Outside Time

Three weekends in a row of beautiful weather! We went to Busiek and took a nature walk today. I love taking advantage of the warm days when we can!


Shelley

Razor Ridge 2013

It's been SO long since we had a day to spend at Razor Ridge, and what a Beautiful day it was!
We got Austin on the four-wheeler for just a little bit. Hoping he decides he loves it at some point this year!

Some more pics of our day...

Ellie found a rock shaped like the US, she was ecstatic. ;) Both girls rode the four wheeler and we went on a family hike. Hope we have some more days like this soon!

Boat day!

While the kids were at Camp Grammie for marketplace week, J and I had a boat day date! It was über relaxing and soooo needed! I love my boat captain!

Tea cups

How do you spell fun?

TEA CUPS!




And a day with our cousins and aunt and uncle at Silver Dollar City!

Meet Max.

Max.

Maxamillion.

The Max.

It goes by many names, and... It. Is. COOL!

Meet Max...


He found his new home thanks to my husband, who makes it his mission in life to find new and slightly odd toys.


Jason and I took Annie and Austin out to Razor Ridge to really see what Max could do. (Ellie had a special day with Nana and Papa that day!)

Check out Max...


Wait for it...


COOL!


That's right, Max is amphibious. And he may have a slight ego, he likes to show off a bit.


My view from inside Max.


My boy. He likes to run.


My girl. Beautiful.


Razor Ridge in early Winter.


SO much fun!

SO much fun!

A few weeks ago we took our little family bowling.

To be completely honest, I was a little worried it might not be a good thing. I mean the thought of Ellie, aka: child who doesn't like loud noises, and Austin in a room of very heavy balls, were definitely some valid reasons to be concerned. However something in me really wanted to try this little venture, so I brushed off my concerns, convinced Jason everything would be ok, and decided to go for it.

We met some great friends at the bowling alley, ordered some pizza, and settled in. Things started off well, all the kids were having a blast hanging out and cheering each other on, and then...

Things got even better.

I gotcha there, didn't I?! You thought I was going to throw in a horrible/crazy/someone got injured twist, didn't you?

I could scarcely believe it myself, but the evening was just pretty perfect. I told Jason at the end of the night I think that was the most fun we've ever had as a family. Seriously!

And of course, I had my camera, so...







SO much fun! And we'll definitely be doing it again!

Oh and I thought the matching shirts added a nice touch too! Sometimes it's fun to be cheesy!

We have ARRIVED!

No, he's still not potty trained.

He hit his sister with a toy truck today.

He told me to "sut up!"

He didn't take a nap.

He woke up early and screamed like crazy because he knows I'll come get him so he won't wake up his sisters.

BUT...

He sat through an entire movie at the theatre and was P.E.R.F.E.C.T!

We have been waiting awhile for this day. 2 summers ago we went to see a movie with friends. Austin was 1 1/2, and up until that point, had sat nicely in his stroller through movies. That day however, things changed.

15 minutes into that movie he was out of his stroller. I held him, walked him, took him out, then back inside. Thankfully I had a friend with me to help with the girls who were 3 and 5 at the time. Towards the end of the movie Austin wiggled away from me, and in a flash was down the aisle, up the steps, and in front of the giant movie screen. I snatched him up as fast as I could, and took him out to the car...I was mortified. The girls were always good movie watchers.

Austin, not so much.

So here we are, two years later. When I heard Toy Story 3 was coming out I thought...Do we dare?

He loves the first two Toy Story movies, he's familiar with the characters, so I thought it would be a good one to test him on. And I was right!

Did you get that? I WAS RIGHT! Hold on, I gotta let that sink in some more...Mercy that feels good!

What a great movie. Annie melted down right as the ending credits rolled, she had a headache and was exhausted, and I'm sure wondering why we weren't stressed out with her brother, so she decided to fill in for him. :) We can never be completely drama free! But all in all, a Great Night!

I feel like we've ARRIVED. I feel like we just sailed over a major hurdle. I feel like some door opened and we got to walk through to the other side, the glorious glowing "people who can take all their kids to the movies and not go nuts" side! Maybe I am overreacting, but it's been a long road! And there's hope people!

Hope that someday we will pass through the valley of the shadow of the toddler/preschool years...and live to tell about it.

Hallelujah!

