Camp-In, Football and Play Dates

On Chris' day off last week we decided to go camping. But as the day progressed and it got hotter and hotter we decided against. It's been really hot, miserably hot. So we decided that instead of having a "camp-out", we'd have a "camp-in".

The kids love it so much. We grilled burgers for dinner, since burgers are something we could have had while camping. We made s'mores and Bailey devoured hers and Tanner's.

 Then Tanner and Dad set up the tent in our living room and let the kids play. Oh and how they played. Aren't my boys the cutest ever?

Sweet Tanner-Bear

Our tent has this weird little zipper window in the back and until our camp-in we had no idea what it was for. Isn't it obvious?

Unfortunately, only one kid can fit through this little window at a time. Haha.

Tanner loved this little window. He must have zipped and unzipped it about a million times. 

 love that little face.

Sweet brother and sister hanging out in the tent

Then we let them lay down and watch a little TV. I know, I know- you don't watch TV while you camp, but they LOVED it!

Eventually I had to put Bailey in her bed because she couldn't calm down in the tent. She was sooo tired but wouldn't stay laying down- so to the crib she went.

But Chris, being the awesome dad that he is, slept in the tent with Tanner ALL night.

We had a lot of fun on our camping-in trip. The kids loved playing in the tent and they played in it all the next morning. I had to quietly put it away during nap time, otherwise I would have had a couple of meltdowns....

 

Also, football season started. It started out with a victory and went down hill after that. Oh well. We are still born and raised razorback fans in this family and we still love our hogs. And the kids still look adorable in their razorback gear.

Bailey in her football legwarmers

Little hog fan. I know I must be too intense about football because now whenever Tanner sees anything football related on TV, whether its a different team playing or a commercial- Tanner starts yelling "COMON HOGS! GET THAT BALL!" haha. It cracks me up. 

Bailey watching her brother call the hogs

Love these little Razorback tattoos.

 

I started a playgroup finally too. We use to have one but then most the moms in the group started having to work full time, so that left the kids and I without any playdate friends. But there are suddenly alot of new moms in the ward, so we started up playgroup again. My kids are loving it. We meet once a week at the park, weather permitting, and play for about 2 hours.

Here are Bailey and her bestie on the horsey.

Bailey on the slide

Swingin

Tanner on the bike. Ps.- when did my little boy grow up into such a little man?

Tanner and his buddy Austin on the teeter totter. So fun!

 

Anyways, its been a gorgeous fall so far and we are loving having playgroups again. Hopefully this beautiful weather keeps up. I'm not ready for winter yet.

Baxter County Fair 2012

This week is fair week in Baxter County. I know I've said this before, but I LOVE going to the fair. Now more than ever because I have so much fun watching my kids have fun and having fun with them. I love watching Tanner, as he grows, get to ride more and more rides. I love that Bailey was loving the carousel this year and she was even big enough to do some other rides too.
Unfortunately, Chris was in Little Rock for Guard responsibilities, so he couldn't come. However, my awesome brother, Uncle David, and my amazing parents came instead.

Tanner and Bailey adore these people, so it made it a really fun night.

Here are pictures of my Dad with both my kids at the age of 13 months. He came with us when Tanner was little and now this year with Bailey.
Also- my kids apparently love to ride on Papa's shoulders. 

Tanner and I before getting on the big dragon roller coaster. He was so brave and very excited. Tanner kind of has thing for dragons.

On the roller coaster. When it was over I asked Tanner if he liked it. He said "Yes!!!" and I asked if he thought it was fun and he yelled "YES!!!" and then I asked if he wanted to ride it again and he very emphatically told me "NOOOO!" haha I guess once was enough. 

 

Tanner and Mom on the carousel

Tanner, Papa, Bailey and I on the carousel

Papa and his girl

My sweet sunshine girl and I waiting in line for the dizzy dragons.

Even though our dragon wouldn't spin very well, both Bailey and Tanner seemed to have a good time. Well, at least no one cried....

Tanner climbing the fun house...over and over and over again. I think we spent the majority of our 25 tickets at this one place. And to give you an idea of how many times he did it- it only cost one ticket per entrance. He would climb through tunnels, up netting and then slide down the slide at then end. HE LOVED IT!

Tanner coming out the slide at the bottom. 

Bailey waiting patiently for her brother to finish playing. Nanny was awesome and walked Bailey all around to keep her happy.

Next we did the fun slide. This slide is super tall and you ride on little carpets to the bottom. Bailey loved it and cried whenever our turn was over. We also did this more than once. 

On Tanner's last turn he decided he wanted to sit on his own carpet. Uncle David slid down next to him to make sure he didn't get stuck.

