6.28.2015

Staggs family Branson trip 2015

We spent the weekend at Branson with the Staggs and Johnson’s! We drove up after work on Thursday so we would have two solid days. We started our Friday at Silver Dollar City and about 5 mins after we got there it started pouring rain. We pretty much ducked in and out of the rain all day but we still had a great time! We spent the entire day there and by the time we left we were all worn out and the kids and Jennifer and I were also soaking wet from riding the water rides! So we went back to the hotel and ordered pizza and called it a night!

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The boys rode all kinds of rides. Arden didn’t want to, she thought she did a few times but when it came down to it she would back out!

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Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast and decided to check out the Wild World of Animals. It was pretty neat. They had a shark tank and lots of snakes and creatures that the boys liked- Stratton especially! After that we grabbed a light lunch and then headed to the outlet mall for a little retail therapy before dinner. After an early dinner we went to see the Haygoods. It was awesome as usual. The kiddos loved it.

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The Haygoods

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Sunday we got up ate breakfast and packed up. We decided to check out Branson Landing for a bit and then meet for lunch at Joe’s Crabs Shack. The weather wasn’t too hot, it was a pretty nice day to walk around. Then we headed home!

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We were disappointed that the play area by Joe’s was closed!

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Stratton and I rode the little train before we left

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We had a great weekend! So glad we got to spend quality time with the family!

6.17.2015

VBS 2015

VBS started the day after we got back from the beach, so we were already tired and it was a looong week! The kids had fun, but it sure is hard to get the kids home, fed, bathed and up to the church at 6:30 every night! Whew! AND on top of that, I helped in the 2 & 3 year old which had on AVERAGE 20 kids. 20 little kids. When Arden wasn’t hanging on to me, I was refereeing, wiping noses, getting peed on or cleaning up an accident! TOO MANY in one class! I hope they change next year! It was exhausting! There were usually 4 or 5 of us in the class with the kids, and

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Ha! Getting them to hold on to the rope was chaotic!

Theme was creation, so the kids liked all the animals. Especially the alligator!

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Tuesday night we only had 10! It was like a vacation!

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Stratton had a great time. They did lots of crafts which he loves. I didn’t get to see him much, I was trying to keep count of all our kids so we didn’t loose one! And Arden was clingy. She is fine as long as I’m not around but it really doesn’t work when I’m in the same class with her.

6.13.2015

Beach Trip 2015- Day 5 & 6

I wished I had taken more picture on Thursday! It started out kind of rainy but we finally got down to the sand around 10am. Kristen and her kiddos came and joined us for awhile. We spent most of the time at the pool- Lol! Kids?!!?? We ordered pizza and ate by the pool and let the kids play for a bit! Then they had to head back to Mobile for a birthday party. It’s so great to get to see them. I can’t believe how big their kids are getting. Seems like yesterday they were babies! Time sure does fly.

Last day on the beach

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The condo we stayed in had 2 of these smaller rocker recliners, they were really nice and comfy and Stratton hung out in one of them a lot!

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Friday we got up and packed up and headed out! We stopped in Summerdale (I think?) at the Alligator Alley. It was really fun. HOT as blue blazes, but fun. It was MUCH bigger than I thought! They have these long board walks through the swamp and there are hundreds of alligators out there! Some are huge!! It was a lot of walking, and I got tired. . .and hot. The kids loved it though! We also had lunch at a little place in Summerdale that was good. Then we hit the road again!

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We got there in time to watch the feeding!

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We saw all kinds of reptiles and turtles!

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All that separates you is a chain linked fence!?

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Walking in the swamp

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Alligators everywhere!

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Captain Crunch, the largest one at Alligator Alley

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He was like dinosaur sized!

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Arden biting her own toe?? Silly girl!

We finally made it to Madison, MS. about 7pm, after several stops. . . we had booked rooms for the night at a Hilton Garden Inn, and guess what was RIGHT beside the hotel?? A Bonefish Grill!? My favorite!! Must have been fate! Ha! We had a really great dinner there, Gigi and Pops really liked it and the kids were pretty good, considering they had been in the car all afternoon. This time we got adjoining hotel rooms, like we wanted (but it wasn’t easy! I had to have a little talk with the manager on the phone before we got there) Geez! Who knew it was such a big and hard request!

We had breakfast at the hotel Saturday morning, and while we were there Mom and Arden went to grab some more milk and mom got it and turned around to find an older lady giggling at Arden. Mom of course said Uh, oh, what did she do!? The lady told her Arden had grabbed a coffee stirrer out of the container, stuck it in her mouth and then stuck it back in the container!! Mom was horrified! She asked the lady if she thought she should just chunk the whole thing since there was no way to tell which one she sampled. The lady said something like, oh honey don’t worry about it. . .I guess the older you get the more laid back you get! Lol! It was funny!

After breakfast we loaded back up and hit the road again! This time we made much better timing!! The kids went to sleep and we kept on trucking! Stratton and Pops rode in his truck and us girls were in my car! We didn’t stop till Memphis, and that was only because we had to, I was running out of gas (I accidently stopped in the ghetto- what an experience) Then we pulled in at West Memphis for a late lunch.

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“We Home!”  She said when we pulled into the neighborhood!

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We were all glad to be home and the kids and I were really glad to see Jarrod! Two weeks is WAY too long to go without seeing each other! It was such a good trip. The kids were crazy, and we about all lost our minds a couple hundred times, but we had fun and made some good memories! I just hope next time Jarrod can go with us! We really missed him!

This upcoming week is VBS, and I’m helping with the 2 and 3 year olds! Then we have Father’s Day and then the next weekend we go to Branson with the Staggs! More Fun times ahead!

6.10.2015

Beach Trip 2015- Day 5

Wednesday was a really great day! We played on the beach all day! We even had a picnic on the beach! {Note: NO NAPS} We played in the sand, played in the water, swam in the pool, flew a kite, played volley ball. . . Whew!! They keep me busy!!

The day started off a little cloudy, but the sun came out and we got a whole day on the sand!

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Stratton got right to work!

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Love this girl and her “pony hair”

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“Look, Mommy I made you a cake!”

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Arden had fun playing in the sand, she wasn’t going in the water!

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Lunch on the beach! Can’t beat that!!

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Playing volley ball

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Flying their kite, pops bought them!

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Arden finally got in the water. . . kind of!

We headed in to get cleaned up about 4pm, we decided to try and see what was at the Wharf, since we’d never been down there! I knew there were several restaurants that were supposed to be good, and one in particular. Well, of course the place we were really wanting to eat at was closed! So, we tried Bimini Bobs, and it was great! We sat outside and they had super neat rocking booths outside on the marina. However, Arden was majorly CRANKY, with a capital C!! {Note: No naps are NOT a good idea} After we ate dinner we walked around and shopped. Mom got a new pair of Berks! And They were also having some kind of KidFest event, so there were bouncy houses and slides and a lady with a monkey?? Anyway the kids liked it! Then we stopped and had gelato (and coffee- with REAL ESPRESSO-Ahhhh!!! for me!) at Southern Grind (so yummy!) and we timed it perfectly, it was a great spot to watch the light show they have. It was pretty cool! Arden didn’t like how loud it was! When we got back to the condo we grabbed our flashlights and went to look for crabs, but we didn’t find any! It was another FULL day and a late night, but we had a ton of fun! And. . . we learned our lesson, Arden is not ready to go without a nap!

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The Wharf is really pretty at night with all the lights!

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A bunch of kids had these little flying light up helicopter toys, so of course pops went and bought two!

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They were hard to launch!

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Looking for crabs in the dark!