The Fall Fling

In the preschool area we had a three pools. One with corn, one with sand, and one with water. The kids loved playing in them.
Grace with snack mix she made in the Preschool Area.
Doesn't she look like she is having fun? Football "toss"
Basketball

Last weekend was a huge weekend for our family. It was the first annual (hopefully!) Fall Fling at Clover Road Christian Church. This is an event Jeremy dreamed up and had a huge part in bringing about. Last year we were planning for it and it got canceled due to budgetting. So Jeremy has had to be patient in waiting to see God bring this to fruition. But God really blessed us in how everything came together!! I was so proud of Jeremy. He has such a heart for reaching out to our community and it was such a joy to see something he has a passion for bring God glory. Did I mention the weather was amazing?! We have had a TON of rain lately and even with all this crazy weather the day before and of the event were dry. It started spinkling at 6:00 just as the event was ending.

Basically the Fall Fling was a totally FREE event for our community. It was a way for us to tell them we love them in a fun family environment that wasn't too churchy. The event included inflatables, games, cotton candy, snow cones, a meal, and more. I was in charge of helping with a special section for preschool kids. We had over 600 people show up! I have a few picture of Grace & Faith that my mother-in-law took. I was too busy to take pictures.

Our First Pirate Game

The past week has been super crazy due to the Fall Fling (more on that later) so we ended up making the first home football game a family event. Usually Jeremy and I go as a date. We were all at the church preparing for the Fall Fling on Friday so we went out to eat with some friends of ours before the game. So we were talking about going to the game with Grace & Riley (Rillee is 3) After a quick meal at Taco Bell we headed home to change into our black & red. Luckily I had found a Pirate t-shirt in Grace's size at a yard sale last season for like a quarter. While we were getting ready Grace said the funniest thing! She asked me, "Mama, are there going to be games on this pirate ship we are going on?" It was so funny!!! She was completely confused but we had been talking about going to the Pirate game- so it was a good question! She also asked for a red thing in her hair like mine ( a bandanna). So all three of us wore matching ones. It was super fun, the kind of thing you dream about when you imagine having a family. The girls enjoyed the band, the cheerleaders, and the concession stand. But we only made it to half time. They are still little girls that needed to go to bed! It was a great memory.

A Full Weekend

Labor day weekend was full of fun for our family. I wish I could show you how much fun we had, but I forgot my camera!!! (this seriously about brought me to tears) Jeremy took Friday off from work so that we could have a little family trip. We left Friday after lunch to go to Fun City in Burlington, Iowa. We met my sister there. We had a free stay due to rewards points from bringing the youth group there. It has a huge arcade & indoor/outdoor waterpark. It was so much fun!!

Friday afternoon we went to the outdoor waterpark. There were about 20 people there so it was nice and quiet. Perfect for Grace & Faith. We floated around the lazy river and let them play in the special 1 ft. waterpark with slides. They loved the wave pool too. After swimming we went out to eat. We ended up in a restaraunt that was just a little too nice for toddlers. It took awhile for the food... (Fill in the blanks if you are a parent)

That night while the girls slept my sister and I snuck out to go shopping at Target. We had a blast. We ended up coming back to the hotel with a patio set (table & 4 chairs) for me, a coffee table for her, and two chairs for my mom. They were having a huge end of season clearance sale. I got a $500 set for about $120! Also, I got a bunch of early Chrsitmas presents. Did I mention we stopped to get Jeremy ice cream before I told him all the good deals I found at target?

The next day we checked out the indoor waterpark & arcade. Grace enjoyed "playing" the games even if we didn't pay. We were able to earn 100 tickets. We walked up to the counter and she said I want that pink bat. There was no changing her mind. It was 100 tickets! (yeah-one strong willed child battle avoided!)

Then we met Jeremy's family to take the girls on their first boat ride on the Mississippi River on Grandpa Rick's boat. It was an adventure. They were pretty uncertain at first. Faith hated the life jacket (it did seem to stangle her). We stopped at a sand bar. Grace wasn't a big fan of how dirty she got. So we eventually ended up back in the boat. We had a blow up pool we filled with clean water and they played in that on the boat. Then we went for a ride before eating at a restaraunt along the river. It was a very full day.

On Sunday Jeremy got up early (very early we had to be at church by 8) and made me breakfast so we could continue our tradition of eating our birthday breakfast on our china. I am still picking out my birthday present. I am getting a new camera!!! I am having a lot of fun shopping for it. We went to visit my family for my birthday. It was fun getting to see my famliy and spend time with them. My mom made me a birthday cake- and you just can't beat my mom's cake. Overall it was just the break we needed!