random stuff

Well, I have been politely persuaded by my wonderful sister in law to blog something new! And Jenna, you are right--I see it has been more than a month since I last posted something! Sigh. Life is busy. Anyway, this post will just be some random stuff that we've done lately. There will probably be quite a few pictures, but I guess that's just what happens when you go a whole month without a post! Oh well:)

A few weeks ago, Grabill Missionary Church put on this great free carnival. We happened to be off duty and we saw a sign for it, so it worked out for us to take Kaine and Halle. It was so fun! Kaine and Halle absolutely loved it! There was a fire truck parked at it, and kids could sit inside and see it. It was neat--Kaine and Halle thought it was cool to sit on the front.

Kaine got to ride the rides. It was so great, because they were all free! Not that they were overly exciting rides, but they were perfect for a 3 year old!

Halle wanted to ride the airplane with Kaine, but she was too little:( She really tried to get over the fence!

However, she did get to go with Kaine in this blow up thingy that they just bounced around in. :)

And she had a blast!

This was a far away picture, so you can't see his face too well. But Kaine went down this SUPER steep and very fast slide--so fast that he flipped when he got to the bottom. And let me tell you, it scared him sooo bad! He hated that thing! And here I am, taking pictures of him :) Poor little guy. It was kind of funny though, because I was holding Halle while I was watching him go down the slide, and when he got to the bottom he fell into my arms sobbing. Of course, this made Halle very upset, too, so I was sitting at the bottom of the slide holding 2 wailing kids.

They even had free food! Kaine and Halle loved the popcorn.

Here is Halle stuffing her face with popcorn!

Okay, this is another day. It was pouring down rain, and Kaine and Halle were having a blast playing in it! Halle was loving it:) Can you tell she is saying, "cheese"?

Here is Kaine dripping wet on his bike

Another new subject:
Nathan and I took a trip, just the 2 of us, to Gatlinburg! It was great to get away! Thanks to our wonderful parents for watching Kaine and Halle!

Okay, let me explain this picture. I was so proud of myself for getting a great deal on a hotel room--$59 per night, and it was buy 2 nights get one free! So we stayed 3 nights and only paid about $120 plus tax--not bad:) Well, on the website the hotel looked super nice--and it was. However, the reason our room was so cheap is because it was in the building across the street. Nathan was proud of his photography skills, taking this picture to make our hotel seem as trashy and unattractive as possible:) It was pretty funny, actually. The hotel's pool area and stuff was really nice, but we just had to walk across the street. So here is a picture of the good deal I got on our hotel room. Notice our car is the only one out front? It was kind of creepy at night:)

We hiked Laurel Falls, which is supposed to be an easy hike. And it was pretty easy, but it really made me realize just how out of shape I really am! I am soooo glad we didn't decide to hike Chimney Tops! I don't know if I could have made it!

We ate Subway for lunch on a big rock in the river.

After our Subway lunch, we went rock hopping. Nathan was the brave one who decided to get in the FREEZING cold water! I got in up to my knees:)

He had a lot of fun sliding down this big rock into the freezing cold river. I sat on a rock and took his pictures:)

Kaine really wanted us to find him a bear, and this is the best we could do! Thanks for a great trip, Natie! I had a great time with you!

So, this is what we have been up to lately. Hopefully I won't go so long before I blog again:)

Marco Island

Well, I am finally getting to our Florida post!  We arrived back home last Saturday evening.  We had such an AWESOME trip!  What a blast to spend a whole week with my parents and Aaron and Jill!  Our kids loved Florida, too (although we are still suffering some consequences--Kaine definitely got OVERLY tired!  He still hasn't completely recovered!)  Here are some pictures from our trip (okay, LOTS of pictures!)

Here is Kaine on the airplane.  He really liked the airplane!  And since he is over 2 years old, my parents had to buy him his own ticket.  He looked so cute buckled into his own seat!

Halle spent some time in a seat of her own, too (probably Kaine's seat, while he was up sitting with my parents).  She did a great job on the plane!

Kaine loved helping take his little suitcase through the airport.  And I don't know if you can see his cute little backpack or not, but it is the most ADORABLE tiger backpack from Aunt Jenna!  Thanks, Jenna--he liked having his own carry-on backpack!

Halle was thrilled to be off the plane and free to roam the Fort Myers airport!

I took this picture right after the kiddos woke up one morning.  They were sitting inside the toybox playing together--so cute!

We didn't bring a high chair for Halle, so we lugged Kaine's booster seat to and from the car for her to use as a high chair!  I thought she looked cute in it:)

Halle's first time at the ocean!  She actually didn't like it too much.  Anytime the water would come up and touch her feet, she would cry.  I think she was kind of scared of it.  She loved playing in the sand, though.

Nathan taught Kaine to play tennis!  My 2 studs:)  They are so cute!

Kaine and Halle with my parents

To say the least, this made my mom REALLY nervous!! (and me too, actually!)

Our cute little girl:)

Kaine and Jill out on the pier where they guys were fishing.  I can't believe it--fishing was such a huge part of our trip, and this is the only picture I took of it!  Oh well.

She may have been scared of the ocean, but she really loved the pool!

and so did Kaine!

Halle carried shovels around all the time!  Somehow she was dubbed the Shovel Monster.  Here, the Shovel Monster was attacking Kaine and Jill in their "little house" and Kaine tackled her.  They had so much fun!

A cute picture of Kaine in the pool

Sometimes I take pictures of Halle crying because it is sooo funny and cute!  I know, that is probably mean.  Oh well:)

Nathan jumped over the fountain water up onto the ledge of the fountain, and then Kaine was handed up to him for a picture.  This picture was taken right before a cop told Nathan to get down from the fountain:)

Smiling big smiles!

Jill was such a great aunt!  She played CONSTANTLY with these two!  I know Kaine especially had a blast with his Aunt Jill.  Thanks, Jill!

Halle is feeding bread to the birds on the beach.  She was pretty fascinated by them.

Kaine was getting brave and going out into the deep with just a noodle.  Another time he did it on his own, without anyone on the noodle with him!  (of course someone was always VERY close by!)

Here are the men grilling all of the fish they provided for us throughout the week!  Thanks, guys!  It was a great supper!

Halle:)

Our family picture

Kaine thought it was so cool to "surf" in the ocean!

Daddy and son:)

A cute picture of Halle at a restaurant!

We celebrated Jill and my birthdays one night.  Walmart didn't have the greatest selection of cakes, so we decided to celebrate with this Belle cake:)

Jill and Kaine "surfing" in the pool:)

Kaine and Halle had endless fun with this water bottle!

Not so sure Grandpa enjoyed it as much!

On the beach, our last night in Marco

I love my husband:)

An adorable picture of Kaine and Jill!

Mom and Dad, thank you guys sooo much for such a wonderful vacation!  We had an absolute blast!  Aaron and Jill, thanks!  We had so much fun with you guys!