Wildlife Prairie Park and a Dollar General Pool

On Tuesday, April 30, we got up and got out of the house by 9 am. We headed over to Wildlife Prairie Park. It is a natural habitat (well, more natural than the zoo.) It has big pens for the animals there...including an open prairie for the buffalo to roam around in. It was pretty spread out with lots of walking but it was a fun time. We also went when Charlotte should have been down for a nap so there was quite a bit of whining and unhappy moments. All in all it was a great start to our day.

The lions were pretty active...and making weird noises as they crawled on each other.

Charlotte was not so sure about those noises.

It was a bit awkward to say the least.

Out of all of the animals there, Charlotte was the most excited about the "moo tow".

Even with flies and gnats all over him, he as pretty cute.

Love this view...

Sawyer LOVED the cow as well!

My little family.

They are perfect.

Alex was in charge of the safety. I was in charge of the pictures and ignoring the fits :)

We had a great view of the big bear. We sat and watched him and had an illegal snack.

Surprised? Growling? Yelling? I have no idea what is going on here but it looks like a great time.

Bison? Buffalo?

I assume buffalo just bc of the song... "Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam.."

After a melt down or two from our little angel of a 2 yr old, we decided it was in our best interest to head out. Charlotte and Sawyer were asleep before we even hit the hard road. Alex and I ran a few errands and he got fitted for his tux for his brother's wedding. Charlotte woke up during the fitting and ate some of our drive thru "fatty mac" lunch we got. As a treat for being good during the fitting, we stopped at Emo's and got ice cream. Her and Daddy ate outside and Momma stayed in the car with sleeping Sawyer.

We then headed to Metamora to Dollar General to get a blow up swimming pool.  We then got our swim gear and headed to Mom and Dad's house for the remainder of the day. They were in Paris for the week for Dad's work so we had the house (and yard) all to ourselves. Not having a single piece of grass growing on our lot is a bit depressing. We go to Mom and Dad's house when we need some green in our life.

It was a bit chilly so Aunt Bare and Daddy added hot water.

Charlotte applied her own sunscreen to her face.

Mime, anyone?

Alex's hard work and thinking face.

Cracks me up.

He was trying to get the toy screwed on REALLY tight.

She is a hot mess.

He was loving all of the water.

Eating the toys I got them at Dollar General.

Such a handsome little fella...

After a few hours of playing, we headed home for some dinner and baths. We had a full day of outside play. It was a great day...despite the many fits.

We love Daddy's Days Off.

A Family Kind Of Sunday

On the 28th of April, we woke up at Jodi and Derrick's house. The kids played for awhile then Jodi and I decided it was time for some grub. We all headed to IHOP. The IHOP here is pretty nasty. Don't go. You will regret it. But we took our kids in their pajamas so what were we really expecting...

After we ate, we parted ways and headed to our own homes. Once we got home, the entire family took a nap. It was a fabulous nap. We all needed it. Then we got up, got ready and headed over to Mom and Dad's house. Mom was out of town travelling for her national position for GFWC. Dad wanted to fry chicken for lunch so he wanted us to come down.

It was a beautiful day outside so we played outside afterwards.

This boy loves to be outside...just like his sister!

I love Jim's tree in the background. So pretty.

He is eating grass here. Naturally.

This boy loves his Papa. He chooses Papa over almost anyone else.

So cute.

He was loving all of the outside toys.

And Dad would naturally have an 8 month old hanging in a tree :) Sawyer loved it. This kid is alll boy.

See what I mean????

Funny thing is my Grandpa Wayne used to stand while he would drive his 3 wheeler and Dad stands when he drives his four wheeler. Just cracks up that Sawyer was doing the same thing.

Monkey See, Monkey Do.

She felt so cool.

Check out Alex's hands. The guy cracks me up.

She LOVES it.

Such a pretty princess.

Don't worry, she isn't jaundice. I just messed with the coloring on this pic.

He is always finding something to climb on. He was getting ready to stand up on this.

Mom got home from her convention and was surprised that her two favorite people were visiting. Charlotte was all over her Gigis. 

So pretty.

John got off of work and headed to see us as well. He wanted his picture taken. I was lying in the ground. John isn't like 15 feet tall or anything.

How sweet are these two??? Charlotte loves to drive her brother around. 

Sawyer loves it.

They had to stop for a piece of ice here.

We ended the day with some throwing of the children.

Sawyer was very unaffected by this.

Charlotte was the typical girl and screaming and what not.

A little farewell song before we go...

He was humming/making a noise while she played. SO FUNNY!!

We had a great day. Loved that Dad planned for us to come down. We love spending time at their house. It was definitely a fabulous weekend!!

A Night At The Heflins

Jodi and I made big plans for us to get together. We wanted to be able to hang out, have some drinks, and not worry about having to drive home. Jodi invited us over for dinner, drinks, and a slumber party. So we took them up on it. The kids and I headed over to their house around 5 pm on that Saturday. It had been raining off and on all day. So annoying. However, once we got to their house, the clouds parted and the kids were able to play outside.

How pretty is this girl???

She is such a great baby...even if whenever I talk to her she gives me odd looks... you know the kind where you are certain she just might be cursing at you in her head???

Charlotte gets so excited to go see her "friend" and "Baby Heminy".

These girls just dominated the back yard. They were wet and had sand everywhere at the end of all of this.

Sawyer loves Emily. He gets right in her face to talk to her.

My kids come on very strong...they usually freak other kids out.

Love this one.

We played with the kids, fed them, bathed them, and made them happy. As usual, it is the moms' job to make sure all is good with the babes. The guys were supposed to be grilling. Three hours later, they finally came inside with pork chips that tasted like leather. I do believe they were a bit over done.

I love Ella's PJ's.

I want their cat. I love Oscar. He is amazing.

Charlotte and Ella were fighting over this stool. Ella had taken a break from guarding it while I took this picture.

This was Charlotte's nervous face as Ella was crying and getting talked to by her mom. Charlotte told me that "Eyya" needs a "Yaya".

She is beautiful. 

To top off the night, the kids had ice cream cones.

They love that ice cream....each other.

We had an amazing. The little kids were in bed by 8 pm and the two older girls were asleep by 10 pm. Alex and Derrick sat and talked outside for a LONG time. Jodi and I had girl talk and mommy time. We both went to check on kids, laid down and never came back out to each other. It was funny. When I woke up at 2:30 am to move from point A to point B, Alex and Derrick were still awake talking, drinking, eating, and playing some sort of game. They were instructed to go to bed. :)The night was great. 

We all went to IHOP the next morning.(Derrick almost passed on IHOP. He wasn't feeling very amazing.) We looked horrid. The kids wore jammies. No one wanted to sit by us...and we got a few odd looks. Oh well, we needed the food!  Great times were had by all. Charlotte cried most of the way home. She just loves her Aunt Jodi, Eyya, and Baby Heminy... she doesn't normally acknowledge Derrick.