Thursday, October 26, 2017

Fair Fun 2017

This year I decided to take the kiddos to the fair.  My father-in-law got us tickets into the fair and a parking pass so we got to enjoy it one of the days the kids were out of school for fall break.  
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How is it that these boys are getting so big?  I can't even believe it.
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We took a trek through the livestock barns and had to tiptoe around a few cow paddies, much to my chagrin.  Emerson and Ava Jane enjoyed the Farm Bureau sponsored area that had the cutest yellow baby ducks, a cow milking station and lots of baby animals to pet and feed.
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They enjoyed riding many of the rides and Peyton was a good sport and rode several times with his baby sister--cue the melted Mommy heart.  I am truly a blessed Momma to have been given these four precious little people to love on and parent.
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Sure love these "cliff hangers"!
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Emerson wants to be a cowboy so when we saw the pony rides, he was all about it!
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We ran into one of Ava Jane's little buddy's, so they enjoyed getting to ride together several times.
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The boys and I rode this Polar Bear ride and all of us just about got sick.  We couldn't get off that thing fast enough!  It went backwards in a circle the entire time and was going so fast that I could hardly sit up straight.  WORST.RIDE.EVER!  Note to self, never again!
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Each of us took a turn riding the Euro Slide and it was fun.  The walk up was steep, with no stairs, but the kids had a blast so it was worth it!  Our day at the fair was pleasant and something fun we could all do together.  The ages of my kids right now seems to be right in the "sweet spot".  I'm truly enjoying these days and trying to absorb all the moments because they seem to be flying by super fast.
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Saturday, October 21, 2017

Pumpkin Patch

Each year I enjoy visiting the pumpkin patch and ringing in the fall season with its oranges, reds, and greens.  The pumpkins, the cornstalks and mums bring just the pop of color that I love to the seasonal changes.  This year we chose to visit a pumpkin patch we had never been to before.  Motleys Farm was a well oiled machine from the parking lot to the pumpkin "valet" situation, we were impressed with our experience!
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They have a petting zoo area that the kids enjoyed.  We purchased some food to feed the goats and donkeys and all of the kids let the animals eat out of their hand except Ava Jane.
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The corn stalk maze was fun too.
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Ava Jane enjoyed seeing all the butterflies that we fluttering around these beautiful flowers.  
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They had a fun playground area that Emerson and Ava Jane had a good time on.
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They also had "pumpkin pillows" that were kind of like large trampolines that the kids had a blast on!

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Oh how I love this girl of mine!
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Here's my whole world in one picture.  I love all these people big!
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The cow train was a hit for Emerson and Ava Jane!
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Here's a walk down memory lane of our past pumpkin patch experiences: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011.  Looking at these past years makes my heart want to burst as I looked at how small my little people once were.  Time, please stop rushing us.  We are trying to take in each moment!

Sunday, October 1, 2017

14th Anniversary Celebration

Adam and I try to get away with each other once a year.  This year, in the span of a month we have managed to get away twice (thanks to my parents and our wonderful baby sitter Bri).  Twice in thirty days is almost unheard but we did!  We'd bought tickets to the Gavin Degraw and Need To Breath concert in Memphis at Mud Island months ago and looked forward to celebrating and enjoying time just together.   We left early on Saturday morning and enjoyed uninterrupted conversation in the car and shopping for some clothes for Adam that afternoon.  Shopping at our own pace, with my best friend truly was super enjoyable.  We hit up a few antique stores, one of which served us some wine to sip on as we browsed, that was a fun treat!

We took a little longer shopping then we probably should have, since we still needed to check in at the Peabody then get to our reservation.  Unfortunately with traffic and the parade of ducks in the hotel lobby, it took us a little while to get to our room.  We got checked in and I was planning to change and freshen up a bit when I discovered that I'd forgotten to pack the shoes to go with my dress, so, unfortunately I had to stay in the same clothes I'd been in all day and simply re curled my hair and add another layer to my makeup.
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We made the five minute walk to Flight, where we had reservations.  It was a really fun venue where the food, drinks, appetizers, etc were served in "flights" of three.  We enjoyed our charcuterie board and champagne (on the house since it was our anniversary).   If you are visiting Memphis, this is a definite place I'd recommend.
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Since we ordered fish, we went with the "Nothing To Prove" flight which was crisp and refreshing. And how cute are these miniature entries, soft-shell crab, shrimp and grits and red fish with a mango salsa?  I was all delicious!
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After dinner we walked another few minutes to Mud Island (an outdoor amphitheater) where the concert was being held.
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We were slightly confused when Gavin Degraw came on.  It didn't totally look like him and we didn't recognize his "band" (a man and woman singing with him).  They had beautiful three part harmony but we didn't know ANY of their songs.  Adam and I began googling if he'd formed a band because we were super confused.  Turns out, the lead singer of Need To Breath apologized later in the show that that was in fact not Gavin Degraw but another band asked to come in last minute because Gavin had had a family emergency....it was so disappointing...but definitely cleared up the questions!

We had wanted to see Gavin Degraw, that's what we had "given" each other for our 14th anniversary (I shared about our anniversary back in August.)  Though we were disappointed in the concert, we enjoyed our time away together.  Our marriage is NOT perfect, we have disagreements, we have arguments, we have lots of pressures on us from all directions (kids, work, school, sicknesses, etc) but when we take advantage of the opportunities to get away, we are reminded of how much fun we have when we are together and how much we truly enjoy being with one another.  I was grateful for our time away.



Spring Break: The Sweet Spot

I've been running mach 2 with my hair on fire and have not been posting as much as I'd like to on this here blog.  I'm a few wee...