Camp War Eagle

Tanner and Bailey spent the last week at Camp War Eagle Mobile Day Camp. They seriously had the best time. They were gone each day from 8:00 am to 5 pm and it was great.

Each day had a different theme and the first day was "Team Spirit" day and everyone wore their favorite team jerseys. Obviously, there were a ton of Razorback fans. 

These cute friends had the best time

Tanner had to arrive a little late on Monday and Wednesday because of his reading program, but he was thrilled to be there. 

Group shot of cabin 2 of Caddo Tribe. These silly girls had the best time together.

There were three cabins of girls and three cabins of boys.

Tanner's cabin- cabin 6 of the Caddo tribe. 

Meanwhile at home, Tucker wanted to try to learn to ride his bike.

We took off his training wheels and practiced for a while.

We didn't quite get it but we had fun practicing. 

Day 2 of camp was Masquerade Madness themed and the kids made mask to wear. Don't they look so cute? They loved their masks. 

Also, on Tuesday the kids surprised me by telling me that they both auditioned for the talent show.

They were both very excited. Tanner auditioned with a mime routine. I've never once seen him mime so that was cracking me up. Bailey and her friend Chloe auditioned with a dance routine they made up on the spot.

Tuesday was a pretty fun day for them. 

On Tuesday while the kids were gone, Tucker, Benson and I met Aunt Sarah and her kids at Natural Falls State park in OK. This particular park is where they filmed "Where the red fern grows". It was so pretty.  We explored Dripping Springs Waterfall trail and had the best time with our cousins. 

How cute are these little cousins? Such a fun day!

Day three of Camp War Eagle was "Reindeer Games" themed. 

The kids wore these cute little antlers and their red shirts for their tribe. 

Thursday morning Bailey and Chloe wore matching butterfly wings and glitter paint to camp.

They wanted to perform their talent show number with matching outfits. It turned out that they weren't selected to perform in the talent show, but they still looked so cute in their butterfly costumes.

The theme for Thursday was sparkles and superheros. So Tanner wore his mask and Bailey was sparkling everywhere from her glitter face paint so it was perfect. 

Tanner actually ended up winning the talent show on Thursday and he was so excited. 

Bailey and Chloe were a little heartbroken they didn't get selected but still happy for Tanner when he won. 

Tucker, Benson and I met some friends at the splash pad on Thursday and played.

The kids had so much fun!

Friday was the last day of camp and it was red/white/blue day. 

Tanner and Bailey looked so cute in their patriotic colors. 

We had been picking up the Lowdens and taking them home all week while their parents were out of town. So we picked them up for the last time on Friday and took them all to camp. 

Then Friday afternoon was the camp awards ceremony. The little boys and I went to support Tanner and Bailey. The kids showed us their chants and their cheers. It was all very adorable!

 It was fun to watch Tanner get his award for winning the talent show. 

He did this cute little wave when everyone cheered for him. He won a "Caddo" hat and a pair of green sunglasses. Those two items might be two of his greatest treasures. 

Look at this cute boy! He was so proud of that hat and sunglasses. 

Before leaving we snapped a picture of our friends who went to camp with us. Well most of them. There were a few who had already left by this point. But we had the best time. The kids can't wait for next year and Tucker is so excited to go next year. 

We got home and each kid had a little card from their counselor.

Bailey's said
"Bailey, I miss you already sister! I'm so thankful for our time spent together this week. You have such a bubbly, smiley personality and a passion for life.
Remember everything you learned at camp and don't forget your Camp War Eagle family.
Love,

Miss Maris"

Tanner's card said:

"Dear Tanner,

"Dude! It was awesome having you be part of cabin 6 this last week Your curious and confident character brought a lot of fun to our group. It was great getting to play smashball with you too. Also, I can't believe you won the talent show too! That was so awesome. Hope the rest of your summer is awesome. 

Love, JP"

Thank you Camp War Eagle Mobile Day Camp for taking such great care of our kiddos. Until next summer!

12 Year Anniversary

Happy 12-Year Anniversary to my sweet, amazing and oh so patient husband. He is the best thing for me and is always picking up slack to make my life easier. I love him so much!

To celebrate 12 -years of marriage, Chris and I went out to an amazing dinner at "Blu Seafood Market". We had an awesome steam bucket of crab legs, muscles and clams. It was so yummy!

Sure love this man of mine.

