Missouri. 2011.

Last weekend, my children and I set out on the Missouri, 2011 adventure! Drake had never been there to meet any of our family and Calla could not wait to get back there. We had such a great time seeing everyone and visiting a few places along the way. Enjoy!

Calla, Drake, and I at the empty tomb at the Precious Moments Chapel.

Putting on the annual show on the well house stage

Drake & Great Granny

It was hot, hot, hot and the girls had a great time in the pool!

Before we left for vacay, Drake taught himself how to play piano!

Uncle Jeddy and the kids

Uncle Shane & Drake

Great Granny & Grandpa with my kids!

The Precious Moments Chapel! It was as great as always!!

Papa & Drake It was so nice to be outside and not get attacked by mosquitoes!

The kids and a Precious Moments turtle

Granny gave my mom and I some old screen doors and windows so then I had to go searching for things to photograph. I have lots to choose from now to decide what will go in the frames. I found this cool wooden bridge while driving around trying to get Drake to sleep!

This was at one of the motels we stayed at!

Wamego, Kansas! Oz Museum!

Calla and the clown

She was SO EXCITED to see Dorothy's museum!

The giant Tinman and Grandpa and my kids!

Calla at Toto's Tacoz!

A neat windmill shot!

Toto's Tacoz! Great food and inexpensive!!

The Boys & The Girls

Calla and I wanted our picture together today before church. After ours was done we decided we needed a picture of the boys too! I love my family!!!!

What a Wonderful World!

The last week Calla has been running a 102-103 or higher temperature. If you read the previous post you know Drake did that, but his only lasted 48 hours. Calla's.never.gave.up. We called the Dr. on Monday and they said to wait another day and if it was still high to bring her in. Tuesday morning it was still high. Chad took her in and she has strep throat. She got 2 shots to help her heal quicker. We sure felt like fabulous parents. She didn't complain of a sore throat. She just wasn't eating. Now we know.
Today she has been feeling quite a bit better. We went to Wal-Mart this afternoon and bought her school supplies. My FAVORITE time of the year!!! It is way exciting for me to actually have a child to buy for this year. And not just for myself. :)
Tonight the children and I went to the elementary school Calla will attend next fall. The just finished a giant tree house and we finally found time to check it out. It is part of their outdoor classroom and I think Calla thinks kindergarten will be held there next year...not sure! We were going to play on their playground, but there were some people there pulling weeds and cleaning so we opted for a different park. They had a great time playing!
Thanks for checking in!





















This boy LOVED the swing!

On her way up to the tree house.

inside the tree house

A view of the outside from across the yard!

The almost fully healthy girl on the slide!

Happy Independence Day America!

We had a nice lazy weekend around here! Drake ran a high fever most of the weekend and after a visit to the doctor and no other symptoms it was decided it was "something viral." He rounded the corner Sunday evening and has not turned back...Praise the Lord!
On Monday, we had 2 parties to attend. First we went to Chad's parent's house to hang with them and the cousins. Then it was on to our friend's house. Both parties were lots of fun, but boy were we glad to have the big bangs over with so that we could all get some sleep!

The boys!

Calla and her usual 4th of July attire...headphones!

The girls!

The girl cousins with their headbands from Grandma Karma!

Drake just taking it all in! He didn't need no stinking headphones!

Calla is working on our special 4th of July strawberries!

Thanks Family Fun Magazine for the great idea! They were delicious!!!

We actually spent $$ on fireworks this year and did some quiet ones at our house. Chad was so excited to get an Army tank and introduce the children to that. Well it went off and both kids started crying...Chad was bummed!

Drake enjoying his first Popsicle.

Watching fireworks at Grandma & Grandpa's house!

Swimming, Swimming, in the Public Pool

When days are hot, we know where to go! With temps into the upper 90s this week we hit the pool a few evenings. We have been waiting all summer for the weather to still be warm after supper so that we could do this! As an employee of the pool, I get in free. The children are under 5 so they are free, and we pay $2.00 for Chad...we didn't get a pool for our house this summer knowing it was so cheap to let someone else maintain the pool!
Drake just LOVED sitting in the corner and playing with the stuff that floated his way. It is shallow enough so that he can crawl around, but it is kinda rough on his knees.
Calla was all over the pool! She is much braver this year and is able to kick while she floats around on the floaties.
The first night I took both kids by myself and just stayed in the baby pool and we had lots of fun, but Calla really wanted to go down the water slide in the big pool. We got Chad to go with us the next night and I got to take Calla down the slide. At the bottom she got her face a little more wet than she liked and she told me that Daddy does a better job on the slide than me. I took her one more time and then it was decided that only Daddy could take her down. HA!

Happy 4th of July!!! Be Safe! God Bless America!

Community Olympics 2011

Last weekend was Community Olympics. For those of you not familiar with this; here you go! Your team consists of 10-30 adults that are willing to take part in a variety of sports. The teams are created before mid-May and are told what events are available and sign up for those they want to take part in. Our team was Recess Renegades. This team consisted of most of the people we played (And won!) Kickball League with in early spring. We did recruit a few other members (my brother Shane was one!) and were pleased with our performances during Olympics.
Some of the events:
Chad and I played coed-badminton. Lots of fun!
Shane participated in and won the men's obstacle course! He also did tug-of-war.
Saturday morning started out with a 5k run/walk. Then Shane and Chad went and played a round of alternating throw disc golf. I played in water polo...so fun! Kickball got canceled and we were devastated...
I also participated in croquet! Shane did archery and survived the rigorous Boot Camp! (It was super hot and intense!)
Saturday night they had an 80's Lip Sync and Minute to Win it competitions, our team only did the Minute to Win it.
Sunday was a 2 mile walk and then I went and did a 50M freestyle swim competition. Chad and Shane helped the men's indoor volleyball team take 4th place. We skipped out on the cup stacking to be contenders in the volleyball.
There were many other activities that our other teammates took part in and did well.
Our team finished 11th out of 25 teams!
Our children were graciously taken care of by Grandma Julie and Papa Bryan. We could not have done this without their help!
We are recruiting for next year's team...if you are dying to be a part of our team, let me know! :)