September 22, 2015

joyland....our favorite night of summer

thanks to matt's parents and their involvement with the Lubbock Lions Club, we get to go to joyland once every summer. the club treats their members and their members' families to a night at joyland. this was our fourth summer to attend and "family night" never disappoints. it's always fun to see what rides the kids can and will want to ride as they get older each year. this year, they were up for whatever ride their cousin was riding. 
 ^^^ i can't stop laughing at how 'giant-esque' matt looks in this firetruck. ^^^

 ^^^ y'all, she made this face on every ride. equal parts joy and terror. ^^^
^^^ my very favorite picture, so sad it's blurry. ^^^
i really need to learn how to use my big girl camera. 
hashtag: blogger fail.

mclain and aplin were so brave, they rode everything they were tall enough to ride, including the gondola (my worst nightmare), the small (but mighty) roller coaster and this tokyo drift ride that would have left me feeling all sorts of queasy.
this is a nice speed for my mama-nerves.
 and we stay way past our bedtime and it's always worth it.

thanks for the fun, joyland!

until next time~s.

September 14, 2015

first day of kids day out

last year i did not do a 'first day' picture and i wasn't sad about it or disappointed in myself until the end of the year, when mclain's teacher did a first day/last day side by side and i couldn't believe how much he had changed! so, i may be a week late in posting their 'first day' pictures, but i DID take their pictures on the first day of school. 

mclain-3 year old class
teachers: Ms. Kristen + Ms. Jessica
he loves: cars, trucks, trains, to read and do puzzles and stickers. 
he quote and reenact movies. 
favorite foods: apples, watermelon, olives, celery, sushi and salami
favorite color: no answer
"when i get big, i'm going to be a scuba dyer (diver) and go in the water with so many fish and turtles."


aplin-2 year old class
teachers: Ms. Julie + Ms. Jessica
she loves: her babydolls, changing clothes, frozen, swinging, coloring and jumping off of things.
she loves to "help", unless it's time to clean up and then she'll tell me, "i'm busy."
favorite foods: yogurt & cheese.  
favorite color: pink


penelope-creepers class
teachers: ms. crystal + ms. pat
she loves: to be held, baths, to see herself in the mirror and swinging
she finds her brother and sister very fascinating
she sleeps 11-12 hours a night, takes a mini nap in the morning and 2-3 nap in the afternoon
favorite foods: her bottle & avacado


praying for a wonderful year and lots of patience for their teachers. 

happy monday, friends
~s.

September 11, 2015

estes park

matt grew up vistitng his grandparents in estes park.  i can't believe it took ten+ years for us to go together. but thanks to his cousin, who got married in fort collins (not far from estes park) we finally made it to this little gem in northern colorado, right next door to rocky mountain national park.  
 estes park is absolutely magical and if you've ever been, i'm sure you fell in love with it instantly, just as i did. and if you haven't been, i strongly encourage you to make that your next vacation destination. 
{this is not a sponsored post} ;)


the only downfall is that we didn't get to play at the playground because the reindeer, sven (we watch a lot frozen), bull elk was there first. life lesson, not all animals are friendly.

there is a stocked fishing pond that matt used to go to when he was little...unfortunately, we didn't catch anything and i kept saying, "be careful. be careful." over and over again. kids running near water gives me all sorts of anxiety. hashtag:obnoxious anxious mom
 ^^^ hello, beautiful mountains in the background.^^^
^^^ me: "aplin, be careful." ^^^

we went to rocky mountain national park and hiked bear lake.
again, a lot of me saying yelling, "be careful!" 
 ^^^ he brought his binoculars ^^^
^^^ hiking barefoot is how she rolls ^^^
pretty sure there is an identical bear lake/rocky mountain national park in heaven.

 we spent some time in town at the stanley hotel {super creepy}. we ate at penelope's burgers, 
got ice cream, sampled taffy and put our feet in the river running through town. 
^^^ insert me: "be careful! be careful" ^^^

as we were leaving estes park, we saw the same bull elk from the day before, with all his ladies friends in this vast field.  he kept chasing this one other (much smaller) buck away.  animals in their natural habitat is one of my very favorite things in life.
^^^ hey handsome, let's buy that house right there. ^^^

we will definitely be going back soon. and, i can guarantee it won't take ten years.  
estes park, you are my new favorite.

thanks for reading!
big hugs~s.