Movies, Pumpkins, and the Park!

We really stuffed a lot of fun and memories in last weekend! First of all we finally got to go to the movies again! We have been waiting for a kid movie to come out since June to take both kids to again! Hotel Transylvania 2 was very good! Noah laughed so loud through the whole thing and Ryan even got up and danced a little. It kept the kids attention very well and Nathan and I liked it too!

He laughed SO  hard - it was contagious :)

We got up bright and early Saturday morning and picked up my mom and headed to my niece Maddie's birthday party at Farmland Adventures in Springdale. We have went to this pumpkin patch with my brother and his family for a few years now, so it was fun to have a birthday party there this time. We got to go on a giant wagon ride to feed cows, do a corn maze, mini hay maze, play on hay bales, watch pig races (Noah and Ryan each got picked to be the lead cheerleader for a pig in the race), ride bikes, play instruments, play on a rope course, play in a corn box, pony rides, petting zoo and buying pumpkins and gourds! It is such an awesome place! Maddie had a great party and it was fun watching the kids play with their cousins!

Feeding horses on the wagon ride

Volunteering to be the leader cheerer for the pigs!

Pig races

Happy Birthday Maddie

Corn Maze

Corn Maze

Bike rides

Rope course

Making Music :)

Playing in the corn

A story I want to record here for my momma memories happened on the way home from the pumpkin patch. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch before heading home. Ryan finished her food and wanted to walk around our table. I normally don't let her, but since we were about to be in the car for a while I let her but told her to stay close to the table. She was taking the extra coasters from the table and lining them up on the half wall by our table. Unfortunately she didn't realize there were stairs on the other side of this wall. She fell down the stairs and I jumped up to go to her and bumped into our waitress who then dropped her tray of food she was carrying. We were quite the spectacle! The waitress was very nice and understanding and just kept laughing and saying "it happens, it's no big deal". Fortunately Ryan was not hurt, but that didn't stop her from screaming like she was. I went ahead and took the kids to the car and my mom got the check - I told her to be sure to tip her good! Ahhhhh memories!

Sunday we went to church and then headed to Spadra park to celebrate my niece Emma's first birthday! The kids love this park because it is pirate ship themed. So, they played pirates for most of the party time. We did drag them over to watch Emma open gifts and have some cake. Then we walked the kids down to show them where Daddy proposed. We watched the train go by and Daddy made them a leaf boat. It was such a nice ending to our weekend!

Happy Birthday Emma!

Pirate park

Watching the train

The leaf boat Daddy made him :)

We have 7 birthdays within 2 weeks of each other in September - we are usually partying for a while but it is so much fun getting together and celebrating everyone! The kids are at such a fun age and I love taking them most everywhere with me - it may not be as easy, but their observations and questions are just so fun! They are even making grocery store trips fun! Last week at the grocery store I let them pick out stuff to make their own pizzas. They had the best time making these pizzas. I was impressed with how well they did and how good they tasted! I am hoping these memories stay with them forever!

Little Getaway

This weekend was the last race of the MW 8.5 Racers Association's season. Even though Nathan was not able to get his car back together for any races this season, we want to support the class and help in any way we can. Friday we were supposed to leave early afternoon, but Nathan ended up working late so we didn't get to leave until around 6:00 p.m. so the Friday races were going to be almost over before we got there so Nathan surprised me with a night in Branson! We got to eat at some of our favorite places and shopped in our favorite stores Saturday morning before heading the the races that afternoon. He said he knew our weekends were full of a lot coming up and it wasn't just going to be us alone for much of it so he wanted to have some extra time with me - see, he can be sweet ;)

Nathan and I helped sell t-shirts and Nathan also helped our friends with their race car. Our racing friends are so much fun to hang out with - we never have had a bad time at the track, even when the car didn't run well just because of the people there. We were trying to get rid of what was left of the racing merchandise we had left because we are getting a new logo next year, so it was fun to wheel and deal with people :)

This was my shirt selling friend Mo :)

  Race cars run better when it is cooler, so most tracks start races later in the afternoon and evening and race until late at night. It was hot when the sun was out and then instantly cold when it was dark. I made it until almost 1:00 a.m. and then I went to sleep in the truck - I must have been really tired because the next thing I knew Nathan woke me up at 3:00 a.m. when the races were over. Our friends won the second chance race! That was well deserved for sure!

Congratulations Knowles Racing!

We finally got a hotel and to bed at 4:00 a.m. and then up at 10:00 to hit up Silver Dollar City kidless! It was SO strange being there without kids, but we went in, rode the fast coasters, got a frozen lemonade and left - it was nice :) I loved getting away with just Nathan, even if we pretty much just talked about the kids and said "Noah/Ryan would love that" about everything we saw! It was nice to have adult conversations in the car about what all we have going on and what all we want to do without any interruptions from the back seat :) By Sunday though, we were very ready to be home with the kids - life is just better with them in it!

Nathan's mom had the kids while we were gone and she took them to the Mid-America Museum and the alligator farm! They had the best time and keep telling me how much fun they had with Meme. I love watching them make memories with their grandparents! Meme even did our laundry while we were gone - we love those memories with Meme too! ;)

Feeding the gators

Digging for bones

Ryan Maelynn is 3!

Our Ryan is 3! We like to celebrate for a few days instead of just one - so we did a lot of celebrating! Saturday was Ryan's birthday party day! She started the day with waking up to Papa Bobby's gift - her Frozen castle!

 She wanted a Frozen party at the local petting zoo on a family farm - so we did a Frozen at the Farm theme. It really turned out cute! I did food themed with different parts of the movie and everyone seemed to enjoy it. The location was fun as always - petting zoo, games, bubble machine (Ryan's personal favorite), and train rides. She was blessed with lots of friends and family there to celebrate her!

Sunday we went to a Japanese Steakhouse after Church. Ryan wanted to watch the ninja chef hide the egg in his hat and for them to bring her a cupcake with a sparkler in it :)

When we got home we let Ryan open her present from us so she could have time to play with them. Since her actual birthday is Monday, and we have lots planned that day we won't have time for much playing that day. We got Ryan a baby doll armoir and a princess Anna dress to play dress up with. She really likes playing dress up! She also loves playing momma and taking care of her babies so this was a perfect gift for her.

Finally it was her actual birthday! As soon as I woke Noah up he said "I want to see Ryan, I bet she looks 3 now" :) Nathan, Noah and I all woke her up together singing and yelling "Happy Birthday!' Ryan is not the happiest in the morning, but she warmed up fast :) We took a few birthday pictures and then it was off to work and school. Ms. Laurie sent me pictures from lunch where all the kids had cupcakes together to celebrate Ryan. She said they sang to her and Ryan yelled "TO ME" during the name part of the song :) She loves getting some attention :)

Good morning birthday girl!

After school I picked Noah up and we met the babysitter in town to get Ryan early so we could take her picture at the local hotel sign that put her birthday on the sign. Then it was off to get Daddy for some fun at Toys R Us and Chuck E. Cheese! We let Ryan pick one toy out at Toys R Us - she chose a Frozen Anna sled toy - imagine that :) Then we played games and had pizza at Chuck E. Cheese and I brought a cupcake so we could sing to her one last time :)

On the way home from Chuck E. Cheese I told Nathan I felt she was properly celebrated :) It is so crazy that she is already 3 years old! It is so hard to remember life with just one kid and really hard to know what we did all the time with no kids (besides sleep) :) She had the most dramatic beginning (you can read all about it again here if you want) and still likes to be dramatic - but I am ok with that. She brings so much to our lives we would be missing otherwise!