Branson Vacation

We took the boys on a weekend get-a-way to Branson this spring. It was our first "family vacation". It was the first time it was just Greg and me and the boys getting out of town for some fun and relaxation. The boys did great on the drive to and from Branson. Hooray! 

 We stopped at a rest area near Lebanon for lunch. It is super nice and clean. It has these cute little buildings all on the theme of route 66. The boys picked to eat at "Rand's Garage". Then play on the playground. Not your typical Missouri rest area!

On Friday evening, we arrived in Branson and went to play indoor min-golf at Grand Country. This is one of Logan's favorite things to do when we go to Branson in the fall with Grandma and Grandpa. Since it was so close to his fourth birthday, we knew we had to celebrate at Grand Country.

Then we went to eat at the buffet right next to the Mini-golf place. It was yummy!

 We went back to motel, swam for a while, and then the boys crashed in front of the TV.

On Saturday we went out to explore the Table Rock Lake area. We packed up a picnic lunch from Branson Walmart. (kind of a scary place). Our first stop was the Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery. They had a small indoor museum that was very kid-friendly. There were hands on activities as well as a giant fish tank with these beauties.

Outside you could buy fish food and feed the fish. Just don't feed them your fingers like Greg did!

Then we headed over to Table Rock State Park and got up for fishing.

The boys fished for a few minutes

 until the fishing turned to wading...

 which turned to swimming

 Even though it was early May, the temps were in the 90s and so splashing in the cool water seemed to feel goood!

After fishing we had a picnic lunch of Subway.

 Applied more sunscreen...

 and hit the playground. The playgrounds at the park were a little disappointing

 but having daddy play with the boys, helped keep it fun!

Then the boys took a boat out on table rock lake. no, this is a free museum exhibit. I have to look up the name of the museum, though. 

 It was a super nice museum. It looked brand new. It was mostly made from glass. You could ride a glass elevator up to the third floor where there was this great overlook of the dam. Logan was completely freaked out by this deck and wouldn't step outside.

 Then we stopped off on the side of the road and made some new friends.

 Actually this was a quirky little ceramics road side stand but we bought a beautiful new bird bath here!

On Saturday afternoon we went back to the hotel for lots of swimming!

We decided to go to Branson landing for dinner on Saturday night. The boys had just had a very long day and Tyson feel asleep in the car. Greg packed him all through Branson landing to our dinner location while he slept soundly!

 He did wake up once we got our table at Famous Daves. He even tried some spicy barbecue sauce.

 The boys being silly at the restaurant. Tyson loved all the stuffed animals.

 Then we took two tired boys on a walk around Branson landing. Greg was the only one who would let me take his picture.

 There was a nice playground by Joe's Crab shack. It was a pirate theme. It was hot, though, and the playground was CROWED so we didn't stay long.

 The boys did like the light show at Branson landing and pretending to drive some boats near the Bass Pro shop at Branson landing.

 On Sunday we packed up and left our "lovely" hotel...just as the police were busting in the door of a room above us! Yikes! We drove to Springfield to the BIG Bass Pro Shop.

 We saw "bears" and turtles. They even had a live alligator and lots of fish.

 I wish this wasn't so blurry because the boys loved getting their picture taken on this motorcycle.

 They also loved playing in the pontoon boats.

We had a great family vacation to Branson, MO. The boys were wonderful in the car on the way there and the way home. Many happy memories were made!

These Days

Here is our life lately:

Tyson had his 2 year old well child check. He weighed 29 lbs and was 36 inches tall. You know what that means? He can ride the rides at Silver Dollar City! He will be one happy boy.
At his check up, the doctor noticed that he was wheezing. Here we go, another kid starting albuterol. Wonder if this one will end in an asthma diagnosis too?

We started visiting a new church, South Telegraph Christain Church. We really like it! After the first week, Logan told me, "The teacher's there are just really great."
The only crazy thing is that the first week we went, Tyson was apparently exposed to whooping cough. The children's minister called to notify me, which I thought was sweet. Then the health department called, which I thought was scary.

Tyson went to see an audiologist. It was a Cardinal Glennon audiologist and I have to say, it was one of the most kid friendly doctor appointments ever! When he got restless during his hearing test, the audiologist took a break and let him run up and down the hallway. Now there's someone who understands two year olds!

Logan got to have his first "drop off" playdate. I took him over to Luke's house and I left him there. Of course, Luke's mom was there to supervise, it's not like the two boys were ruling the house. Then again, they could probably handle it. They are pretty cool kids. I was wondering if he'd be ok with me leaving him. He marched up to the door and looked at me like, "why are you coming in?" I think I could have driven by, opened the van door, and honked the horn! Luke and Logan had a ton of fun. And guess what they played? Deer Hunting. Their daddies will be so happy!

