Fun Fall Weekend

On Friday I got to attend Noah's field trip with him to the Janet Huckabee Nature Center in Barling. I am so glad that I am able to do these things with him - it probably means as much to me as it does to him. My parents had to work long hours when I was growing up and were not able to attend many school events during the day, so I know how special this is.

We planned a trip to this place last spring break but were unable to make it, so I was glad to finally get to check it out. Our first stop was a nature hike. The kids learned about trees, camouflage and how seeds are spread.

Counting the rings to see how old the tree was :)

Our next stop was inside to learn about snakes. The lady taught us all about snakes in our area and even got two snakes out for the kids to pet. Noah told me to get the camera ready because he was touching it quick :) Momma passed on petting the snakes, but acted like it was no big deal to Noah - I don't want my fears to become his fears. 

Our last stop was to the basement to learn about fossils. Noah was a little sad that there were no dinosaur fossils, but still thought it was "pretty cool". There was even fossilized poop! 

We then had a picnic lunch out on a dock and watched the geese. Then the kids played on a little play area - which was my low point of the day for sure. I have managed to avoid being stung by anything for 34 years but got my first sting while watching Noah play. Now, I have wished it were me instead of him all 3 times Noah has gotten stung (yes, he has already been stung 3 times in life) and now I see why he freaked out so much - that really hurt! It throbbed and burned for the next 8 hours! Thankfully I am not allergic and ice helped with the pain, but I am really going to try to avoid it for another 34 years!

Friday night we had a family date night to see Trolls. It has been 6 weeks since a kids movie came out so we were having movie theater withdrawals! The movie was very cute and the kids are already begging to see it again. 

Saturday morning Noah had some Little Mister Johnson County duties and we were in the Veteran's Day parade. We love to honor our Veterans and I was so happy to see the turn out for the parade was so much bigger this year!

Selfie by Daddy :)

Saturday night I told Nathan to make plans to take me out somewhere. I was needing a kid free night to eat and watch a movie with him. We went to Fat Daddy's Downtown to eat and watch the Razorback game. The food was good and I love it when we get to talk uninterrupted about future plans and just life. From there we went to Lowe's so I could get some new yard flags - yes, I spent part of date night at Lowe's and loved every second of it :) Then we had to stop by Walgreens to get Nathan some medicine - he was starting to get a "man cold" so we had to get him some medicine to help him get through the movie. Then it was on to the movies. I wanted to see Deepwater Horizon for a few reasons. One: Mark Wahlburg. I will pretty much watch anything he is in. He is in my top 5 favorite actors for sure. Two: I love movies based on true life events. This was based on the BP oil spill from the oil rig explosion in 2010. Three: It was not a chick flick so I knew Nathan wouldn't be bored to death. This was one of the most intense movies I have seen since Lone Survivor. I laughed, cried (well, I rarely actually cry in movies - but I could have if I would have let myself), and had to just look away several times. It was really a great movie and an honor to those who lost their lives due to the mistakes of others. My favorite part was when all the survivors kneel down and recite the Lord's Prayer together on the life boat as the oil rig is burning down. They just went through the unimaginable and lost close friends and still prayed to God.

Sunday morning the "man cold" had gotten a lot worse. So, we quarantined Daddy to our room and the kids and I went to church. After church we had lunch and then went to soccer games. Both kids did really good this week! Noah was running around like crazy and blocked several scoring attempts by the other team. He also ran over to give me a hug and kiss during the game and another time yelled "Mom, am I doing awesome?" :) Ryan ran and smiled and played the whole time - much better than last week. My Dad was there  for the games and both kids spent so much time wrestling with him on the sidelines - we don't get to see Dad as much as I would like so I always love seeing them together.

Now on to our normal busy agenda this week: our last soccer practices, ballet, birthday party, and our last soccer games with an award ceremony following. Then it will already be time for our November birthdays and Thanksgiving!