Amazeum

Our town has an awesome new children's museum, called Amazeum. It really is amazing.

We went for the first time last week. We were there for almost 5 hours, and the kids still didn't want to leave! Thankfully we have a family membership so we can go anytime we want!

 

The big kids were allowed to roam around with buddies, so I was thankful to catch of picture of these boys!

I was with the little ones the whole time so I got a few more pictures of them.

Norah LOVED this place.

 

There were so many different things for them to do. And of course they could touch and play with everything!

The "Walmart" grocery store was a favorite of all the kids. They got to act like real workers. There was even a bakery and a little cafe where they could make food for customers.

I have a feeling we will be getting good use out of our family pass!

summer fun



We've enjoyed some summer activities this week since the kids have been home from Kansas. The same day they came home we took a family outing with the Adair's to the Aquatic Center. I think it's safe to say the kids were worn out that day!

 

We had a nice relaxing Sunday and then washed our cars as a family on Sunday evening. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the 3 kids washing our cars.  It was so cute. They didn't get them very clean. But so cute. :)

 

The kids enjoyed a day at the pool with their babysitter on Monday. Their normal babysitter was out of town, but the babysitter that filled in on Monday had a pool at her house, so she took our kids there.

Looks like a rough day...

Joey also enjoyed the basketball hoop in the pool.

I haven't made the kids do any school work or reading up until this point. But now it's time to get their summer reading and summaries done for school. They didn't complain at all, so I'm thinking they've had a good break!

Joey loves to dress up so we often see different "Joeys" around the house.

Here's Ninja Joey...

 

On Tuesday Joey had a dermatologist appointment. Meredith had something come up suddenly and needed me to watch her kids that morning, and I told her not to worry: I could handle all of the kids.

I got so many looks and a lot of smiles from people at the office.

These kids were all seriously so good. I felt a little like a mama duck herding her ducklings. But what cute ducklings!

As I was checking out the ladies at the front desk said they just had to ask me if these kids were all mine because they all resembled each other. I guess it could be possible...but no. :)

Later that afternoon Meredith and I took our kids to Tanyard Creek. It was so fun and so beautiful. The kids played for hours and could have played for more. I love NWA!

 

Wednesday night after dinner we had a family outing to the driving range. Joe was actually there to practice. Joey seemed pretty serious about practicing. The rest of us girls, not so much. :)

But it was so cute to see Norah hitting the golf ball, and we all had fun!

And our babysitter just sent me this picture of our kids riding their scooters out on the trails yesterday. They headed to the splash park after!



 

I am enjoying that my kids are back on a regular summer schedule so we've had a longer summer this year. They are at such fun ages to get out and do fun activities together!

The kids go to Nana and Grandpa's

After the Royals game, Joe and I dropped ALL three of our kids off with Nana and Grandpa for a week. That's right, Joe and I got to head back to Arkansas for a week alone with no kids...a stay-cation! We miss our kids when they're gone, but we DEFINITELY enjoy the break and the quiet (and clean!!) house for a week.

 

The kids are always so excited to stay. Kylah has a little bit of a hard time at nights sometimes because she misses us, but during the day she is fine.

They got a lot of cousin time, which they love!! (I love that Silas is sitting in his own chair with the big kids!)

 

Norah got to spend a lot of time with Naomi and Leah and even spent the night at their house.

 

Joey got to go to a basketball camp during the week which was perfect timing! That boy loves playing basketball.

 

I think they ate more than one meal at McDonald's...gotta love getting spoiled by grandparents!

And they ate at a buffet, which had a dessert buffet too. I'm sure Norah skipped the actual food and went straight to the dessert...

I don't have any pictures of me and Joe from our week at home because we didn't do anything but relax! We even thought about going out to dinner one night, but then realized we should stay home and grill in our nice, quiet house. :)

 

We were excited to get our kids back and get those hugs we hadn't gotten for a week!

 

Thanks to Joe's parents and all the aunts and uncles who helped take care of our kids!

the Royals game

Joe was gifted some tickets to a Kansas City Royals game recently. We passed the gift on to Joey for his birthday and made it a family day. Well, kind of. We didn't think Norah would enjoy such a long game (which in turn would not let us enjoy the game), so we took Connor with us instead. :) Thankfully, my wonderful sister-in-law Katie took Norah for the afternoon so we could enjoy the game!
 

