Sullins Academy's trip to the Fair

 Here are all the Jr. Kindergarteners waiting to start their tour of the fair.  This was our first official school field trip and I think it was a success.  The ride were closed (thank goodness) so our visit included a trip to the petting zoo and animal corrals and a ticket to the elephant show.  It was fun and I think Hunter really enjoyed the experience with his friends.

 Choosing a good spot...

 There it is, right in the middle of the top part of the leg.  If you really know my Hunter, you already know the color, orange, of course!  Every year that we have been to the fair we have seen this horse with all the handprints and wondered where they came from.  Well, this year we found out and got to be a part of the painting.  The owner lets all the preschoolers put their handprint on the horse. By the end of the day the horse is covered.

This was part of the act of the elephant show.  I was pretty good I guess.  I haven't seen any other elephant shows so I don't have anything to compare it too...and I have a little thing with wild animals being in captivity and used for entertainment....but I'll let it go, the kids loved it!  These elephants we close to 50 years old and have been with their owners sine they were 3 so they do love them.  In this picture that lady rode around the ring in the elephant's mouth to show trust and strength of the elephant. I had a couple of other pics of the animals that might have been better than this one, but this is the part of the show that the kids went wild over!

Amanda's wedding

One of my dearest, sweetest friends asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding.  I was so excited and honored to be a part of her wedding.  Amanda was the first person I met in college, she was my freshman roommate and we have been kindred spirits ever since.  I miss those days, but will always cherish the memories we have together.  I look forward to making new memories as well!  Even though we live in the same state, we are live on the extreme opposite ends.  I wish I could just squish us a little closer together!!  I had a fabulous time with a few of my running girls again and glad that we are still so close.  Her wedding was beautiful and perfect in every way!  Congrats to Amanda!!  (oh yeah..and Jed)

 I traveled up to DC earlier in the summer for Amanda's bridal shower.  Her mom, sister and sister in law treated April and I to a delicious and fun dinner at the Melting Pot.

 Amanda's sweet and funny mom, Debbie, me and April.

 All the bridesmaids were given isotoner slippers by Amanda to wear while we danced the night away at the reception.

 Here is the female part of the wedding party. From left to right---Jessica (sister in lay), Carrie (sister), Amanda, April and me.

Beautiful Amanda!

School Starts

Hunter started a new school this year.  He attends Sullins Academy in Bristol and is the Junior Kindergarten class.  Looking at this picture while I post amazes me.  I just can't believe how much he has grown!  He was super excited for his first day and was up early and ready to go with his new Star Wars lunch box and book bag.  Aunt Noelle gave him his fancy shorts and they were his favorite for the rest of summer.  We are so proud of him!

Hunter's classroom this year.  There are nine students in his room and one teacher, the lovely Mrs. McMurray

Another view of his classroom!

As for Lucas.....

Just so you know I couldn't get a first day picture of Lucas because he pitched a royal fit!  (you can imagine and insert my frustration with him here.)  Lucas had a really hard time the first month adjusting to his school and then all of a sudden something magical happened and now he loves it, I mean really loves it!

Return trip to Tweetsie!

This trip was much more successful than the first.  It was a beautiful day and Jenny and I took the boys and Chloe for a before school starts up fun day.  We rode the train, we rode as many rides as many times as we could and we made lots of new friends at the petting zoo.

If you look closely you can see Hunter's hand waving too!  He and Chloe rode with Aunt Jenny.

I even took little Lucas on this ride.  It was so much fun and he liked it at first...but when it really got to spinning he seemed a little nervous.  I have to admit, I was a little nervous with him on this ride.  I was afraid he might slip out of the seat and go flying over the fence.

Brave little man!

PETTING ZOO!

The little goats roam around like they own place. Poor Chloe was bitten by the little black one by the fence.  They get aggressive over the food.

Llama, llama took a picture for mama!

Lucas found a buddy.

I felt better with these rides.  They were much more age appropriate.  It was funny to see this year Chloe and Hunter were too big to ride them.

He wanted to ride in the black airplane only and walked over to it and climbed in by himself.

The cutest, sweetest jailbirds you will ever see!

Random other summer events

 Papa was up and 'watching the kids.'  It was so funny, they called themselves Indians and this was there war paint.  I assume Papa had nothing to do with this idea.

 Even Lucas got all painted up and loved every minute of it!

 Isn't this the best smile you have ever seen?  This was taken while camping with Nana.  Camping for us was a pop up camper parked in Nana's front yard.  We had a blast and the kids were not one bit scared.  In fact, they want to go pop up camping everyday!!  This pic could have been taken at 4 in the afternoon or 10 at night, who knows.  This little guy had so much fun, I didn't think he would EVER GO TO SLEEP!!!!

