Where's Parker?!

A few weeks ago, we all went to Children's Place to find hats for the kids. We had been in there looking around for a while, when I suddenly turned around and couldn't see Parker.  I quickly asked Lance where he was because he had been right by his side only moments before, but Lance didn't know either.  Immediate panic sets in and both Lance and I start searching all over the store in a frenzy.  It's amazing how many horrible, terrifying thoughts can go through your head in such a short time.  I knew he couldn't have gone far because both Lance and I had seen him literally seconds before.  So I thought he would have to be in the store somewhere. I'm sure a child wandering off is a fairly common occurrence for many parents, but Parker is not and never has been a wanderer at all, so this isn't something we've had to deal with much, and knowing my child the way I do, I start thinking if he got that far away that fast, someone must have taken him!  And the panic sinks in farther.  Even a few people in the store were starting to wander around looking as well.  I'm sure all of this only took place in a matter of minutes, but you can imagine, it felt like time stood still there for a while.  Pretty soon through all the yelling Parker's name and running everywhere, Lance hears a quiet little giggle.....

and there he was. 

 

He thought he was so funny!  I was torn between needing to teach him that he can never scare us like that again, and not being able to keep from laughing because it was pretty quick and clever thinking on his part.  I don't know how we ever would have thought to look under there if not for him giggling!

Vacation in Tennessee

Lance just finished his Freshmen Dental classes, and has a week off before starting summer courses, so some friends of ours invited us to come to Tennessee for a few days and stay with them in their timeshare.  We had an awesome weekend!  The weather didn't cooperate the way we would have like it to, but we had a great time anyway. We were able to swim in the indoor pool a few times, go hiking, play a TON of cards, watch a few movies, and go to a nearby lake.

The lake was beautiful, with some awesome sandy beaches, but unfortunately this weekend, those beaches were muddy.  Parker still loved throwing rocks in the water and feeding the HUGE catfish.

Jayden loved crawling all over the in the sand and even took a few jaunts into the water.  He also loved eating the sand!  He was filthy by the time we left.  I love this picture of him! He wasn't upset about the sand in his mouth, just that his parents were trying to make him stop eating it!  It was hilarious.

This is the first place we have been with stairs since Kaeson started crawling.  It didn't take him long at all to go exploring and figure out how to climb up them.  Luckily he didn't try too often!

He climbed up this ledge all by himself.  I was a little nervous about him falling on the tile.

Parker throwing rocks into the lake.  It doesn't take much to make him happy!

Kaeson was so happy in his floaty toy.  He would have stayed in there all day!

Kaeson just his first tooth and has been pretty miserable the last few days. He has been running a fever, been really fussy and clingy to Mommy, and slept terrible every night we were there, so we are all exhausted and I think we all need a vacation from our vacation!  We are so glad the Browns invited us to come with them.  It was all so fun!  

Fall Creek Falls

While we were in Tennessee, we all went hiking to these waterfalls called Fall Creek Falls.  It was so beautiful, it takes your breath away!  We traveled about an hour to get there, and we weren't sure if we should go because it was raining pretty much all weekend.  We were so glad we braved the weather.  It was definitely worth the trip!  This picture is from the overlook, and then we hiked down to the bottom of the falls.  Sunday morning, it was down pouring and we didn't think we would be able to hike in it, but as soon as the rain let up, we left the resort and hoped for the best.  We really lucked out.  It was one of the only times all weekend that it wasn't raining.  The rain started up a little on our way back up, but by then we were already wet from the falls, so it didn't even matter.  On the drive back to the resort, the rain started coming down pretty bad and didn't let up all day.  Later that night there was a flash flood warning where we were staying!

Here we are at the bottom of the falls.  It sprays all over and we got soaked!  Parker wasn't loving getting sprayed in the face; Kaeson couldn't have cared less.

After we got all wet, Kaeson was shaking from the cold, so I wrapped him in my jacket, and he curled right up to me and didn't move until we got back to the car.  He even fell asleep for a few minutes.!  He never falls asleep in your arms!

