grand-day's

inspired by our fayetteville adventures, we decided to head to tennessee to see the day grandparents, gege and pawpaw....and man did we have some grand days!! (ok enough with the puns.)

immediately upon arrival they headed out back to the swing set.

i must admit after six hours in the car...anything outside sounded like a great idea!!

after a great night sleep, and a little oatmeal breakfast. (the headbands came in a three pack, and were meant to keep vivian's hair out of her oatmeal. the third one is on gege, but i didn't think she would appreciate that on the blog...you can thank me later, joan! but i digress....)

it was off to nashville. we decided to stop near the grand ole opry...and do some look-e-see.

gege helped the kids check out the enormous catfish...

while mommy attempted to feed the stingrays. (where is daddy when you really need him? it turns out this is a bit more nerve wracking than you would imagine, because you had to stick half your arm UNDER the water so they could suck the foot out of your hand. needless to say, i was the only one from the group that even attempted this feat.)

but the rays were pretty...

and bauer enjoyed watching the reef sharks, too.

next it was off to rain forest cafe for lunch. although i read about this place in dallas, this was our first try.

at first the kids weren't sure....there were actual rain storms with thunder and lightening and all the animals went wild....but after a few times they were hooked. and vivian now says it was her favorite place!

they even had these really cool bar stools. (please excuse the optical illusion on the size of my rear end....short sweater plus booty at odd angle equal bad picture. but look how cute miss v is!)

lastly, we checked out some tropical fish, and after a quick little drive....we were back at the day's.

gege made dinner. and just as we had done as children...the kids enjoyed a warm evening on the porch with popsicles. (my favorite pic of the trip!!)

the next day we headed to the park.

where we played in the sand...

and climbed up the....what do you call that thing?

and went down the slide, with a little help from pawpaw.

back home....vivian found a little place to relax while brother napped.

and after a full day of playing gege read some bedtime stories.

the next morning...even before breakfast...the kiddos were outside helping pawpaw with the "tractor". and then it was off to see pawpaw's new plant.

bauer immediately found something to play with....

and vivian was a very quick learner when it came to the crane (clif says this was one of his favorite things to do at chicopee when he was little).

we even got a "lift" on the forklift. (ok...last pun i promise!)

but wait....uh-oh.....who is trying to work the crane now? without supervision?! ;)

after four days it was time to head back to arkansas....someone had a hard time saying goodbye. we had such a great time...thanks again, gege and pawpaw!!!

peabody perfect

as a mother, i try my best to come up with exciting, new, fun, educational things to do. but sometimes, well folks, it is HARD! so when dear steph suggested we take the kiddos to see the ducks (something vivian has only done once, and bauer has never done) i was thrilled!

all four of the kiddos waited very sweetly for the guests of honor...

and were equally sweet and thrilled when they marched down their signature reach carpet. BUT as the famous paul harvey states, "the rest of the story" is much more interesting. while the kids were waiting for the ducks. steph and i were chatting and trying to figure out where to eat lunch. she VERY jokingly said, "i'll just call rexy and tell him we are going to the capriccio." "oh, of course!" i quipped. ;) little did i know that a very nice man, by the name of gregg herning was standing next to us. overhearing our conversation (and not knowing we were joking) he said, "i would love to have you ladies, and your lovely children as my guests today." steph and i looked at each other and thought "no way!". but it turns out mr. herning was the gm of the peabody, and NOT ONLY did he mean it, he also wanted to give the kids a little treat beforehand.

so after a quick trip to the gift shop, where each child was allowed to pick out two ducks. one of my best girlfriends and i, along with our four children three and under, sat down to lunch at the VERY fancy capriccio.

here we are, giddy with delight, at such a treat! the chef made special cheese pizzas for the kids and steph and i had a salad and mushroom ravioli....

and as if that weren't enough the waiter ordered us a super cool dessert!

which can be safely said, was enjoyed by all!

especially mr. bauer!

all of the kids were super well behaved...

and super sweet!!

it will forever be known as the perfect peabody day!!

fayetteville

god bless his heart, clif has been on the road NON-STOP since easter! life just isn't the same without our daddy, so we decided to hit the road, too. the kids and i drove to fayetteville for the weekend and we had a little mini-family-vacation!

our little family, together again!!

miss vivian insisted on having her picture made by the hotel fountain.
since i hadn't done a lot of planning beforehand, we just happened upon a shogun's friday night. clif and i both remembered how much in awe we were of this place as kids...and thought it might be cool and entertaining for OUR kids...so we took a chance.

it was a huge success!! can you see bauer's tiny hand holding the chopstick and demanding "my food, MY food!"

yep, still asking even when i am trying to take his picture! ;)

vivian was a bit more cooperative! :)

the next day clif had to work, and it was too gloomy to do anything outside, so we got dressed...

and headed to a local, two story, fancy, toy store. it was VERY cool, and kept the kids entertained for a good hour and a half.

after a quick lunch and nap. we all put on our swimsoups....well, bauer needed some help. ;)

and headed to the indoor pool. after almost too much fun, we decided to have a lazy evening and ordered the very appropriately named razorback pizza.

it was a great weekend getaway, and a wonderful time with daddy. i think we may do this more often!!

this and that and this....

all too often i don't post because i can't think of how to tie all the pictures into a story. so here is a little bit of this and that....lovely pictures i want very much in the children's memories (and of course in mine)!

"the viv-ster and the rub-ster." best of friends and always happy to see the other. what a blessing this whole family has been in our lives in so many ways....we are truly blessed!

"picture day." ok, so everyday is picture day around here...but this was an especially sweet one.

"big bauer's beverage." what can i say? the kid LOVES lemonade (which he asks for by name with perfect pronunciation).

"granbauer's truck." playing in the back of grandad bauer's truck (which now belongs to popa). i am so very grateful that grandad met vivian. i wish every day he could have seen both of his great grand sons. but in particular this photo gave me a giggle, thinking of him watching them play in his old truck. :)

"bathing soup queen." for some reason vivian has always called them "soups" not "suits". i am sure time will correct her, but for now clif and i always smile and wink at each other when she says it. the other day she was playing upstairs and asked me to get the camera ready. i said i was ready....and this is what i saw. ;) notice lo-he also has on a soup. teehee!!!

bedtime buddies

sometimes, life will unexpectedly give you a great photo op. and who, in their right mind could resist?! ;)

cupcakes cuties

when i was a kid my mother was pretty laid back about everything...but missing school. anything short of pneumonia and you were on your way. i can probably count on one hand how many days i missed. therefore, it was ALWAYS a very special day when you were picked up early, especially for no reason at all. last week when i was running some errands i noticed a new bakery in the historic district where we lived. and it gave me an idea....
the next day bauer and i got dressed up, and picked miss vivian up from school early. we all headed to the bakery for a little treat. vivian picked chocolate and bauer picked strawberry.

sometimes it is necessary to break from routine....oh, and to eat cupcakes!