On a Work Trip w/ Dad

Last week Travis had to do some work up in Cincinnati, OH for a day. The hotel had a pool and the boys & I had nothing to do here, so we tagged along. We were only there for 2 days & a night, but it was nice to go to a different city for a while. We enjoyed lunch w/ Travis & one of his work friends, Tim, relaxed in the hotel room, then we were off to the pool. The pool was a BIG disappointment. It was inside and up a flight of stairs as well. Yeah, real fun by myself w/ Logan in the stroller. We headed back to the room after about 30 - 45 min of trying to enjoy the pool. We got back just in time to meet dad for dinner.
We had dinner at Rock Bottom in Fountain Square and afterward we enjoyed some live music and water fun.
Travis ended up getting all of his work done on Tuesday so we meet up with some friends of ours on Wednesday at the Newport Aquarium in KY. The kids had a blast looking at all of the fish, sharks, and penguins. Logan even tried to catch one of the penguins. We had a blast!!!

Knoxville Zoo

Since we were given our Zoo Membership we have been going almost every week to the zoo! We meet up with friends there and just have a good time. The kids get to play and us moms to get somewhat relax while watching the kids play.

Today Pop, my dad, came with us on our trip. He hasn't been to the Knoxville Zoo since the 1980's so it has changed a lot! We met up with our freind Aileen & her little girl Sohpia (who is 5 days younger than Logan) Her older son Tyler was at Summer camp, we will see him later today. Anyway, we had fun looking that the Elephants and Zebras and showing Pop the crazy Gibbon too. The we took the kids down to Kids Cove. Braden played in the water until Aileen had to go home to let Sophia take a nap and pick up Tyler. After she left I let Logan go into the water too. I couldn't get him out! He loved it!!!

After we dried the boys off we took Pop around to see the rest of the animals. Braden fed the camel again and while he was feeding him I brought Logan up to see and the camel almost stole Logan's sippy cup and licked Logan's face. He was devistated and started to cry! I was laughing, but I felt sorry for the kid too. Once the boys were cleaned up from the friendly camel we went into the nice air conditioned Wee Play Zoo area for kids and let them play and stretch before going home. We had a blast, but boy are we worn out!

Let's try this again

Last Friday we tried another splash pad here in Knoxville. Of course Braden loves every moment in these things, but Logan is a little different. He didn't like it the first time we went to one, but after a few times in the sprinkler and the water table at home, he is getting to like the water. We went with our friends Lanie and Michael and Michael brought his daughter Shelby. The kids had a great time together.

Safety City

We have been pretty busy this summer so it has taken me a while to rememeber that I have forgotten to post anything lately. Last Thursday our playgroup decided to check out this place called Safety City. It is just down from our house and is part of a Police Department. They have a kid sized city with buildings, railroad tracks, street signs, and traffic lights. They even have a kid sized Shoneys, Applebee's, and hospital. The idea is for the kids to ride their bikes, scooters, battery powered vehicles, or whatever thorugh the city, but they MUST follow all the traffic rules. This means staying on the right side of the road, following the traffic signals, and watching for fellow riders. Braden is still learning to ride a bike, so I brought his scooter with us for him to ride. I didn't get any pictures of Safety City itself, I will next time, but I did get some pictures of the kids enjoying the playground afterwards. Logan decided he was a "big boy" and that he had to ride the scooter too.

Putt-Putt Fun!

Last Friday Travis and I took the boys to Zuma Fun Center for a game of Putt-Putt. Lanie, her fiance Michael, and his 6 yr old daughter joined us as well. Poor Logan had to spend the whole time in his stroller. If we would have let him out he would have 1) thrown all the golf balls into the water 2) walked into the water. He enjoyed watching everyone play and clap when we scored holes in one! We had a nice dinner out, played Putt-Putt, and then went out for ice cream afterwards. We didn't make it home until 10:30pm and all of us were very tired.

Splash Pad Fun!