One of my favorite parts of the fair- cotton candy. Well I love all fair food, but we couldn't leave without sharing a bag of cotton candy.  Tanner was a fan!

As was Bailey. It was so funny to watch her try to figure out the texture- as it kept dissolving in her mouth. 

Papa and his kiddos, eating cotton candy.

Right before we left I had to snag one picture of my babes and me. We had such a good time and I'm so grateful for the help I had keeping my kids under control. I wouldn't have gone if it weren't for my parents and Uncle David. THANK YOU!

The next night was the county fair parade.

True to form, Tanner loved every minute of it. He really loves when the bands march past and play. He dances all around and he even taught Bailey some of his moves. Here's Tanner busting a move.

And here's Bailey following suit....

Nanny and her two oldest grand kids. 

Oh how this boy loves his Uncle David. We miss him so much. He left for Korea the next day. 

Tanner and Mom

Bailey loved being allowed to walk and dance in the road. 

Tanner loved getting suckers. All the rest of his candy went into his pockets, but he saved this sucker to eat after the parade was over. 

The whole crew with their suckers. Tanner was so sweet. He gave both Bailey and Clark one of his suckers.

Sweet Bailey checking out all the candy on the road. As long as she had a piece in her hand, she didn't care to get any more. 

 

We had a lot of fun at the parade and we got our traditional chicken nuggets for dinner afterwards. After we got home the kids were so tired. They got baths and then both promptly passed out in their beds. We have had a couple of fun filled days and nights.

Outdoor Movie Night

We just had our first ever "outdoor movie night" in our backyard. Fall is finally here and the weather is FINALLY getting nice. We decided we needed to take advantage of it while we could. Also, Uncle David is leaving to go back to Korea soon- so we are trying to get all the fun activities done that we can before he leaves. What better than an awesome movie night in our backyard.

The movie of choice was "MegaMind". We watched it, well tried to, at the movie in the park last year, but Tanner wouldn't hold still so I didn't remember most of it.

This time, however, Tanner did awesome.

To prepare for the occasion, I strung lights across my porch, made popcorn, bought movie theater candy and set the backyard up with pallets and bean bags.

Here are our movie snacks

Tanner was a rockstar and for the most part- he stayed in his chair/beanbag and watched the movie. He even came over and snuggled with me for awhile. 

The kiddos and I before the movie started.

Clark and Tanner watching previews. Yes- they were standing that close to the tv until we made them move. 

Everyone, except Chris- who is taking the picture- ready to watch the movie.

My little family, snuggled up to watch "MegaMind"

Yes Christie- the blanket Bailey is snuggling is the one you made her. So comfy!

Bailey loved having her own popcorn

Tanner too. These kids literally chowed down on popcorn.

All in all, it was really fun. We had to put Bailey to bed about halfway through because it was way past her bedtime and she was getting cranky, but besides that we had a blast. We were glad that Uncle David, Uncle Joe, Aunt Julieta, Clark and Danny came to watch with us. It made it much more fun. We will definitely be doing this again as the weather gets nicer. Yay for fall.

Fish Hatchery Adventures

Last weekend the local fish hatchery hosted a "Fish Hatchery Adventure" day. Chris was gone for drill and Nanny and Papa were in Branson for the day, so Uncle David and I loaded up the kids and headed over to the hatchery. We couldn't miss this- it was a beautiful day and Tanner really wanted to go fishing.
So that was our first stop, he grabbed a toddler fishing pole and with help he hauled in this beauty.
Here is Tanner holding his first fish.

Our next stop was the fish painting station. First Tanner painted the fish different colors then we turned it over on a piece of paper and it made a paint imprint on the paper. So cute. He LOVES his fish picture.

Then we headed over to the bug house. They had tons of different displays with lots of different bugs. Tanner really wanted to hold the cockroach- what a weird kid. Then he tried to hand it off to me- NO THANK YOU!

Here are the kids checking out their rubber bugs for the bug house

 Then the archery station. Look at my little man. He's concentrating so hard with his little tongue sticking out.

He actually got to shoot the bow and even though he didn't hit the target, he did shoot it pretty far.

 Checking out the fish

 Then we headed over to the boardwalk overlooking the river. Here's Tanner and Bailey looking at the water.

Bailey and Uncle David walking along the boardwalk.

 Sweet kiddos. Yes, Tanner is totally posing. Silly kid.

Me and my sweet babes at the fish hatchery.

 

We had a great time. Bailey had to spend alot of time in her stroller because she was too young for most of the activities but she enjoyed being outside and she loved her rubber bug. I'm glad we went. We all had a great time and the kids slept so well during their naps that day. Thanks Uncle David for coming with us and helping me with these wild kiddos.