Fun at the Library

A couple weeks ago, there was an event at our library called "Nature's Nocturnal Animals".  A guy brought in all kinds of animals and the kids really liked it!

We took our neighbor with us.

The kids got to see a porcupine and an owl up close (those were their two faves).

Afterwards, we went to Mcdonald's for ice cream.

Kate looks thrilled, huh?

I love things like this that get us out of the house when it's just too hot to play outside!

More Summer Fun

It's back up in the three digits. There's not a lot to do when it's that hot. We stay inside pretty much all day and then play outside in the evenings. Even then, I'm drenched in sweat from the crazy humidity.

We go to the Y almost every day, so that gives the kids a good hour or so of fun with other kids.

We've had to get creative when we are stuck inside all day, though.

Kate loves to color and create. Jack does, too, but ends up drawing all over the table (or himself).

The other day, we did some math with Bingo dot markers. Kate caught on really quickly and then started writing the math facts by herself.

Jack got in on the action, too.

The kids have really loved just running through the sprinkler with the neighbors. That's pretty much all you can do in this heat. Popsicles always help, too.

More Memphis Pictures

I forgot that Mark had pictures on his phone from Memphis, too. 

Our hotel

YUM! We ate there on our last day. It was tiny and there was a line out the door just to put your name on the wait list!

While Mom & Dad Are Away...

... the kids will play!

And play they did! The kids stayed with Mimi and Papa while Mark and I went to Memphis.

Kate packed a whole rolling suitcase full of games, nail polish, notebooks, and every stuffed animal from her bed.  She had to pack an extra bag to fit them all.  I thought I was being sneaky the night before by pulling a few out, but she caught me the next morning.  I believe her exact words were, "How did these get out of my bag?" and then stuffed them all back in.  haha!

While we were gone, they did lots of swimming.

Kate went to the library with Papa.

They planned a big campout Saturday night.

They worked hard helping Papa set up the tent.

They blew bubbles, played games, cooked hotdogs, and roasted marshsmallows.

No one actually slept in the tent. Kate decided she wanted to watch t.v. more than she wanted to sleep out in the tent. Which I'm sure was fine with Mimi and Papa. haha!

Sunday, before we made it home, they went to Steak N' Shake for lunch.

We were VERY excited to see them when we got there and they were excited to see us!

Memphis!

Mark surprised me with a trip to Memphis to celebrate our anniversary.  We had a blast! It was so relaxing.  We had absolutely no schedule, we stayed out late, we slept in.... sooooo great!

The kids stayed with Mimi and Papa and had so much fun (pictures to come).

Kids were dropped off, and we were headed out.

We went down to Beale Street both nights we were there. It was so much fun just walking around, listening to music, eating yummy barbeque, and just being together.

Whenever we go somewhere just the two of us, there are a lot of pictures like this one. ha! Mark will take a picture of me, I'll take a picture of just him, or there's always the famous outstretched arm picture of ourselves. We took a couple of those in some dark bars and restaurants, but they didn't turn out so good.

It was SOOOOO nice to get away, but we were ready to see our babies when we got home Sunday night. They were super excited to see us, too. They had a total blast, though, while we were gone. Stay tuned for pictures...