After dinner we grabbed some ice cream at Coldstone and then drove down to Fayetteville.
We had tickets to see "Les Mis" at the Walton Arts Center.

It was sooo amazing. The music still gives me goosebumps.

It was so fun to dress up a little and have a fancy night out with my sweetheart. 

Oh and my siblings and parents. lol. No romantic night is complete without a sibling or parent tagging along. Or in this case, many siblings and my parents. 

We had a great time together. Such a great musical.
It was a great night and a great anniversary!

Happy 12 years Babe! Here's to an eternity together!

Branson Overnight Trip with Nanny and Papa

 Yesterday the kids and I picked up Tanner from his reading program and went for a little drive.
I had secretly packed an overnight bag for us and when we left the school with Tanner I drove them to Branson to see Nanny and Papa at their condo, without saying anything. I picked up happy meals for everyone, put a movie on in the van and said we were going for a drive.
When we were about 10 minutes from Nanny and Papa's condo I asked the kids if they knew where we were. We were driving down the strip in Branson and there were attractions and cool things to see everywhere. At this point, the kids were getting super excited. I asked them if they thought we should get a hotel and stay for the night and they lost their minds with excitement.
So then I pulled into my parents condo parking lot and asked "What would make this weekend even more fun?" and that's when they saw Nanny walking toward us in the parking lot.
They started screaming "NANNY AND PAPA!!!!" and they all scrambled out of the van when I parked to go hug her. 

It was such a fun surprise. The kids were soo happy and I loved getting to surprise them. 

We immediately changed our clothes and got our swimsuits on. At that point, Papa came back from running an errand. We all went down to the pool together.
We had so much fun. Benson was a wild man. He kept jumping in the pool and he was having the best time. 

All the kids enjoyed riding around on Papa's shoulders and getting rides in the water with him. 

Benson and Tucker also enjoyed the sprinklers. They were so cute trying to sit on them. 

After swimming for a few hours, we went back up to the condo and got changed. Then we went to dinner at "McFarlains". We enjoyed our dinner and even all sampled some fried green tomatoes.
Surprisingly, the kids loved them. 

The kids were pretty well behaved at dinner and so after dinner we went back to the condo and Papa made everyone his famous milkshakes. 

I love this picture of everyone doing a milkshake "cheers". 

This morning, my kids were up early so we ate breakfast and  went for a walk around the condo. I love this Marriott property. We've been coming here since I was in high school but we took a break about 6 years ago so my younger kids haven't been to the condo before. 

It was fun to show the kids around. 

After our walk, we all loaded up- including Nanny and Papa- and went to play at "The Tracks."

We had sooo much fun playing together. There were bumper boats, go carts, carnival rides and arcades. The bumper boats were probably the favorite of the day. 

Tucker rode with Papa the first time. They had so much fun. 

Tanner was a rockstar and totally chased everyone down and soaked them. 

Bailey had fun but did not like getting shot with the squirt guns. 

After bumper boats, the kids rode some of the carnival rides. 

Benson enjoyed riding all the quarter rides. 

Next we rode the teacups. 

The big kids loved the "frog hopper". 

I always love photographing the kids on this kind of ride because they are so expressive.
They were having the best time. 

Then Tuck rode the kiddie go-carts. He was smiling so big. 

Then it was onto the carousel. 

Benson really loved this one and he rode it more than once. 

After finishing the carnival type rides, the bigger kids rode the go-carts. They loved it. They were the only two on the track and they had so much fun. 

While the big kids were doing their go-carts, I took Tucker on the wooden go-cart track. He loved it.
We went as fast as possible. I don't think I hit the breaks once. Tucker and flew around the track and it was awesome. 

Then we all did the bumper boats again together. 

I took Tucker the second time. 

We were all soaked by the end of the day at "The Tracks", but it was so much fun. We snagged one picture together before leaving. 

We went back to the hotel and ate lunch and then went out to the pool again.
The kids loved the condo pool.

Tanner spent his whole time diving for his dive sticks.
He was having a great time. 

Then we went back inside to change and pack.
We had to leave around 2:30 pm because Tanner had twilight camp we had to get back for tonight.

But we had so much fun. It was such a quick trip but the perfect little surprise for the kids. 

I think I will always remember this overnight trip and the fun I had surprising them.
We loved visiting Nanny and Papa at their condo! Thanks for letting us visit Nanny and Papa!