Our Week with Riley

Last Saturday when we left Sidney from our fourth of July extravaganza, we brought one fun cousin with us, Riley!

Whew, this was a busy week.  Here are some of our adventures:

We took her to the dollar theatre to see Rio 2.  The kids loved the movie but enjoyed the candy the most.  While we were in the drug store picking our candy, Carter was pointing out various options to Dawson.  When he came to the necco wafers, Dawson yelled "I want those!  I want Holy Spirit Candies!"  Yup buddy, I guess they do look like a host!  In the theatre he told me "Holy spirit tastes good!"  Hmmm, guess I have more work to do in the area of religious education!

We also went to the Akron zoo and splurged on stuffed animals for all.  Ava got a purple tiger named Twinsie (because it's a twin to byger) Riley got a fox named Foxy Glamorous Grace (not sure, there may be more names), Carter got a leopard called spotty and Dawson got a Komodo Drago named Cuddle Bean.

Another cousin picture

Poor Dawson, he had another nap meltdown this day.  It's hard for a 3.5 year old to keep up with the big kids.  He was walking around the zoo begging to go home to take a nap.

Skymax was also on our list!  Riley loved jumping.  She was starting to do front flips, that looked more like front rolls.  When we left all four kids were sweating with red cheeks, success!

Then we went down to Columbus to return Riley and we got to spend some time with Uncle Patrick and Aunt Sara.

They have a great park behind their apartment that we enjoyed.

Thanks Aunt Margie for all the pictures!!

Cade's Cove

Cade's Cove is one of our favorite areas of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.  There is an eleven mile loop through the cove that is scattered with historical cabins, churches, mills and barns of the late 1800's and early 1900's.  It is closed two mornings a week for bikers to explore without motor vehicles.

On the way to the cove we saw our only black bear.  I was so excited that the kids got to see a bear from the safety of our car!

Mike and I biked the cove while Grandma and Bo took the kids on a short hike through the cove.  

Then after our bike ride, we met as the cove was opening to cars and drove to the Village area.  

Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Bo, Dawson, carter and Ava in front of a nearby stream.

In the Village we explored a mill, barn, smokehouse and much more.  The kids were able to watch the mill in action and see corn being ground up for corn meal.  We even purchased some corn meal to make homemade corn bread!

The kids were so excited to explore Carter Shield's cabin.  Nothing too exciting, but they obviously loved the name!

Gatlinburg - Sugarlands Visitor Center and Cataract Falls

We just wrapped up a fantastic week in Gatlinburg that we spent with family.  We went with Bo and Grandma, Uncle Jay, Aunt Tiff and cousin Andrew.  We had a fantastic time and nobody wanted to leave!  Poor Ava sobbed on and off for about 45 minutes once we got into the car to drive home.  But we made it home safe and sound and here are some pictures from our first day.  We visited the Sugarlands Visitor Center and hiked to Cataract Falls.

Investigating a tree stump

Ava had a ball hiking with her Bo.  He likes to hike quickly while Dawson has the three year old meander.  So Ava would take off with her Bo.  She nicknamed his Bo Bo and Bo-ey on this trip!

The Five of us at Cataract Falls

The kids had a ball climbing on the rocks and exploring the area.

Lots more pictures to come!!

The Rest of our Weekend

Saturday was also Carter's first t-ball game of the season.  He was so proud of his t-ball uniform and he loved his hat and shirt with his name on it!

 

 

One of my favorite moments from the game:  Carter was playing pitcher and he caught the ball.  Instead of immediately throwing the ball to first he stopped to dust off his pants and then leisurely look around while everyone is yelling "throw it to first!!"

 

 

 

 

Then after the game we stopped for our first ice cream of the season!  Birthday Cake Ice cream for all!

 

Mike and I also finished our first half marathon on Sunday morning.  Great big thanks to Grandma and Bo who kept the three monkeys happy.  Yay!!  I'm so proud of both of us and I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed the experience.  We are already planning our next!

A weekend at Castaway Bay

We spent a wonderful weekend with our Bo, Grandma, Uncle Jason, Aunt Tiffany and cousin Andrew at Castaway Bay, an indoor waterpark.  We were celebrating Bo and Grandma's Birthday!

 

 

The kids were in seventh heaven with two sets of bunk beds and their very own TV to watch. 

 

We did spend a little bit of time in the arcade on Saturday night.  It is insane how fast you can blow through money in those places!  Ava was little miss frustrated.  She was grumpy after a long day of swimming and she does not react well when she can't do something perfect the first time.  She tried ski-ball and at first pitched it like a baseball.  I demonstrated proper form and she just couldn't roll it fast enough to get it anywhere.  Carter and I had a heated game of air hockey, one of his favorites.  Dawson was just happy to try any of the games, but driving a car like a maniac was just a favorite. 

 

Our sweet little cousin toddled around the arcade and just enjoyed the sights and sounds.  I remember those days of cheap entertainment!  Andrew very sweetly kissed the snoopy statue in the kiddie car.  Maybe it reminded him of slinky?

