Snakes, End of School, Indiana Trip

 I walked through the kitchen and saw something out of the corner of my eye...took a second look...and this is what I saw!!  I think I scared the kids to death as I started screaming and jumping around.  As soon as I calmed down, I had to get outside and get a picture of him!  By the time Chad got home, he was gone (and Chad was really disappointed). 

But before dinner I was taking a lap around the house searching for Mr. Snake...and I found him...with Miss Snake!! YUCK!! This snake couple needs to move out...FAST!

YUCK!!

 

Last Thursday, Drew's whole school had an End of the Year picnic at North Meck Park.  Here's Drew with his buddy Jack.

And Drew with Owen. LOL

Drew with Trey and Jack.  I loved the shirts the teachers gave the kids.  Each class had a different color scheme.

Emma liked playing with all the "big" kids!  Then, right after the picnic, we got on the road and headed to Indiana for Memorial weekend!

My parents had been telling me about Ricky their raccoon that comes to visit every day.  I couldn't believe it when he came out at lunchtime to eat!  Aren't they nocturnal?!

Cheese!

We went to the park on Friday morning and met Sarah and Lyndsey there.  Then later that evening Ben and Julie and the boys came over to my parents' for dinner.  Here they are playing in the flower garden!

Baby Jackson is so cute!!  He's a very smiley, happy baby!

The kids had been begging to go for a ride in the Mercedes, so they all got to take turns!  Here's Parker and Drew - they kept telling my dad to "put it in sports mode!" 

Will and Emma got a turn next!  Emma doesn't normally like to even have her window down, so I wasn't sure how she'd do.  But as soon as they got back, I heard her say, "Again!" 

After dinner we roasted marshmallows in the fire pit!  These kids are a little dangerous with fire!! haha

Emma needed to be held back - she wasn't scared at all!

On Saturday, we got to see Tim graduate from high school!  Way to go Tim!!

Then we went to their house for his graduation party.  Leave it to my family to start throwing a big ball around! haha  And I think the quote of the weekend goes to Tim.  My mom was telling Marc's mom how many grandchildren she has, 5 grandsons and 2 granddaughters.  And Tim said, "No, you have 4 grandsons, 2 granddaughters, and 1 grandMAN!"  It was just unexpected and absolutely hilarious!!

Sarah and Marc rented a bouncy house to entertain the kids...and adults! haha  It was so much fun!

HAHA - watch out kids, Grandma and Grandpa will show you how it's done!!

Drew and Emma jumped and bounced until they were soaking wet with sweat!

I finally got up enough courage to try a front flip - and was proud that it was fairly easy! And FUN!

Then on Sunday, we followed tradition and swam and Ben and Julie's house during the Indy 500.  It was a sunny 95 degree day...perfect!  Drew and Will did the slide over and over!

Emma loved the water, but she didn't sleep the best in Indiana and was tired.  She did love Maggie the dog though!!

Looks like the kids are getting lined up to race! haha

We surprised my Dad with a birthday cake and a few gifts!  It was a week early, so he wasn't expecting it at all.  He even started singing with us, and then it hit him, "who? for me?"  haha!  The boys blew out the candles for him!

It was a great trip to Indiana!  We hadn't seen everyone since Christmas!!

T-ball and Warrior Dash

Drew had his first t-ball game last weekend!!  One of his practices had been rained out, so his team had only practiced one time.  It was hilarious!!  In the first inning, whenever the ball was hit, the whole team would run after it, and then two or three of them would fight over it.  And after they hit the ball, they'd stand and watch all the commotion instead of running the bases! haha  Emma was so good and played on the blanket with her toys the whole time.  One time, Drew was across the field on first base, waving and yelling, "Hiiii, Emma!!"  LOL

 

"Gooooo Blue!"

One thing I love about the Y...they pray before every game.  And when the coach asked the team, "why do we pray?"  Drew was the one that answered, "to give thanks to God."   =)

The HUGE hats are pretty silly...but cute! 

Out there on second base!  They looked so funny running with helmets on - I think it was a first for most of them and they look so unbalanced!

Drew, number 10 like his Daddy, was getting some last minute tips from his coach before batting.  He took two pitches from his coach and missed, so he hit off the tee after that.  Only one other kid took pitches from the coach, and she missed too.  I think that's something they'll do more of in the later games.

Running the bases! Yay!!