Spring at Razor Ridge

Sunday afternoon we headed out to our little piece of land to enjoy some time together, outside, in the incredible sunshiny weather. We had a blast four-wheeling around, splashing in the creeks, and picnicking under the newly green trees.

Our day was going very nice, and then we heard a little "beep beep", and we were happily surprised to see our favorite Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins, pulling down the drive! And then our day was perfect! The kids had an absolute blast together! I couldn't have imagined a more perfect day for us to be out there.

Jason had fun taking the kids through the pond on his 4-wheeler. I for one, was a bit nervous the first time, it looked awfully deep! But they did great!

The kids hiked along the creek, one after the other...so cute!

Before long we made our way down to the creeks again, and the kids discovered the utter joy of playing in the mud. I loved seeing these sweet princesses get all muddy!

Austin enjoyed some mud too...:)

Our cousins brought their fishing poles, and shared with us. Austin apparently REALLY likes fishing!

This land is so beautiful. The colors right now are incredible. The bright fresh green leaves on the oaks, the deep green cedars, the bluer than blue sky, and the fuchsia blooms of the redbuds. Incredible. God is quite the artist!

Before we headed home for the night, we decided to give our little piece of land a name, and take a picture to commemorate the occasion.

Welcome to Razor Ridge!

Wacky Fun!

When I was younger, and dreamed of the day that I would have beautiful, perfect children of my own, I envisioned days of peaceful playtime, and fun excursions to exciting places...

Then I had Ellie! When she was a one year old, we joined our local Mops group, and began fulfilling our destiny. We started going to playgroups, and Kindermusik. It was just like I'd imagined...

Then I had Annie! Things got a little tougher, but we managed. We continued with Mops, I even served on the steering team for a few years. We went to two Kindermusik classes, one for each girl. It was more hectic than I imagined it would be, and my energy started to dwindle a little...

Then I had Austin! And all of a sudden it hit me, I was exhausted. Ellie started school, we struggled to make it to Kindermusik and Mops. Soon I decided I liked being home more, it was just easier. Our days of exciting adventures wiped me out, and made me cranky. As Austin grew, and became, well...Austin!...I found there were very few places that could handle his level of energy. Throw in Ellie's sensory issues, and well, I became Hermit Mom.

Okay, maybe not Hermit Mom, but close! I pretty much stick to activities that will be easy, and with my small group of friends who don't judge. :) When I venture out of my comfort zone, I'm usually met with looks. You know, the ones from people who either haven't reached my stage of life yet, or have forgotten how it was. The dreams of perfect children, and endless days of exciting activities have become the running joke of my friends and I. Obviously real life with real kids is much harder than we thought it would be!

But something came over me the other morning. Something I hadn't felt since the girls were little. A restless stirring to do something, dare I say....Fun? I hopped online and after a bit of research, packed those little kids of mine up, and we headed to the "big city" to play!

We found a great indoor inflatables place called Wacky World Kidz. Their location was great, a straight shot from our town, and their hours and prices were great too. We called Grammie on our way out the door, and she said she'd be in town anyway, so she'd stop by and play too! More fun!

We hit the door, and POOF they were off!

They ran, they climbed...

They jumped, they played...

They slid down giant slides and smiled...

They were moving so fast I could barely take pictures!

They even played air hockey...

She might be a bit competitive...

They wore themselves out! Yay!

It was a really fun day. I am so glad I didn't squelch that feeling to go and do something fun. I am so glad to have had a day somewhat like the ones I imagined, it's been awhile! Since Austin was born, life has been much harder. He's been more than "just one more." Lately I feel like we're coming, albeit slowly, out of the fog. I feel like I can handle a bit more, not a lot, but just enough to give me hope that things will get easier! And I'm so glad to have found a fun indoor play place, we'll definitely be going back!

Farm Fun!

Observe...Austin in his natural habitat...

Ha ha! Okay, so it's not really his natural habitat...he's not really a farm animal...well, not all the time... :-)

He was in his element though, when we got to go to the pumpkin patch for his first school field trip! We'd been the day before, but for Austin THIS day was even better. This day he had mommy all to himself! He had his teachers, whom he adores, and all the other kids were HIS SIZE! It was a blast, and I'm so glad I went along for the fun! Austin's favorite things...

Running...


Climbing...


Terrorizing chickens...


Rolling in corn...


Sliding...


What a great day!