Back to School Dates with Mom & Dad

This past week, Chris and I took turns taking our big kids out on back to school dates. 

First I took Tanner out to the bike park and we spent the evening on a bike ride together.
Tanner loves riding his bike. When I asked him what he wanted to do for his date, he didn't hesitate when he said "go on a bike ride".

We had a great time together even though it was 90 degrees outside. 

Chris took Bailey on her back to school date. The went to Target and used her gift card from her birthday to buy a new toy and then went to PETCO to look at all the animals. She loved it all but especially loved the one- on -one time with her Daddy. 

I got to take Tucker on his first ever back-to-school date because he is starting preschool this year. 

He chose to go night swimming at the pool. He was so cute and so excited about it. 

We basically had the whole pool to ourselves. 

We were freezing after our swim, but we decided to run to the store to get a treat before going home. 

We had a great time and Tucker can't wait for his next date. 

It's so fun to get a little one-on-one time with each kid and get to talk to them about the upcoming school year and how they are feeling about everything. 

We sure love these sweet kids and can't wait to see what the school year has in store for each of them!

Back to School Family Bash

We had a blast sending off our summer at Beebe's Water slide. We met about 5 other families there and we had such a blast. The kids were all big enough to slide this year and we had so much fun. 

Bailey even got brave enough to go down alone this year. 

She loved having friends or family in front or behind her though. 

Even little Benson went down the slide this year. It was so fun! I took him down the first few times and he was loving it, smiling so huge. But the I passed him off to Chris so I could take some photos and he was totally straight faced the rest of time. 

April took some pics too and she sent me this one of Tuck and I. 

Eventually Benson got sick of getting wet and he spent the rest of the time getting into the diaper bag and digging in the dirt next to the slide with Daddy. 

Tanner had a great time on the slide. I love this boy and his big smiles. 

Here is a shot of our epic mom train. Man I got so banged up and bruised. But it was totally worth it. 

After the kids saw our amazing Mom train, they wanted to do a kids' train. So I took them down together and they love it. 

After we finished at the slide, we ate a picnic in the car on the way to shortstop grill to get our awesome peewee ice cream cones. 

These kids are my favorite. 

Now school starts in 2 days and I'm in denial. I'm still not ready but I know the kids will do great.

This family activity was the perfect way to send off our carefree summer!

Fun in the Month of August

Well we started off the month of August with the arrival of a new cousin. 

We were just leaving the movie theater when Aunt Sarah called to tell us she was being admitted to the hospital to have the baby. We watched "The Princess Bride" with the Drake cousins and then left for Fayetteville to pick up Hazel and Grant from the hospital. 

Grant Taft Allred made his way swiftly into the world on August 1st. We are all in love with him and think he's pretty perfect. 

I was able to be at the hospital for the birth and then Chris and I kept Hazel and Max over night while Sarah, Johnny and Grant were at the hospital. 

I just love all these little cousins!

Then on Thursday we met our Fuhriman friends had the drive in to watch "Hotel Transylvania 3".

These kids are so silly and fun together.

Then on Saturday we had Bailey's birthday party.  We had all the cousins over and celebrated with them. 

The next day I found all the kids playing together nicely with Bailey's "Polly Pockets".

It was so cute. They played for almost an hour together without fighting. It was a miracle.

The following week we went to the pool. The weather has been rather cool so we haven't been swimming much, but with school starting soon we were feeling the need to play in the pool. 

We also made it over to the county fair. The kids love visiting the county fair and they really love the 4H booth where they have baby chicks. 

I love this sequence of Bailey with the baby chick. 

Tuck also enjoyed milking the cow- it wasn't a real cow but he did enjoy it. 

Benson also enjoyed meeting a chick for the first time. 

Tuck spent some of his ride tickets on the ferris wheel. He was so excited about riding with Mom. It was pretty cute. 

Then all three kids rode "Gravitron". Basically you get inside and it spins around and gravity holds you against the walls. Bailey and Tucker didn't care for it, but Tanner liked it. 

Then Tanner and Bailey spent their last tickets on the spinning aliens.
They laughed so hard as they turned and turned. It made me a little sick to watch, but they loved it!

Benson even got to try a ride. We did the carousel and he loved it. He smiled so big the entire time. It was adorable. 

We had a great time at the fair and look forward to going again next year!

The Wednesday before school started, Jessica Fuhriman and I took our older kids to the splash pad at night. I've been wanting to do this forever, but its so hard with a baby. So I left Benson home with Chris and snuck these kids out late one night. The Splash pad was all lit up with lights and it was so fun. 

The next day we had back to school night. The kids got to meet their teachers, drop off their school supplies and  explore their classrooms. It's going to be a magical year at Elm Tree and we are excited. 

Now school starts on Monday and this weekend we have one final hurrah before we start back. 

Stay tuned for the red-neck water slide!