Last Wednesday our playgroup took the kids to a Splash Pad in our area. Braden LOVED it & it was very hard to get him to leave when it was time to go. Logan on the other hand, HATED it! He cried everytime water touched him and just kept walking, as fast as he could, back to our blanket. He found food and never wanted to leave. In one of these pictures he is enjoying a powdered doughnut. All the kids were having fun, but Logan wanted to eat! His friend Sophia, who is 5 days younger than him, loved it too. She was crawling all over the place and her mom spent the entire morning chasing her down. Of course by the time we were leaving a kid brought a truck and pushed it into the fountains and of course Logan went after it. I guess I need to bring a truck with me next time to get him in. The boys were worn out after all the sun & fun. They both passed out in the car on the way home.

A Double (belated) Birthday Party

Since Logan & Sophia are 5 days apart and our playgroup is so big Sophia's mom (Aileen) and I decided to have a double birthday party for them at the park. We had leftover cake from Logan's birthday party (I froze it) and some cupcakes left from Braden's school party. Everyone had a great time eating cake and playing on the playground. Halfway through the party they sky opened up and it started to pour. Braden enjoyed himself in the rain, he was soaked! I took advantage of a break in the rain and took some things to the car, including the camera, so I missed getting a picture of Braden playing in the rain.

After our party all of us trecked over to McAlister's for kids night. Every Wednesday evening from 5pm - close is their kids night which means kids eat free! Our playgroup meets on Wednesday so we usually eat there every week & the dads meet us after work. They also have face painting, coloring, and some videos to watch as well. It's pretty relaxing for the parents as well. We can see the door of the restaurant where we sit so as long as one of us has our eyes on that we can sit back and chat while the kids have fun.

Kindergarten here I come!

Yesterday was Braden's last day of Pre-K at St. Joseph's. They had a small grauation ceremony and then a Luau Party afterwards. Braden received the award for "Most Easygoing" in his class and all the kids were given trophies & small teddy bears instead of diplomas. Ms. Hinton also gave all of the kids a ribbon for their hard work at Field Day on Monday. The kids had a blast at their party and entertained all of the parents at the graduation w/ songs and big smiles. I cannot believe that my baby boy will be in kindergarten this coming fall.

Zoo Trip

Travis took the day off for our 8 year wedding anniversary, so we took the boys to the zoo. Logan 's birthday present from Travis's parents & sister & her family was a zoo membership and we are going to use it! The boys enjoyed looking at the animals and birds throughout the zoo. Logan fell asleep in his stoller at the 1/2 point mark, so he missed some animals, but he woke up just in time for kid's cove. It's a place for the kids to play in the sand, pet some animals, and run around. We had so much fun and cannot wait to go back.

Pre-K Field Day at St. Joseph School

Braden experienced his first Field Day yesterday at school. The kids had so much fun! His school has grades pre-k through 8th grade and they all had field day yesterday. All the "big kids" (K - 8th) took buses over to another parish (St. Albert the Great) because it is just a bigger space. This left the pre-k (all 19 kids) to roam the school for the school day! They started off w/ relay races & parachute fun in the old gym, stopped at a water fountain for a drink on their way to the new gym where they had another relay race, running w/ a big ball, and balloon ping pong. The final stop, after another water break, was water balloon toss outside. The kids were in heaven! They didn't have to do school work all day. All they had to do was run, scream, and have fun!

I was one of the parent volunteers, so Logan came with me and Nay-Nay came to watch, and keep Logan happy. Logan enjoyed watching the big kids, but when he saw the big ball and the balloons he suddenly was very upset that he could not play along. One day kid!

Saying Good-bye to some great friends & Logan's First Swim

On Sunday May 23 we went to a farewell party for a family from our playgroup. The Scarlett family is moving back to Indiana later this week and we will miss them so very much. Braden & Will play well together and Logan & Peter have fun watching what the other one is doing and trying to walk together. Not only was Sunday their going away party, but it was also Logan's first time in the pool. He liked it, but I think if the water was a little bit warmer he would have had more fun. It was kind of cold, but most of the kids & adults didn't mind after a while. Braden had fun in the pool too with his friends. He jumped right in! Travis and I thought we were going to have a huge battle with him about the pool, again tgis year, but he figured out that he could touch the bottom in the shallow end and was all for it. Yay! (Yes, I spiked Logan's hair!)