Logan enrolled for PreK tonight at Wee School. It feels like seconds ago that he was 10 months old and I was dropping him off at Concord for Sunday School. He loved the enrollment night. And he especially loved meeting his teacher. I showed him the calendar and the schedule in the room. The kid is pretty much obsessed with schedules. He made me read it to him three times. He never looked at any of the toys the other kids were looking at. He looked at name tags and hundreds charts. I told the teacher he might need to be pushed more into play. He's so "work" oriented! After we met his teacher, we had cookies upstairs. He scarfed down his cookie and then said, "When I'm doing eating, I'm going back to my class." I'm not sure what he's going to think about waiting 8 months for school to start!!

Greg and I are leading a small group bible study on Friday nights. It's awesome. We have 3 other couples with young kids (10 in total). We hire 2 babysitters and throw all the kids in the basement. We stay upstairs and snack and drink and enjoy adult time! Then we study the book of John or we just talk, whatever the group seems to need. I am making amazing friends. The kind of people who help me solve life's great crisis like, "What do I do when my 3 year old is done with napping but I still need a break?" And friends who I can't stop talking to even when it's time to leave! The guys all get along too :P

Ready. Set. Read! is hopping and I'm even beginning to work on some collaborative blogs, work with some teacher groups, and work with some great companies. It's busy but still fun... most of the time. Tonight I was sick of looking at all things educational, crafty, and early literacy. So I jumped on here to share a bit of our life!

I am beginning to learn that life is a series of seasons. There's good and bad to each one. Recording the highs and lows helps me to go back and see how God has carried us through a season with blessings in the midsts of hardships. As my (twitter) friend Mandisa says, "In the middle of the crazy, God your love is so amazing"

Two

Tyson

happy, busy, loving, funny

lover of family, mac and cheese, and shoes,

who feels happy to go to Grandma and Grandpa's, sad when anyone says "bye-bye",  mad when Logan blocks the TV,

who needs apple juice, his "baby" and 4 blankets to sleep,

who gives kisses on the lips, a constant smile, and laughter,

who would like to sneak up Logan's bunk bed ladder just once, play with Logan's leapster, and be a big boy,

who lives with his family

Higgins

Happy 2nd Birthday Tyson! Our family is so blessed to have you!

Christmas Morning

Tyson woke up first on Christmas morning. He had fallen asleep on the way home from a party with Greg's extended family-- about 5:30 pm on Christmas Eve. Logan also feel asleep on the way home, but woke up around 8 pm wanting  a story. He also wanted to get up for Christmas so I set his clock in his room for 7 am and told him he needed to wait until the clock said "7:00". About 9 pm, Greg heard Logan playing in his bed. He went in to check on him and asked him what he was doing. Logan said, "I'm waiting for my timer to go off so I can get up and see my presents from Santa!" Obviously, he had trouble sleeping that night and he did sleep in until 7 am!

Tyson woke up around 6. I kept him in our bed for a while but finally let him go into the living room where he discovered his little people bus!

Santa also brought him a Vtech helicopter and a Nerf Gun!

When Logan got up at 7 am, I asked him to look for his presents. He had a little trouble finding the presents that were right under his nose!

He finally found his Leapster Explorer. He had asked Santa for "dinosaur video games" . Fortunately "Santa" found a Leapster game called Digging for Dinosaurs. Unfortunately, Santa bought games for the wrong kind of leapster, so Logan didn't have any games for Christmas day.  We were able to buy one game online and hopefully we can return some to Amazon.

Then it was time to open our presents! Logan really likes building sets- like legos- that are really too hard for him, but he likes to be like his big cousins. He also likes transformers and had gotten Optimus Prime from Grandma and Grandpa Higgins. He also got a playdough set, a book, a watch, and a toothbrush!

Tyson loves little people and drawing. He got a little people DVD. He got an Aquadoodle-- big hit for  an almost 2 year old! He got an Elmo playdough set. He loves Elmo and had gotten the movie, "Elmo in Grouchland" from Grandma and Grandpa Higgins.

Greg got a popcorn tin from the boys. Logan loves popcorn and will probably eat the whole thing. He also got a trail camera and accesories. Greg  and I had opened one present on Christmas eve-- he got a camo raincoat!

Greg got me a really cute pair of pj pants, slippers, and socks! Of course, Tyson loves socks and shoes so he had try them on!

We always get a new ornament each year for our tree, too! 

We had a very relaxing morning at home. We ate cinnamon rolls and bacon and eggs for breakfast. My little carnivores mostly just ate bacon, though.

We stayed at home until about 1:30, let Tyson have a little nap and then headed to Grandma and Grandpa Bradley's for one more Christmas party!!

For Always

"Do you want to be my best best friend?"
     "Yep."
"Ok, and daddy too. He can be our best best friend."
      "And Tyson, too?"
"Yes, all of us. For always."

Higgins Family Christmas

Since Grandma and Grandpa Higgins purchased a new house for Christmas-- and closed on it the week of Christmas--- we had Christmas with Greg's family at our house this year! It was on December 23rd which was really the night before the night before Christmas. I made a "night before Christmas" themed kid's table anyway!

Not a Creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.

(or placed on a table with stickers and ribbon for threading)

We ate a lot...

Opened presents...

Hung out and played...

We ended the evening with the usual wrapping paper war. Jacob thought it was so much fun!