Thanks, Granna!

My mom, bless her wonderful heart, kept all three children at her house Saturday and Sunday night so that Nate could build their swing set and I could have some kid-less hours. It was such a blessing! Then she brought them back from Alabama all by herself, and stayed over a few days, including keeping them Tuesday night so that we could go to the Cardinals game. Wow! Thank you so much, Mom!

The Cardinals Game (In Atlanta)

Fairyland Festival

Pony Rides

Blue and Purple Hair

The Huge Slide

We were walking across the Fairyland Playground, having already exhausted most of our tickets, when we heard over the loud-speaker, "Naomi Oster, go straight to jail!" This was, of course, Naomi's greatest wish, but I didn't want to spend two tickets just putting her in and getting her out. Our little neighbor put her in and then was nice enough to spring bail for her as well. Thanks, Liza! 

Wading by the Aquarium

This is definitely something we will do again! After naps on Monday, we had a little time before dinner, so we ran down to the Aquarium in our swimsuits. (Well, not me, but the big kids) The kids had a BLAST wading and getting soaked. It was a positive hour of entertainment and they slept GREAT that night! This is a wonderful activity when it's hot but not hot enough for them to enjoy the big pool.

Visiting Baby Bennett

A couple in our small group just had this cute baby boy! Our kids were so excited to see him; and it was wonderful to see the big kids so comfortable around a new baby.

While the Kids Were At Granna's...

Nate built the new swing set!

Addie Visits

Princess Addie and Princess Naomi are both ballerinas on the side.

The fearless knight guards the princesses in the castle from the evil dragons.

Trip to the Chattanooga Zoo

The trip was fun for Jacob too, I promise; he was just disappointed that the picnic came AFTER walking around to see the animals! 

When I first told the kids we were going to the zoo, Naomi started telling Jacob, "We'll see lions and bears and giraffes and elephants..." I had to stop her. We see all of that at the St. Louis zoo, but the Chattanooga one is a little more modest. They weren't the least bit disappointed, though, and enjoyed every animal!

I forgot my camera, so my friend Beth took a few with hers. Thanks, Beth! 

After looking around the zoo (including a fun petting zoo with goats, a donkey, and a huge pig!) we rode the new carousel and had a picnic lunch with our friends. 

This is Wilder, Bethany, and Parker. Bethany and Parker were born the same day and Wilder was only a few weeks later. They'll be seeing a lot of each other as they grow up, but I believe this was their first "date." Look out Wilder!

Bethany playing peek-a-boo under her stroller

Enjoying the Sun

I wanted to get a shot of her messy mouth, and this is the pose Bethany gave me!

Bethany loves her teething biscuits (and her daddy)!

On Saturday we went to the Fairyland playground. We have enjoyed the warm weather so much lately.

Playing With Bethany

Confession

I have a confession to make. I'm a mass murderer. Every morning I awake with a desire to wipe out as many as I can. I have thousands on my record. This is beginning to be a little bit of a problem, I think. Not only have I murdered, but I have taught my children as well, and "Kill it!" is a common command in our house. Bethany is a little too young to be in on it yet, but basically the rest of our family is guilty. And yes, the victims are ants. Many, many ants have been killed--in our kitchen mostly, but wherever we find them, we gleefully squish, stomp, or smear as many as we can. Nate has poisoned outside, we have cleaned inside, and still they come. I guess our next step is to hire a professional; hopefully they will accomplish what our futile murdering spree has not, and hopefully too, our children will not be permanently scarred by our murderous rampages.

Hunting Eggs and Planting Bushes

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