Mommy and Kaeson after we got all wet.  Look at Kaeson's dripping hair.  He was still happy at this point.  It took a few minutes for the cold to set in.

Thunder Over Louisville!!

Louisville has a HUGE fireworks show to kick off all the Derby Festivities and it is AMAZING! It is said to be the biggest fireworks show in all of North America!  We decided to go down early and make a whole day of it.  They do a cool Air Show all afternoon and evening up until the fireworks start.  We got there about one o'clock and with our friends, the Clowards, saved a spot for all our friends coming down later.  It was a really long day, but so worth it!  The weather was beautiful, and it was so fun to just hang out in the sun all day--even though the crowds were crazy.  They estimate there were 700,000 people there this year!

Reagan and Heather Mills, Ella, Clowards, Wyatts, and Riches.  Just a few of the people who met us down there.  It's a miracle that we were able to meet up with everyone through all the people, but we did it!
Another pic of the group.  I missed Cattrons in the left corner, sorry!  I told Brad to turn around so I didn't get a shot of his butt, but I guess he wanted a picture of it, cause he didn't move fast enough!  Sorry Brad
A shot of the people around us.  This doesn't even begin to show the people lined all along the waterfront.  There  are even more across the River on the Indiana side. You can see people covering their ears, because the planes were deafeningly loud!
Kaeson and his buddy Austin
Heather, Tyler, and Chelsea. (and Dax running around behind them.
Parker liked the fireworks, but he hates loud noises, so I got some awesome cuddles through the whole show.   I don't blame him for not liking the noise, because it is insanely loud; hence the name Thunder!  And miraculously, Kaeson slept through the whole show!  
Mills' shared their Doritos with Parker, oops!
Megan and Ella.  We watch Ella once a week, and we love her!  Her and Parker have so much fun together.  Ella is so sweet!
Just a cute shot of Kaeson.  He also loved the day in the sun, and as usual, he was such a trooper.  It was a long day for such a little guy, but he was great! 

The fireworks got over at 10, and we got home at 12:15!  It took an hour and a half to get from our parking spot to the freeway that was only two blocks away!  It was insane!  Luckily both kids slept the whole time!  I can honestly say that even though the traffic was so bad, it was worth it and we will definitely go again next year if the weather allows.  We are more educated now about the best places to park!

We tried to take pictures, but our camera does not take pictures well of fireworks.  Megan got some good pictures and even a few video clips of the show if you want to see.  They don't even begin to capture the magic of the show, because nothing can, but it's a glimpse. You have to see the real show to appreciate it!

My adorable Kaeson!!!

Haircut #3!

That's right, Kaeson just got another haircut!  We got the kids pictures taken today (a story in itself), so I decided maybe I should pay to have some one who knows what they are doing cut it this time.  I brought him to kid o cuts, because I thought they would be the best at dealing with a wiggly baby.  It's so cute in there.  The chairs for the kids are all different cars, and there is a TV in front of each seat.  They put on Baby Einstein, but he didn't watch it at all.  They also put Parker in a seat and let him watch Incredibles.  As cute as this place was, I don't think I will be returning.  It's pretty pricey and I was not thrilled with the cut she did.  She did a really good job around his ears and neck, but she cut all these really short layers on top that make it lay really funny.  Live and learn I guess.  I will be doing it myself again I think.

Easter

We had a good Easter weekend.  I was sad when I realized this would be the first Easter since Lance and I got married that we have not spent with my whole family being together, but we still had a great weekend.  My neighbor and I brought our kids to a nearby church that was having an Easter egg hunt.  Parker had a lot of fun and didn't want to leave.  Lance had a church ball game that night (don't ask how it went) and then he had to ref, so we pushed the rest of our Easter activities back to Sunday.  The Easter bunny came, but Parker thought the hunt the day before was enough, so he was kind of done.  We dyed eggs together Sunday afternoon, and then had a delicious Easter dinner with friends.  We are so lucky to have wonderful neighbors and friends to make being so far from home a little easier.  I brought dessert for our Easter dinner. so I decided to make some little cheesecake easter baskets.  I think they turned out pretty cute.