 Nana went all out to make the boys first camping experience special.  She put up the canopy and brought out the camp stove.  We had hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner.  Ice cream and sparklers for after dinner fun and a delicious breakfast in the morning...all cooked outside on the camp stove.  Hunter even make me coffee on the percolator.  It was the best!!!  We can't wait to take the boys camping again.

 Lots of fishing at the lake, papa's pond in Sparta or down by the river.  Hunter absolutely loves to fish. I believe he could do it all day long.

 A cute moment I caught with Lucas and Ibis.  It was early in the morning and I think the two of them were sharing a biscuit.  It isn't every day that Ibis lets Lucas get this close to him for any period of time..for obvious reasons, Lucas is Lucas and Ibis is Ibis.  I rushed back in to get the camera and it was like they both were discussing a truce.

 A fun day at Hungry Mother park with our Timmons friends.

 Snacks at the pool.

 Little fellow didn't think he needed a nap today and feel asleep during snack time.

 Lots of swimming in the lake.  So happy the boys like to do that.  We also took them Kayaking.

 This was a huge outing for our little folks.  We, David, Kevin, Jenny, Chloe, Eli, Hunter, Lucas and me rode the Creeper Trail from our house all the way to Damascus for lunch.  Mad props to Eli who rode the entire 10 miles by HIMSELF!!!  He was amazing.  I don't know many 5 year olds that could do that.  Hunter and Chloe did a great job as well.  They rode on the trailer bikes while Lucas rode with  Uncle Kev in the bike seat.  Mom and dad met us for lunch in Damascus and took the kids back in the car to catch a nap with the exception of Eli.  He rode the trailer bike back to our house.  This little man rode a blistering 20 miles that day!!!!  The kids must have loved it.  We had minimal complaining, until it was time to eat.

 Lucas took a little cat nap along the way.  I really do get a kick out of the places this kid chooses to fall asleep.  Heaven forbid it be his nice, cozy BED.

Train climbing in Damascus.

Star wars and Hunter's 5th Birthday Party!

It really is unbelievable that Hunter is 5 years old.  Where does the time go?  As each of my children get older we get busier and the days and years seem to disappear in the blink of an eye.  This year was not exception.  My Hunter is one fabulous kid at 4 and I know he will be a superstar 5 year old!

This year Hunter wanted a Star Wars, The Clone Wars birthday party.  David and I debated and debated on this since he has NEVER even seen a Star Wars movie or even cartoon.  We still aren't sure what sparked the interest, but whatever, we had a Star Wars party.  I mean when you really sit and think about it, what little boy doesn't like monsters, good guys with light sabers, guns and outer space science fiction weird stuff?  We had a great party and all of Hunter's friends were able to help him celebrate.  I would like to give a big THANK YOU to everyone out there that helped make this a wonderful birthday memory for Hunter.

 Hello Yoda!!  This was so cute and a hit of the party!  My mom put this little guy together.  Even the guy who delivered the pizza took a pic of him!  Double score when such a cute prop is super easy to make!!!

 My R2D2 cake.  I will toot my on horn a bit here and say, "Why yes, I did make this cake."  I love doing stuff like this, but it is very time consuming.  Time isn't something I have much of when you have several toddlers running about the house.  Big thanks to my parents and David for watching them so I could get him decorated.  The cake part I made a few days in advance.  I didn't ice him until the day of the party and it took a lot longer than I thought it would.  It was well worth the effort.  Form what I hear the cake looked great and even tasted delicious!  More importantly, Hunter thought it was the coolest cake ever.

 Great, fabulous obstacle course jumper rented for the party.  We brought the little jumper out too, for our smaller company.  We realized this year a bunch of 5 year olds just might bring the little jumper down.  This big one did the trick and the kiddos had a blast.  It was so cute to see all the sweaty heads and rosy cheeks!

 Darth Vadar pinata.  Last year we had a pirate ship that took a sledgehammer to crack open.  This year Darth took a few blows with pool noodle light sabers and cracked like an egg.  What a bummer!!  I tried to make sure everyone got a whack at him, but with about 25 kids and a flimsy piñata who knows.

 I felt like the police!!  I was so afraid someone was going to get knocked out.  I must have screamed...yes screamed at those kiddos to "STAND BACK!!"  It was like talking to an old shoe.

 Getting ready to cut the cake.  Hunter looks a little worn out here.

 So great buddies.  We love our sweet Adam!

 Laser Blaster number one!

Laser blaster number 2!  

Hello Star Wars party!

Rumor is next year he wants Angry Birds!