Track Out

Whew!  We've had a busy track out so far for the past 2 weeks.  Only one more week to go.  We've gone to the splash park a few times, Monkey Joes, swimming, Addison had a grammy sleepover, Jordan Lake day to play in the sand and swim in the lake, Marbles Kids Museum and then yesterday we went to the Durham Life and Science Museum.  I don't have a ton of pictures because we've done mostly everything before so I didn't bring the camera to a lot of places.  I did take a bunch yesterday though and we had so much fun.  My friend has an annual pass with a few extra passes so it was even free!  They have so much to do there that we were there for about 7 hours and we didn't even do everything.  

They have a great butterfly garden with all sorts of different butterflies and plants.  It's really, really beautiful.

Addison was trying so hard to catch one.  She just wanted to hold one so bad.  

My friend Tami must have a magic way with butterflies because she seems to catch one every time.  She caught one and gave it to Addison.  She was so happy about it and is still talking about it today.

My cutie pie boy

Cooper wanted to hold one but wouldn't actually touch it so he was content to just hold the branch.

They have a trail with a bunch of dinosaurs to see.  Cooper especially loved it and the kids loved climbing on this one.

Cooper tried to climb it but just couldn't.  He was still happy to play on it though!

They have a giant "dinosaur" dig site that the kids LOVED.  Addison found a shark tooth and every time they found a big rock they would bring it to me and tell me that it was a dinosaur bone.  It was cute.

The girls looking at their loot

They had this awesome misting yard that had a bunch of little hills and tunnels with mist shooting out of the ground.  This was the kids favorite thing.  They got soaking wet and filthy and had a blast.  

They also have a great playground that we didn't get to play on because it was raining a little by the time we got there and a great indoor space.  We saw a real tornado a bunch of science experiments, giant bugs, and a spaceship replica.  Addison kept saying "this is so interesting".  She especially liked using the microscope to look at the tiny, real bugs. We had a great time but I was completely exhausted by the time we were done.  These kids wear me out!

July...so far

I feel like we've become quite the regulars at Chuck E Cheese lately.  We always have a really good time and it's so cheap for a family of 4 for dinner and 3 hours of entertainment!  We went for our friend's son's 2nd birthday and we had fun as usual.  Except of course when we couldn't find Cooper for over 15 minutes, completely scaring the crap out of me.  Apparently he went behind one of the games to poop in his pants.  He always has to do it private at home so that's not unusual but we looked EVERYWHERE and I couldn't even think of anywhere else to look.  I was so happy to finally find him coming out from behind the game up against the wall, I almost burst into tears.  Anyway, besides that, we had a great time.  

Addison and one of her best friends!

Phillip and Cooper playing Deal or No Deal, trying to decide what number to pick

Oh my gosh, the kids loved Chuck E.  He only came out for a few minutes and the girls just followed him around the whole time.  They were in awe of him apparently.  

About 3 hours before dinner, Tami called me to tell me it was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick Fil A.  If you dressed up like a cow, you got a completely free meal.  I didn't want to dress up but when I told Addison about it, she begged me to make her a costume.  Of course then I had to do one for Cooper too.  A half hour later, I had 2 of the cutest cows I'd ever seen.  It was worth it to get dinner for free!

The kids gave this cow about 20 hugs, every time he came by or waved at them.  They have always loved the CFA cow, it's really cute.

We lucked out the other night when we took the boat out.  It was thundering and lightning in a semi-circle around us but was pretty sunny right where we were.  We kept going back and forth whether we should leave or not but we stayed and I'm glad we did.  The water was perfect and the kids had a great time.

I haven't been on the tube in forever and I had forgotten how fun it is!

Love this picture of the boys!

I guess he got tired of laying down so he decided to sit up instead!

My big 1st grader!

I got Addison up this morning and she kept saying, "I'm not ready, I'm not ready!".   She has been saying this a lot in the past few weeks but I knew she'd be fine.  She said that she's not ready for 1st grade, that she wants to stay in kindergarten and that she's going to miss her teachers.  It was actually really cute.  When she got to school, she looked really confused.  She had been to her new classroom before but I guess she forgot where it was.  When she got to the door, she just stood there, unsure if she wanted to walk in or not.  It was pretty funny.  She actually has a desk this year!  Last year, they all sat at tables with 6 kids to a table so it was fun to see her at an actual desk with her name on it.  Silly but it makes her seem more grown up.  Anyway, I'm sure she'll have a great day!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!  We had a really fun day spent at my parent's house.  The kids swam in the pool, did water pinatas, the slip and slide, ate a really yummy dinner and did some fireworks.  Even better, Travis is in town for a few days and it was so nice to hang out with him for the day!

The kids in their super cute 4th of July outfits!

Matchy outfits...completely unplanned!

Cooper "watering" Addison in the pool. She HATED it.

Slip and Slide time!  The kids LOVED this.  They just did it over and over trying different ways to slide down, etc...

Cooper even got into it eventually!

Addison having a blast

Cooper wanted Phillip to throw him down.  It was so funny.  After the 1st time, he stood up and said "It's like a rocketship".  It was really cute.

My parents filled and set up these water pinatas for the kids to pop.  I love this and so did the kids.  Addison said it was her favorite thing they did all day.  They especially loved the little prizes inside!

Cooper getting a little help from Phillip

The bat wasn't really working so my mom got a barbecue fork.  That did the trick!  He finally got one!

Addison's turn

I LOVE this picture.  She really got into it!

Very festive dinner.  And SO good!  Complete with star shaped watermelon, IBC root beers and caramel and chocolate pretzels for dessert.  

 

We decided not to go see the fireworks since the rain was on and off all afternoon so we did a few at the house.  We all had fun with these.

Sparklers!

Other than Cooper getting burned at the very end of sparklers, we had a really fun time with everything.  We even got to see a few real fireworks the neighbors were setting off.  

Cute pic of Uncle Travie and Addison.  So cute!