o.p. arboretum

The other night I convinced Wayne to load up the kids in the van and head to the Overland Park Arboretum. I just love this place and I thought it would be the perfect place to take the kids so we could enjoy the evening. We walked along the trails, stopping to admire the new blooms and color of flowers. We fed the fish and a few turtles along the way. Searched for bullfrogs and played in the sand. It was the perfect family evening.

Loving the new blooms and flowers!

The kids just love feeding the fish. They get so excited watching them all swim up and even more excited when a turtle or two decides he wants in on the treat too!

Late in the evening the air is just full of the sound of bullfrog croaks. And if you look hard enough you can see quite a few just chilling in the water along the paths. The boys enjoyed looking for them and pointed one out every time the saw one.

And we just love the children garden. Playing with the big trucks is a favorite for everybody. Big or small!

I LOVE the special moments when all three are playing together. 

We have to come back when the tunnel is completely covered!

Fisher spotted this art structure a mile away and as soon as we got close enough he ran up to it for a closer look! The copper hopper chopper. Who wouldn't love that?!

Just watching and admiring.

I think the kids favorite part of the children's garden was the maze. It was fun to watching them move about in it and find new trails. I think they could spend quite a few hours just playing in there.

  We absolutely enjoyed our wonderful evening at the arboretum. Looking forward to many more walks and discoveries there soon!

sea lions

Last Friday, Wayne got to come home early for work because of the holiday weekend. I decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to take the kids to the zoo before he leaves on his 10 day long trip. When we first got there we heard that the sea lion show was going to start soon so we hurried to their little arena and quickly found a good seat to watch the show. 

  Apparently this big guy used to perform at sea world so he knows all the cool tricks and was definitely fun to watch. 

And the two little ones were rescued from an accident off the California Coast and are just learning all new and fun tricks to show off. 

  We had a blast watching the sea lions and they all put on such a fun and wonderful show! 

Making the noises sea lions make! 

And of course it wouldn't be a trip to the zoo without a ride on the carousel! 

The trip to the zoo was a great way to start off the fun and long weekend before Fisher started summer school! We love going to our zoo!

saying thank you

This week marked the last week of preschool for Fisher! Fisher has made such huge gains and progress that we just had to not only tell but show his teachers how thankful we really are for their amazing work and talents for helping our little guy continue to grow. Fisher has one amazing teacher, Ms. Brenda, three awesome aids and a Occupational Therapist, Speech Therapist and Music Therapist. Plus two really sweet and really wonderful bus drivers. So that left us with nine thank you gifts. Trying to be money savvy I decided to get these cheap clay pots at Walmart and let the boys paint and decorate them.

  Don't you wish you could just paint like that?

  After they were all pretty and decorated we filled them with little travel size soaps and lotions, some seeds, candy and a bottle of soda that had a tag that said "I'm SODA-lighted you were my teacher/bus driver this year!" Then we wrapped them up all nice and pretty and added a note that read "Thank you for helping me Grow! I couldn't have Picked a better Teacher! Love Fisher"

We are so extremely thankful and blessed for the amazing teachers and aids Fisher has had at his schools. I can't tell you how much these amazing and wonderful people have become a part of our lives. Fisher's teacher is doing a summer program this summer and asked Fisher to be a part of it. We are excited that he will continue to grow and work and be with someone that he so adores! 

branson, mo. :: fish and butterflies

The second day in Branson we spent most of our time fishing and playing along the shore of Table Rock Lake. The boys had a blast fishing along the docks and were so excited when both of them caught their first fish on their new fishing poles!

Chase was pretty excited when he caught his first fish. He has been patiently waiting for this moment and it was so fun to see him get so proud of himself. It helps that they have a pretty awesome teacher too! Fisher was such a trooper and so persistent in catching a fish. He refused to stop fishing till he did. Once he caught that little blue gill it was definitely time for playtime on the shore. So proud of this little guy! 

Miss Brea and I had a lot of fun hanging along the shore while the boys fished. She loved watching the birds and water and of course throwing rocks into the lake. I love this little girl so much and that smile just melts my heart every time. 

After fishing and a yummy lunch we decided to head into Branson to check out the Butterfly Palace. We saw so many billboards for this place that we thought it would be something fun for the kids to do. It was awesome and just filled with hundreds of butterflies. The kids had a blast and were just in awe of these beautiful creatures fluttering around them.

The butterfly searchers ready to look for butterflies!

We had the most amazing time in Branson. I love these little and fun trips with our family. Just being outside and experiencing new places. We are so glad that it is a short trip from our home. We can't wait to go back and discover new places!

branson, mo. :: silver dollar city

Since we have moved here, everyone has told us that we need to check Branson out. Well, Wayne got to fish a tournament a couple weeks ago in Table Rock near Branson and just fell in love with the area. The moment he came back he has been planning a time for us to go down and visit the area. Mother's Day weekend just so happen to be the perfect time with the most perfect weather. We stayed at this awesome cabin resort near Table Rock and the boys just loved being close to the lake and playing outside. There was a lot to do just around our area and our cabin was wonderful. It had four bedrooms, a bathtub and a huge kitchen to make meals. Just perfect for our growing family!

  Chase is all boy and just loves playing every sport imaginable! Plus, I just love how hard he concentrates when he plays.

When we told people we were heading to Branson, almost everybody told us to visit Silver Dollar City. It's a large amusement park that is themed in the old mining time and has lots of rides and shops and shows. I was a little hesitant going because it's not that cheap and we have a lot of little ones but people told us it would be worth it and they were right!

We loved Silver Dollar City the moment we walked in. I loved the old looking shops and the dressed up characters greeting you. There were so many rides to ride on and so much things for the little kids to do.
Fisher was a little hesitant about the rides and I think our first mistake was taking him on the roller coaster first. After that he really didn't want to ride anything, but he had a blast watching all the other rides and of course Chase on the rides.
Chase of course had a blast. The moment he rode that roller coaster he didn't want to stop. He rode every single ride that let a barely three foot little boy ride, and believe me that was a lot!
Just watching the rides.
Sabrina was such a good sport. Plus there was a lot for her to do to. She climbed in the tree house, rode the carousel, train and boat ride and played in the ball pit area; her favorite! Love this cute cute little girl!!
The smile on Chase's face never faded. He absolutely loved Silver Dollar City. We all did and the boys both asked if they could go back again the next day. We had so much fun and we are so thankful it's only three hours away, because we definitely want to come back again soon!!