 

 

 

Ava at the top of the toddler size water slide.  Dawson and Ava went down this slide over and over and over.  She was a little daredevil and was not content to relax in the water like her brother.  There was a rather scary (for a four year old) raft ride that included some drops and lots of turns.  She was barely tall enough to go on it, but she loved every single second of it and did it over and over again!

 

 

Dawson at the top of the water slide.  This kid loved the toddler area, but boy did he play himself out quickly!   I'm pretty sure Ava and Carter could have stayed there hours longer.

 

Bo and our favorite little water baby

 

Carter's favorite spot was the wave pool.  Unless he was going down a water slide he wanted to be in the wave pool.  

 

Big Smiles from the boys

 

Dawson, smile for the camera. 

 

This is the silly little dance/face I got.  He is such a ham.

 

Happy Happy Birthday Grandma and Bo

 

I couldn't believe I got a good picture on the first try.  Everyone looking at the camera, and some smiles too!

 

Carter had to check out the map to make sure that he hit it all up before we left.

 

 

 

Mike had to make sure to take a (fake) palm tree picture.

 

Thank you for the wonderful memorable weekend!

Our Weekend

 We had a wonderful weekend with our kiddos and family.  It started off with Carter's first basketball game at the Y.  He did good with dribbling and passing, but had a hard time getting the ball in the hoop.

 

So, hopefully we will be able to make it to the Y sometime this week to Practice! Practice! Practice!

 

 

We went to see our little cousin Andrew at his FIRST birthday party.  He was such a cutie and we enjoyed playing with all his brand new toys.  We came in late and he was opening his presents.  He made eye contact with Dawson and got a big smile on his face!  Very sweet.

 

I am such a ding dong, I brought my camera but no camera card so these are my only pictures.

 

 

 

Today Carter and I spent time making an All about me poster for school.  Here are the highlights:  I love to wear camo, I want to work at a museum when I grow up, my favorite superhero is batman, my favorite book is James and the Giant Peach, I like to play with legos and eat pizza and I like to play basketball and soccer.  He was very happy with the results.

 

 

And now, another edition of Silly Sleepers!

 

 

 

Dawson sleeping with a head light

 

 

Ava with her baby cuddles

Christmas with the Labbett's

This weekend we spent time with Meme, Bob-Bob, Uncle Patrick, Aunt Margie, Brendan and Riley.

 

Cousins!

 

We opened presents and played for awhile.

 

Don't they look like snow queens?

 

We played Headbands with the family, it was hilarious.  Basically you get a card put on your headband and based on the actions of others you have to guess what it says on the card. 

 

With a few modifications for the kids, we all played together and had a good time.

 

Clearly we are being skydivers, Brendan!

 

Hmm, can't remember what Uncle Patrick was trying to be, but it's pretty funny.

 

My favorite was Mike acting out carrot with Ava.  He positioned her just so, then proceeded to pull her out of the ground. 

 

Thanks everyone for coming, we had a great time!

 

 

Weekend Update

It has been a busy weekend, with some relaxing thrown in as well.  Here are some pictures from our weekend:

 

 

Dawson and I have been playing whack-a-mole nightly.  He pops up in our room.  I put him back in bed.  He falls asleep in the hallway.  I put him back in bed.  It seems as soon as I get him back in bed, he pops up somewhere else!  Yes, he is fully sleeping in this picture and it is 5 am, as I was leaving to go to yoga.  Crazy kid, if anyone has any suggestions on how to keep him in bed I'm all ears.  Right now we are starting a sticker chart and rewarding him for staying in bed.  It's kind of funny, he didn't have this problem when we initially switched from crib to toddler bed, but it just seems to be getting worse.

 

I'm sorry Aunt Margie, we really can't return your scarves.  What else are they going to use for doggie leashes?

 

Friday night we took the kids to see the Nutcracker Ballet.  The kids were very well behaved and I'm completely shocked how glued they were to the ballet.  They were very whiny and tired afterwards, but during the ballet they were as good as gold.  It was funny I heard Ava telling her Aunt Tiffany later "We stayed up all night to go to the Nutcracker."  Yeah, all the way to the crack of 10 pm!

 

 

 

On Saturday we had Aunt Tiff, Uncle Jay and cousin Andrew come to visit.  But the best part was getting to see Andrew!  Isn't he a sweet little cuddle boy?  He was so much fun to play with!

 

 

 

We also did presents for the kids.  It was a snowy day and it was a lot of fun sitting in the house, opening presents/playing with toys and watching the snow fall!

 

 

Cousins helping cousins!  Ava loves to play with her little cousin.  She follows him around and smothers him with love and kisses.

 

 

Finally today.  After church and errands we had a Polar Express party with friends.  The kids decorated a train car and then sat in them while they watched the show.  Hot chocolate was served, during the hot chocolate song of course and then we all got a bell as the first gift of Christmas.  The kids had a blast!  Dawson was a little confused and was claiming that it was his birthday party.  Sorry buddy, your birthday is over now!

 

That was quite enough for one weekend, now we have one full school week left until Christmas vacation!