Chad and I ran in the Warrior Dash this past weekend!!  Chad had done it last year, and it looked like so much fun, so I signed up!!  It's a 3.1 mile race with FOURTEEN obstacles!!  I was so worried about the obstacles (swimming through nasty muddy water and pulling yourself up onto things in the water, super high rock walls and cargo nets, etc.), but they were the funnest parts - and the easiest!  The running through the muddy woods and all the super steep hills are what killed me! (it didn't help that I laid on the couch with a fever and flu-like symptoms for two days just four days before the race!!)  It was one of the hardest things I've ever done...and maybe one of the funnest!  Chad finished in 37:12 and I did it in 50 minutes flat.  And now he's got a nasty, swollen ankle from turning it halfway through the race - that's a true warrior!!  Here's a picture of us BEFORE the race.

And then AFTER the race...a little dirty! 

Okay, VERY dirty! 

The kids thought our medals and horns were pretty cool!!

This is Drew's last week of school (wow!), and it's teacher appreciation week.  Here's our homemade gifts for his two teachers.  We filled insulated straw cups with several different flavors of Crystal Light - and I took a picture of him with a Thank you note and put it in a little wooden frame.  And then we put flowers in a skinny tube and put that in a mason jar, and surrounded it with magnetic ABCs!  Two ideas I got off pinterest.com...my FAVORITE website ever!! 

a

Fun Times!

A couple weeks ago on a Friday, I took the kids to the Birkdale Fountains for the first time this year.  Emma was so excited and ran out there, jumping up and down! ...and then the water shot out of the ground right beneath her and scared her to death!  She darted back to me and was ready to eat her lunch instead!

Drew loved everything about the fountains and wanted to get soaked!  But he came and sat down to eat with Emma for a bit.

Something was wrong with the fountains and they kept shutting off for about 10 seconds and then coming back on.  Emma would get brave when they turned off and she'd walk out there with Drew.

Drew liked to stand over the fountains and wait for the water to shoot up and hit him in the face!

Emma decided it was more fun to sing songs and dance in the dry areas!

Later that day we went to the Movies in the Park.  It was Chad's birthday, so we wanted to do something! The kids had helped me make him a birthday cake, and they really liked singing to him as soon as he got home from work.  Then Chad and I got Chinese food and the kids got happy meals from McDonalds and we got to the park plenty early to claim a spot and eat our dinner. We met up with some other friends too.  Then the kids enjoyed the glow sticks and popsicles they were handing out! 

There was lots of time before the movie started, so the kids played in the big field.  Not sure what was going on here...

Drew actually took this picture of Chad and I - I was impresssed how good it turned out!

Emma was so tired, but stayed up until we left close to 9pm.  The movie didn't start until it got dark, after 8:30pm, but we left soon after that (like a lot of other people with little ones).

Then on Sunday, we had some friends over for a cookout.  The adults got to eat on our back deck, and the kids had a blast eating at the picnic table by themselves!  They kept asking for more chips...and later I realized these four kids ate an entire bag of chips! OOPS!

Later in the week, Drew's buddy Luke turned 4 and had a bowling party.  The kids have never really been bowling (Drew went with us for Garrett's surprise party when he was barely 2, but that doesn't count), but they had a great time! Here's Emma...before I figured out that I needed to be there to give the ball a second push just to get it down the lane! haha  Several times she crossed the line and her feet flew out from under her.  She would just laugh and say "uh oh."

There were 3 kids per lane, and Emma got bored waiting...so she entertained herself...

Drew had some interesting technique! haha

Here he is trying to figure it out...as Emma rolls a ball down the lane next to us (that's closed!).

Here's another turn by Drew...as Emma climbs onto the ball return!  She really wasn't that out of control...guess I just caught her crazy moments!

Once I showed Drew how to put his fingers in the holes, he figured it out pretty quick.  But then, after about 5 frames of that, I guess he felt like an expert...and tried to coach Luke on how to do it!

Last weekend, our town had a festival.  This is my new favorite picture! I LOVE Emma's expression!  As soon as we got to the bottom, she said, "again," and got back in line.

Both of the kids loved the swings!

Here they are, doing a little dance!

Being drug around by Daddy is always fun!

For Mother's Day, we took a picnic lunch to Jetton Park.  The kids posed for a cute picture with Chad, but by the time I asked for a turn, they wanted nothing to do with the camera!  =(

Drew has gotten really good at swinging!

Here's the kids being silly together.

Emma was a cranky pants when we were leaving, but at least Drew would take a picture with me!

It was a rainy day, and the kids were standing on the couch, looking out the back window, and Drew says, "Mommy, look, a snake!"  I thought he was joking...

The kids weren't scared at all!  We were standing on the deck, and they wanted to get down in the bushes to see him!

Chad named him Reggie.

Here's Reggie leaving our yard...and heading straight for our bunny family's home!  We didn't see the bunnies for a couple days, but finally saw them in a different spot in our neighbor's yard! Shew!

YUCK!