Kids Bowl Free

Have you heard about THIS program? It's awesome because kids bowl free all summer.

Baylie and Jalen now LOVE to bowl.

But they don't like to take turns.

Fun day!

Girl's Night "In"

Tonight David and Jalen went to a father and son's campout. Baylie and I were excited to spent some quality girl time together. I asked Baylie if she wanted to go out to dinner, go to a movie, go to a special event at the zoo or stay home and do pedicures. She opted for the latter. 

First, she put on her crocheted purse from Judy Moody (my childhood babysitter who now loves my kids the way she once loved me - she still loves me). 

Judy also gave the kids two $2 bills with instructions that the money was to be spent on something fun. Baylie used her own money and a coupon to buy sparkly fingernail polish, sunglasses and a windmill. She was very excited to handle the transaction herself.

Baylie with her purchases.

And then we started our spa night. Here is Baylie soaking her feet and painting her nails. I fill the little tub with marbles and foot salts. She loves picking up the marbles with her toes.

Sparkly hands and feet.

Baylie was especially excited to sleep in mommy's bed.

My favorite part of the night was when I got a big squeeze and Baylie said, "I love spending time with you!"

Ditto!

Ode to a Green Tomato

Budding vine, precious fruit -

Ripe promise to fulfill.

Life cut short by Jalen's bite;

Torn from thy tender peel.

Though fresh I cannot bear to eat,

Perhaps a venture fried.

A tasty option to explore,

For that I have not tried.

Frankie's Fun Park

The kids were anxious to get back from the forest so they could go to a friend's birthday party at Frankie's Fun Zone. Unfortunately, the camera battery was still dead.

The first stop was a go-cart track where Baylie got to drive all by herself. Some of our friends took pictures, so hopefully I'll have those to post soon.

Next was a giant slide where both Jalen and Baylie could go down. Fortunately, they got three tries because every time Jalen got up, he'd say "Again!"

 

Next were the bumper boats. Baylie loved getting her dad wet. Jalen wasn't too sure at first, but he warmed up to it once he figured out how to squirt the water.

We only made it through about six holes of miniature golf.

By then Baylie had hit me in the face on her back swing and Jalen was sitting on each green throwing a tantrum until we moved to the next hole where he'd repeat the same scenario.

I wonder if Tiger Woods ever sucks his clubs.

 

We finished up with some inside games. Jalen managed to throw his skee ball three lanes over. Did you know that it's possible to not get any points in skee ball? It is!

We had such an amazing day! (Unfortunately, Baylie ended the day bawling because she wanted Skittles. Go figure!)

Congaree National Park

We recently learned about Congaree National Park. I don't know how we missed this before. It is a beautiful national park with a great boardwalk and best of all - it's free! I am familiar with pine forests, but not with hardwood forests. 

One of the first things we're going to buy when David finally finishes school is a good camera. We like our little camera, but it's old and falling apart - and today the battery died. So most of these pictures were taken with my cheap little phone. They don't begin to show how beautiful this place is.

The brochure describes it as a place of "silence, quiet, serenity, peace, calm and beauty." We got the beauty, but the rest of it was pretty difficult with our little kids. We did stop every now and then to encourage them to be quiet and hear the birds and the wind through the trees.

My picture of the kids.

Baylie's picture of us.

Early settlers and Native Americans ground the beech nuts from beech trees like this to make flour for bread and meal cakes.

I'm actually amazed that Jalen never went over the boardwalk. It wasn't for lack of trying.

Even with my cruddy phone, you can see how amazing this place is. You can tell it is an old growth forest because the high, thick canopy keeps out sunlight and results in less vegetation on the forest floor, allowing you to see through the trees. I couldn't help but think of American history and the other people who may have peered around these trees.

One of the strangest things we saw were "knees" produced by the bald cypress trees. These strange formations jutted out of the ground throughout the forest.

 Here Baylie stands by a particularly large knee.

 View up a hollow tree.

I love quality family time.

 

The forest was very swampy. I thought of the Swamp Fox and realized how he must have maneuvered in and out of these places, leading his enemies into treacherous territory. I also thought of the "maroons," the slaves that would escape and hide out in the swamps where they could not be found. After walking through this forest, I could better understand how they could remain hidden.

We love nature!

 

 

We hate nature!

Nature's picture frame.

The mosquitoes were mild.

It was a great morning!

I Made a Nudred!

I love learning about how to care for my kids' hair. We've decided to let Jalen's hair grow out. We wanted to do it in twists and I've always wanted to try out Nudred. However, I didn't want to pay the $29.99 plus shipping price. So after looking at some demos and at the tool itself, I decided to try and make my own.

I went to Wal Mart and bought a big sponge for $1.67 in the automotive department. Then I cut small holes out of it with an exacto blade. I tried to keep the holes the same size and used my fingers to even them out.

I put curling custard on Jalen's hair. When I first tried the sponge, I pushed too hard. David took over and did it with a much lighter touch and it worked better to make the curls.

We did it quickly because we were on our way out the door and were shocked at how fast and easy it was.

Rear view for Jen.

We love the finished look! Plus we saved ourselves $28.32, not including shipping!

A Weekend Full of Adventures

On Saturday, the primary children from our ward met at the temple. They walked around the temple and learned about why it's important. We always take time to explain to our children how they were sealed to us and that we can be a family forever. They love to hear the stories of how they were adopted and how we went to the temple. 

Later that afternoon we went to a local splash pad where the kids had so much fun. They have been going crazy waiting for the swimming pool to open and this was just what they needed.

Mother's Day was awesome. I woke up to a fantastic breakfast and thoughtful gifts, including a hula hoop! Mother's Day is always a reflective day for me since I still remember how painful it was for so long. I can't help but be full of gratitude to be a mother. For the first time, I had a child old enough to sing with the Primary during church. Baylie sang her little heart out and I cried. It was wonderful.

After church we headed to Charlotte to meet my parents. They had a missionary meeting on Monday, so we all stayed in a hotel Sunday night. It was the perfect Mother's Day to be able to be with my kids and my mom.

Three generations

We chilled out watching t.v. and eating popcorn.

We slept in.

 

Since Baylie couldn't swim in the public pool, Grammy & Grandad got a room with a big jacuzzi tub so the kids could still swim. They had a blast in their own little pool.

It was a great weekend and a perfect Mother's Day. It was hard to say goodbye to my mom.