The Next best thing

Since we didn't make it to derby this year as planned, we settled for the next best thing: free races!

It was a nice enjoyable evening and the kids really liked seeing all the horses.  They also got filthy playing in all the dirt, but hey, that's what little boys are supposed to do right?

A lot of the pictures turned out pretty dark, so I played around with some editing.  As you can see, I'm no professional!

 I think this is a  cool picture!

 The boys liked watching all the horses getting ready at the paddock.

 Kaeson didn't like standing on the fence with Parker because he wasn't tall enough to see over, so we didn't get as many pictures of him watching like we did Parker. But we did snap this one while we were up in the box seats we weren't supposed to be in.

Triple Threat

He makes a GREAT date!

 He's stinkin' cute!

 And one super talented photographer!

While Lance was on break,  I took advantage of having him  around to babysit, and I took my little Parker on a date.  He was so excited, and felt so special having some time with mom all by himself.  We don't get much if any time just the two of us, and it was such a fun date!  We went to Olive Garden and we had a blast.

One day, he lined all of his stuffed animals on the couch and came and asked me if he could take a picture of them.  So I got the camera and showed him how to take pictures, and he was hooked.  That day he took 243 pictures with my camera!!! He literally snapped a picture of everything he saw! It was so cute, and he just couldn't get enough of it.  He took pictures of every flower and tree and bush near our house, pictures of himself, Macie, Lance, Kaeson, and he took it in the car and took pictures of every  restaurant and landmark along the way.  That night we switched him for our old camera and he went crazy for a few days straight.  The excitement seems to have worn off for now, but I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of his newfound hobby.

The last three pictures are just a teaser of the amazing work he does.

Staycation continued...

We loved so much having Lance around all week to just hang out and enjoy lots of family time.  We took advantage by just doing lots of small every day things that we don't usually get to do with daddy.  The  boys were so excited to show Lance a park they have been loving lately that daddy has never been able to come to.  So we packed a lunch and headed out to enjoy the beautiful weather.  

Here's Macie looking adorable as ever right before we headed out.

 Golly gee we love this girl!  I mean look at her!

 Kaeson was proud to show his dad how big he is that he can get across these by himself.

 Macie in a rare moment of not eating the wood chips at the park.  Notice that  she pulled her cute bow out on the drive to the car.  Very typical!

 The next day, we headed to a beautiful park ( the same one we had our family pictures taken at last fall) and went for a walk.  It is a breathtaking park, and it was an amazing 90 degrees that day, so it was a perfect relaxing day.

Mammoth Caves

Lance had this last week off, so we enjoyed having lots of time to hang out as a family.  On Monday, we  headed to Mammoth Caves.  It's a huge system of caves about an hour and a half away from Louisville. We had never been, and we've heard a lot about it, so it seemed like the perfect time to check it out.  It was really cool to see.  There are lots of different tours you can take, but we chose an easy one that the kids would be able to handle.  Parker really liked it.  Kaeson liked it alright other than when they turned the lights off to show us what absolute darkness looks like. He was not so sure about that. 

Easter 2011

We had a great Easter this year, in spite of the week being overtaken by Lance's need to study for finals. Me and the kids were able to dye Easter eggs (I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it way more than any of them), and do an Easter Egg Hunt with friends. There was a torrential downpour all weekend, so we couldn't do anything outside, but we had fun inside.

The kids being silly in their Easter outfits from Grandma and Grandpa.

 A not very good shot of all the kids before they hunted Easter eggs.  A dear friend of ours is in the hospital on bed rest, so we brought the Easter fun to her.  It was so fun!

 Macie with her egg we dyed that said, "Macie's First Easter".

We hope you all had a great Easter season as well.

Treasured Sunshine

We have had insane amounts of rain, and day after day of looming gray skies this spring.  The sunshine has been quite rare, so when we get a glimpse of it, we treasure every moment of it. 

We had a lunch in our backyard with lots of our friends, and while I was setting everything out,  I discovered this:

 Apparently they are their father's children!

Kaeson taking a moment from his play at the park to give me a knock out smile!

 Macie loving the sun! Parker had her giggling pretty hard here.  That's pretty typical these days.  She adores Parker!

 Kaeson at the zoo.

 Checking out how much Parker has grown since we've moved to louisville. We have a shot just like this from his younger days.  I should dig it out and compare.

 Macie LOVES the swings!  Check out her stinking cute hat!  My mom made this and sent it to us, and I'm pretty sure it's the cutest thing ever!  Grandma is one talented woman!

 The kids all looking cute watching the seal (or sea lion, I can't ever tell).

 The boys just discovered a new beloved game

Here's to hoping for more sunny days!

Cuteness