Adventureland Adventures

were the highlight of this past Thursday. Jason and I took the two older ones over to the local amusement park to have a little, hot sweaty fun. After 8 hours of roller coaster riding, water drinking, picture taking, wonderful walking, sun screen wearing, game playing, water park sliding, and snow cone eating fun, it's easy to say that we definitely enjoyed our time together....

After record temps for, who knows how many, days in a row...there was a little relief in the forecast. Realizing that it may cause crowding, we decided to venture out anyway. We figured our beating the crowd odds on a Thursday were MUCH better than our odds on Friday.

We were correct and thank goodness for very little line waiting....this was one of those, "the kids ask if they can ride again and they don't even have to get off to get back in line because there are no lines," kind of days!!! Makes it so much more enjoyable for everyone!!!

Trey was tall enough for just about every ride and Ty was tall enough to ride with an adult. Trey was the thrill seeker of the group, Ty gave it her best shot, but preferred the kiddie types of rides, and Jason and I were the "every ride makes us feel nauseous, but we don't want to ruin our kids' fun" type for the day. We'd tag team to get just enough, "I need to sit down for a minute!" time in and be on to the next adventure. I don't remember rides making me this sick to my stomach. Ever. What is it about getting old that makes it so stinkin' easy to get stomach queasy?!!?

All grown-up belly aches aside, we all had a super time....

Trey & Jason on the lift...Ty LOVED this part!!!

All ready for some super water park fun!

Um...LOOK at my 6 1/2 year old!!! Yes, that is him on the HUGE and SUPER DUPER HIGH red, white, and blue slide....I DEFINITELY had tears in my eyes on this one! So scary for this worry wart of a mother!!!

Double thumbs up to let me know that he was okay and that he loved it!!

Having a ball....

Trey was definitely #1 on those slides!! OMGosh...even looking at it now, I'm still getting the jilly-willies!!! Never been a fan of those things. Never. EVER.

Trey & Ty had a blast swimming together in the lazy river.

Ty's kind of rides!!!

Trey's kind of rides...The Dragon. Which totally killed my neck, for the record!!!

Back to the water park for a little more swimming & sliding action!!!

Onto the rest of the rides...hand, in hand...crazy hooded shirts and all. Silly kiddos....

Snow Cone Time!!!!

Another one of Ty's favorites...although Trey liked this one too!!!

I think the part he liked best was knowing that Ty was loving it!!!

Daddy& Trey on Trey's kind of fast, make me wanna puke, ride!!!

Ty diggin' the Lady Bugs!

Ty having a blast and Trey not so much....

An up close of his, "I'm too cool for these kiddie rides!" kind of pic....

What a super, fun day and YAY for the once-a-year amusement park trips!!! I couldn't imagine having season passes to that place....we were all beat!!! See ya again next time, Adventureland!!!

My PhotoBoards have Arrived...

and I LOVE them!

A while back, I bought a GROUPON for a company that turned three of my pics into 12x12 PhotoBoards. They finally arrived and are up on the wall...

It was soooo hard for me to pick three pictures to turn into PhotoBoards, but I chose these three for a couple of reasons...One, they were taken within weeks of our move up here to the Des Moines area and just mark sort of a "new chapter" point in our lives. Every time I look at this set of pics, all our hard work and family strength shines through. We had a lot on our plates last summer and these pics were taken on a weekend that really was relaxed.

Two, they really capture a sweet, baby face time for Ty...she's growing up so quickly and I feel like she's gone from a two year old to, what seems like a five year old in the blink of an eye!!! She just adores her sibs and these shots capture those moments perfectly!!!

Three, I just love them!!!  

Each and every time I walk into the kitchen, these pics are the first thing I see. Every time I walk in from the garage, these are the first things I see. Every time we eat dinner at the table, I see these happy little pictures and I'm instantly overcome with a wonderful feeling and am sure to count my blessings. These capture that Life. Is. Good. feeling and I just can't get enough of them!!!

The perfect little addition in the perfect little place...

Summer is really Rollin' by...

and we had a blast ROLLIN' Weite style at the skating rink last week.

Wednesday night brought $1 (CANNOT BEAT THAT!) night at one of the roller skating rinks up here in Des Moines. Trey had been talking about going rolling skating for a couple of weeks and we decided to finally put his plan in motion.

So, on Wednesday evening, Jason met the kiddos and I over at the rink after football practice. We got a couple hours of skating in and Trey definitely had a blast. Actually, let me restate that....Trey had fun and this Momma had an absolute blast. I hadn't skated since probably my middle school days back in Ballwin.

Boy, did circling around that rink bring back some great memories. One of them being the fact that I cannot believe I used to be able to get down low and skate around on one foot while holding my the other leg straight out to form some sort of "gun" idea for a move they called "Duck Hunt." Wow! That was a mouthful and I seriously couldn't find my inner brave soul to even attempt it this go round. But, besides the lack of the cool Duck Hunt move, I went all out....was dripping sweat and everything!! I mean I totally had that sweet, getting stares from the other parents, kind of sheen!!! I like to say that the air conditioner was broken, but we all know it wasn't. I was quite proud of my old Momma moves and totally have my sweatband packed for the next visit.