We were all decked out in our Royal blue!



We headed down to the field to watch warm ups.

Sunday was Family Day at the field, so there were a ton of activities for the kids before the game. The boys mini-golfed, raced, and got to pitch. Kylah rode the carousel, got her face painted and got a balloon animal.

There was also this awesome tin-baseball-man. He looked so much like a statue, but was a real man!

In our seats and ready to go! We had awesome seats. We were on the 3rd base side, in the middle level. Our seats were the front row in this level so we had an unobstructed view. And we were in the shade the whole time (which was great since it was 95+ degrees outside!)

I had this hot guy on one side of me...

And this cute girl on the other side...

The game was so exciting. We were up by 6-0 after the first inning, but ended up getting down 9-10 later in the game. The boys were so serious and frowning when we were losing.

And then our team tied it up with a home run and then another run put us up by one. Their attitudes changed quickly!

The best quote of the day was from Joey who in the middle of an inning said, "I have to go to the bathroom so bad, but I would rather pee my pants than miss any of the game!"

 

And that sums up how much fun we all had!

Joey in Ohio

Joey drove home with my parents after our family vacation to spend the week in Ohio with them and my nephew Michael. He was so excited to go spend some time there again like last year! 

They had some fun relaxing in the hot tub.

 

It rained a lot of the time they were there, so they didn't get to do a lot of outdoor activities, but I did get a few wrestling videos. :) When he talked to me on the phone he couldn't wait to hang up and get back to what he was doing. I guess he didn't miss me at all... :(

 

Papa always treats them to a fun (huge!) breakfast one of the days they are there. Joey never disappoints...

 

They took him to the airport. Thankfully, the airport let both of my parents and Michael through security so they could all see him off at the gate. He said he had fun flying and wasn't nervous at all!

He looks so grown up!

 

I'm so glad he gets that time with my parents!



Manes vacation 2015

We got home from Joey's tournament, did laundry, packed again, and headed towards St. Louis for a few days of vacation with my side of the family. We found a big house with its own private pond and large yard. It was secluded (far away from anything...), but it was relaxing and fun!

 

The kids hopped in the paddle boat right away.

While Joe and I relaxed.

 

There was lots of cousin time (don't you LOVE Olivia's blonde curls?!)

 

Not only was the pond great for canoeing, paddle boating and swimming, it was really good for fishing! Joey caught a lot of huge blue gill and large mouth bass!

 

More cousin and Gramma time.

 

Mia's pig tails and braids were just too cute! (I can't resist doing hair when it's long enough to be done!) :)

 

The kids loved the free reign to fish, swim or boat all by themselves (with life jackets, of course!)

 

Even Norah caught fish all by herself...unfortunately she couldn't take them off the hook all by herself...

Kylah caught a ton of fish!

 

Norah and Luca loved being in the paddle boat.

The girls loved meeting Sophia. She is right in the middle of Kylah and Norah's age, so she was a perfect fit!

 

The kids took breaks from swimming and fishing every once in a while to play some indoor games.

Oh, and to duck tape Joey to the side of the house...

 

Love these kids!

 

What a fun family vacation!

 

This may be a more accurate pictures... :)

baseball and softball are over

The season has come to an end.

April through June were pretty crazy around here with me coaching Kylah's team and Joe coaching Joey's team. But..."I love crazy!" (name that song...)

Kylah was pretty sad to have her season end. I was a little surprised how sad she was. That night before bed she came out crying pretty hard saying "I'm just not ready for softball to be over!" We were secretly happy that she loved it so much, but we told her we understood and that she would have many more chances to play! Thankfully, she's been distracted with other fun summer activities since!

 

It was so fun to see Kylah love the game of softball and really work to get better!

 

 

Joey's season ended a few days after Kylah's. We headed towards Little Rock for the State tournament. His team came away 1-2 for the weekend, but it was a fun end to the season (think swimming in the hotel, eating together, etc.)

It was also fun to see Joey work hard this year and be a leader on his team.

 

 

 

 

So now we have some time off before fall season begins! :)