Did You Miss Us?

Once again I've fallen so far behind on blogging, did you miss us?!  We've been so busy, that I've barely had any down time, which has been bittersweet.  It's made the time without Nate go much faster, but it means I've barely taken pictures and I've not been motivated (nor had the time) to blog.  But I promise, I'm going to try to be better.  I figured I should empty the memory card and get caught up on blogging before the Halloween festivities start.  You should be super excited to see pictures of the kiddos in their costumes, I know I'm excited. :)  But, let's rewind back to the rest of our Kentucky trip.  One day while we were shopping, we went to the mall and Grandpa just had to let Gunner do the jump thing.  He had a blast!!  

Then the following day was "Ham Fest" in good ol' Cadiz, Kentucky.  We went on the train ride and had a great time.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE that Gunner and Grandpa wore matching shirts.  Is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen?! 

And of course, you MUST go on the bounce house. :)

And just for daddy, we had to play the shooting game and win sissy a tiara.  :)

Grace couldn't do much (poor girl) but she found ways to have fun anyways, like leaves and cuddles with Grandpa. 

Gunner was even able to go on rides while we were there.  On Sunday we went back again and someone gave us a bracelet for unlimited rides, so he was able to come back and ride all the rides again, which he loved!

Grace couldn't do much at the festival, but she had fun playing with a squash while we waited for Grandpa to get a lemonade. :)

I love this picture of her in the carseat, and I love it even more because we have a similar one of Gunner (around the same age, not the best quality but you see the similarities)...

Of course, part of hanging with Grandpa is getting ice cream. :)  So that was a must.

The following day we had a little birthday party for Miss Grace.

Such a doll baby...

And Auntie Emily brought LOTS of goodies for the kids.  Not only presents, but Halloween goodies.

Including vampire teeth.  haha.

Because it was her birthday, Grandma even made Grandpa dig out the swing.  As you can see, she barely enjoyed it at all. :)

I was able to catch a cute little picture of Gunner playing trucks with his Great Grandpa, yes you read that right, his GREAT Grandpa.  I love catching tender moments like this, even if it's not the best quality. 

As if you couldn't tell, we had such a great trip to Kentucky.  We made it back safe and have been so busy the past ten days, but unfortunately I didn't get many photos.  We had 'another' little party for Grace at our house with some of our friends, which was SO much fun.  But I do have pictures of Grace's first birthday photo shoot we had this past weekend.  So I will leave you with these and look forward to seeing our Halloween pictures....

Too Busy to Blog

First off, my apologies for not updating sooner, it’s been a crazy couple weeks.  We’ve been so busy with parks and fairs and traveling.  Last week we ventured to the Onslow County Fair.  Although, in honesty, it was more like a carnival.  There were mostly just rides and games (only one animal pavilion).  But Gunner didn’t seem to mind.  We started the fair with a quick face painting. 

While Gunner got his face painted Grace and Layla (our friend’s little girl) enjoyed the animal balloons they had for sale. 

Then we ventured to the animals (which didn’t take long) and then to the games.  We played one game (ring toss) and Gunner was having so much fun, it was adorable.  He was really getting into it. I have a cute video, but can't get it to upload... bummer.  Next was the rides.  I bought him an unlimited wristband for $12 and he went on ALL the kiddie rides (including the bounce house).

Poor Grace had to spend most of the time just watching, but she was content nonetheless. 

I did splurge and buy her tickets for the carousel and she loved it.

The next few days were filled with story hour, Bible studies, and play dates.  On Thursday I took a class so the kids went to “school” and had so much fun.  On Friday Grace was feeling under the weather (turns out it was an ear infection) so we decided to hit the road to Grandma and Grandpa’s in Kentucky.  Needless to say, the last 6 days have been filled with so much fun!  We went to another festival last weekend with Grandma and Grandpa.  Grace once again, was mostly observing, but happy just the same.

While Gunner was busy jumping in the bounce house and then riding his first pony (which he LOVED).

Of course, we had to get more face painting. J

And Grace joined in the fun this time as the lady suggested painting her foot instead (genius idea by the way).  It was a little butterfly and was absolutely adorable!!

Naturally, it wouldn’t be normal if we didn’t get ice cream with Grandpa. J

 

Then we ventured to the park where Gunner showed off all his moves.

 

On Sunday we went to my Uncle Ed’s new house in Tennessee, but as you can see, we got a little lost.  The sign was worth the detour though.  It was down a gravel road that evidently was someone’s driveway.  Haha.

We did finally find his house and the kids had fun playing with all their cousins.  We spent the rest of the day playing.  Grandpa found Gunner a big wheel at the consignment shop and he LOVES it!  So one evening we took Gunner with his big wheel and Grace with her walker to enjoy the weather.

They loved it.  Plus, I love that it wore them both out. J

And, there is no shortage of fun just being at Grandpa and Grandma’s house.  Grace discovered the McDonald’s play stuff, which was mine when I was a little girl.  I have a picture of me playing with it as well that I will have to scan to my computer sometime.  So the toy continues to the next generation.

Plus, Grandpa has TONS of books to read. 

We're at Grandma and Grandpa's through the weekend with lots of fun planned, including a party for Grace and their town's "Ham Festival" so I'm sure we'll have a large supply of photos for next blog (hopefully I can stay on top of it and not get so far behind).

Staying Busy

The past week has been very busy, which has been a blessing because Nate left on Wednesday for 6 weeks of training in California.  Wednesday he was supposed to leave in the morning but their flights got cancelled and he was home for one more day with the kids.  I got some cute picture of him wrestling around with them.

I wanted to get a good one of him with the kids, so this was his idea of a good picture.

Although I have to admit, both kids were laughing hysterically.  Finally they all settled down and enjoyed a bedtime story. (I just love watching them read together). 

Thursday was our first day without Nate so we stayed super busy going to the park and I was amazed at how much more Grace is doing.  She figured out how to get up on the bigger playset (which is bittersweet).  And I was able to catch a video of her getting on the dinosaur.  I could see the determination in her eyes, so I grabbed the camera quick.  The video cuts off a little early, but she did make it on there. 

Friday we were busy with a park playdate as well and lunch, then hanging out at the McDonald's playplace (sorry for the lack of pictures).  Saturday we ventured to Seafood Festival in Morehead City.  It was so much fun!  The weather cooled off and we were loving it.  My friend Misha was able to get some cute pictures of the kids while we were waiting for our boat ride. 

And one while we were on the boat, although Grace was too busy hanging off the edge.  :)

We had so much fun walking around and enjoying the weather.  Gunner even fell asleep in the stroller for quite awhile. 

Then we had a pizza party that night with our friends (although, again I forgot to take pictures).  We've been staying as busy as we can, which has made the time go by pretty fast.  Sunday we had church and then my friend Holly came over for dinner.  Grace found Gunner's yogurt, but by the time I realized I let her just go at it. 

She was doing pretty well considering she hasn't used a spoon much.  But needless to say, she was covered in yogurt by the time it was over.

She didn't seem to mind.  Today we hung around the house in the morning and then just ran errands this evening.  Gunner is definitely missing daddy and everyday says "daddy work?".  It's cute.  This morning he was pretend calling him on my phone so Nate made a point to call and talk to him tonight after his bath, which was really nice.  I did get an adorable picture of Gunner and Grace loving each other in the tub today. 

So we've survived the first five days.  ha ha.  We've got a busy week planned and then a trip to KY as well, so I'm sure that will help keep the kids happy.  :)