  We'd been talking about this for awhile now and the kids were excited to see the cows and the tractors.  Until that day...

Normally, the kids are awake and ready to go by oh... 6 or 6:30.  This particular day, I'm sure they were thinking, nope, let's sleep in and throw the hole morning into a frenzy for mommy.  So, we got up, got dressed, combed hair, brushed teeth, and gobbled breakfast - all the while complaining that they didn't want to go, didn't feel good, didn't want the homemade waffles I made specifically for them (ha), or anything else they could whine about.

We got out the door and stopped to pose and smile for a pre-field trip picture:

Looking closely...see, I said we gobbled breakfast and apparently we still are!

We got to the farm and the kids, most of them eagerly walked into the barn to see the calves.  They were literally newborn - as of the night before!  Zach walked up and petted one without a thought.  Brooke and Luke were still unsure and hung back.

Zach and cousin Addie

We went to the next barn to have a look at those cows.  They were mighty big compared to the baby calves.  Here is the group walking into the barn:

Here's Luke:

Like I said, they were big and he needed some coaxing to be picked up to get any closer.

We watched some cows being milked, we saw the pipes that the milk travels through, and we saw the milk tank that doesn't get used because they have decided that filling a truck is more efficient since they produce so much.  Then, we enjoyed some cookies.

Luke is sitting here doing what he does best - watch TV.

Here is the whole group!  What a fun field trip!

We're still talking about it!

Shopping List

After my night last night and similar nights in the past few weeks, I've added a few more items to my next shopping trip. First of all, I'll need to pick up one of these:

Pacemaker

Hopefully, this item will keep my heart working or just help it resume a normal beating pattern after being woken up from a sound sleep. Zach has a tendency to walk into our room in the middle of the night and just stand at the side of the bed looking at me until I wake up. In essence, it looks like a floating head peering at me because he is just at the right height to be eye level with me and the bed hides his little body. This is not the way I prefer to be woken up.  Which brings me to the next item on my list:

Woo-wee, when I finally get my bearings and settle my heart down, I realize what woke me was probably the dragon breath in my face! So far, I honestly don't think they've had bad breath, but for some reason, that night time breathing sure is something!

The final thing to buy is this:

Chain lock for our back door!

If he is anything like his daddy, this sleep walking might continue into the next few decades and I want to be prepared. His dad was known to walk out the door in the middle of the night and if Zach's breath isn't in my face, I'm not sure I'll wake up in time to stop him from walking out into the night!