Jason did get the kick out of my serious skating skills and definitely got some great home videos for us to all laugh at together....Bahahahaha!

What a fun, fun time!!!

Ty waiting to get her skates...

This marked Trey's 3rd time skating, but first time with the rest of us.....

Ty's first time skating...EVER! So. Excited.

Pullin' on the skates and ready to get all laced up and be on her way....

All ready and waiting for us to get our skates on....All. Smiles.

Standing up for the first time, but she quickly learned that skating on the carpet was going to be much easier than getting out on the rink floor!

Making the first trip around with my brave little three year-old!!!

I had to chase Trey down...he was out there working those skates! He was so proud of how much he had improved from his first skating experience....

Ty chose to hang out by the wall....a little safer that way!

Daddy and Ty holding down the fort....

and, of course, hitting the GAMES!

Ty sending her skated back to the shelf. Three trips around were enough for her first visit! Way to Go, Ty....so proud of your effort and always being up for anything!!!

Trey Man fell a couple of times, but was really working on picking up the pace at this point. Nice job, Buddy and great idea! The family skating trip visit was a blast!!!

So. PUMPED.

Yes, I was the only one who walked away with an injury...an elbow shot! It's not a true skating trip without a WIPE-OUT! Ha, Ha!!! Not sure how I didn't land on my funny-bone!!!

What a fun, fun, FUN evening!!! I loved every second and am totally looking forward to many more skating rink visits!! On a side note, Munchkins, after the language I heard out of the middle-schoolers that were hanging out there for the night, I don't think I'll ever let you go there by yourselves. Ever. Oh, how I'm hanging on to these little kid stages as long as possible!!!

So, PLEASE stay sweet and innocent and don't ever let anything like that come out of your little mouths. Ever.

Lots of Love and Woot-Woot for a great night. You are definitely keeping me young!!!

And, 2012 Barnstormer football comes to an....

End.

last night marked the last Barnstormer arena football game of the season and all three munchkins and I headed down to Wells Fargo for the fun action. It was jersey night for the kiddos, so each one of them got a Rodney Filer, who happened to be retiring, jersey with their admission. This also happened to be Tay-Tay's first game EVER. She usually stays with Grandma Marcia, but we wanted her to get at least one game in this season.....

We all had a blast and, surprisingly, lasted until the fourth quarter before we headed home. This was only a big deal because Jason was off sitting with the East players and coaches as one last part of their football-filled camp weekend. So, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect with a 6, 3, and a "I want to explore everything," 1-year old.

I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves....

Me and My Munchkins waiting on Game Time....

Ty can stand by the field and watch for hours...she's such a people watcher, just like her Momma!

Trey ready for some COWBELL....

Tay fitting in her seat perfectly....ha!

 

Tay taking in all the action...I think she definitely had a good time at her first Barnstormer game!

Tay roaming the halls and burning off some of that energy before game time...

Checking out EVERYTHING!

Go Barnstormers!!!

Trey and Ty playing I-Spy in-between all the Jock-Jams dancing opportunities!

And, she even stole a kiss on the cheek from her Big Bro....he may or may not have wiped it off with a huge grin on his face immediately after this pic was taken!

Tassles on Momma's purse just may be the BEST toy ever!

Heading home in the 4th quarter....Barnstormers were up by a couple, which means nothing in Arena ball, but I didn't want to press my luck or face the crowd leaving. Tay was all about doing all the walking herself, so I figured we'd be able to take our sweet, SAFE time this way.....

All three hand-in-hand....Love when this happens!

Final CHEESES of the 2012 season....can't wait for Barnstormer football 2013!!!!

What a fun, fun night with my cuties...here's to many more seasons of Arena ball fun!!! Woot-Woot!

Little Library Love....

After our awesome little trip to the Driver's License Bureau the kiddos and I hit the library as part of our Friday Fun adventure while Jason was at a two-day high school football camp with his East players. The kids have been talking about the library all summer and I finally took them there. Yes, you heard correctly, this is the FIRST time they've been to the library all summer. I'd be ashamed to admit that if we didn't already have soooo many books. Since I started teaching waaaay back in 2002, I've been collecting/buying books for my munchkins. But, looking through books from your own shelves isn't always as exciting as making a trip over to the local library and letting them each get their own library cards and books......

What a fun little trip and a great way to get our hands on some new titles....

Ty starting with a Dora book, OF COURSE! She LOVES Dora!!!

Tay-Tay getting her hands on a book about babies...her favorite!!!

Trey picking out some leveled readers on his current favorite topics....skateboarding, scary stories, and funny guys. Trey was great on this little visit because he already knew the important stuff about the library before we got there (his class had walked to library this past year in kindergarten). He told us he knew things like where the bathrooms were, how the books were organized, and the importance of whispering. He told Ty at least 100 times that he'd help her. All she had to do was tell him when she had to go potty or couldn't find a book. What a fabulous big brother!!!

So many to choose from...

Checking out their books with their own library cards. This was the most exciting part....by far!

They quickly opted for a seat outside of the library...Trey said it was the perfect place to read! Good choice, Buddy!!

My FAVORITE pic of the day....new books, great view, and ALL SMILES!

I think it goes without saying that we'll definitely be back to the library sooner than later!!! Happy reading, Munchkins!!! I love you!!!