While Lynne and Gordon were visiting in early December, we all headed to Barkers Tree Farm to pick out the perfect Christmas tree.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Rewind: Gatlinburg
Back in December...It was our first Christmas not traveling to see family for the holidays. We were really sad to not see family, so we decided that we needed to do some fun stuff close to Lexington. After Noel finished school for the semester, we went to Gatlinburg with Chad and Ashley Jackson. We just love the Jacksons! They are so much fun. We especially like playing games with them and trying out new restaurants.
We rented a cabin for really cheap since it was the off season. It was nice and spacious! It had 3 bedrooms, a pool table, arcade game, and a nice kitchen.
We all drove down after church on Sunday, then on Monday we went to this indoor water park. It was really overpriced and a bit underwhelming for the adults, but the kids had fun. It had a lazy river that Greg and Brighton loved walking; they wouldn't float on the tubes. The temperature of the water was great, but the air temperature was freezing. There were all these parents in jackets wading around with their kids. We kept getting the kids out and wrapped them up in towels to try and warm them up. Brighton wouldn't get out and had the blue lips to prove it.
The next day, we went to Obergatlinburg. We started off by riding a aerial tram up the mountain.
Greg, Brighton, and Hailey on the tram
Brighton wanted to be carried everywhere.
Noel and Greg and Chad and Hailey went on the alpine slide.
I can't figure out how to rotate this picture. :)
The kids went on this little train it seemed like 50 times. They loved it! There were no other kids, so the ride operator just let our kids keep going around. When he slowed the train down, Brighton yelled, "Noooo!" Crazy kid.
Playing in the fountain before we went to lunch at Bubba Gumps.
Greg and Noel at the very top of the mountain. They were just a bit cold.
Riding the carousel.
At night, we played games ("Pandemic" and "Ticket to Ride"), talked, and ate lots of treats. One of the nights, Noel wasn't feeling well so he went to bed early. There were two doors into our room, one was through the bathroom. When I went down to go to bed, both doors were locked. I knocked on the doors. Ashley and I called Noel's cell phone a bunch of times, and he still didn't wake up. It was really funny. I ended up sleeping in my clothes with Greg.
The Jacksons: Hailey, Chad, Lyla, and Ashley
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Rewind: The New Swagger Wagon
Back in November...with a new baby on the way, we decided it was time for us to venture into the world of the minivan. Honestly, I've wanted a minivan since I had Greg. Lyndsey Skanchy was nice enough to watch the boys while Noel and I drove to Cincinnati to pick up this beauty (2012 Honda Odyssey). It had 12 miles on it when we drove away from the dealership. I had never driven a new car before, so I was a bit nervous.
To say I was excited would be a major understatement.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Just another day!
This is characteristic Dickens; Greg wiping out, Brighton w/ his plumber's crack and I am taking the picture while we are all at the beach. We are only missing one thing...good friends. How much would it cost to bribe our friends to visit us in NC.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Just Couldn't Wait
We didn't even make it one day in NC before Greg had to go to the beach. Fish out of water?
Monday, February 4, 2013
Rewind: Brighton's Birthday 2!
For Brighton's birthday, we had a family barbecue with the Bylunds and Reynolds.
He is obsessed with monster trucks, so he got a few for his birthday.
I sure love this boy!
Sherrill Moody made his cake: a monster truck with wheels that actually move! It was so cute (and delicious); the picture doesn't do it justice. He still talks about his monster truck birthday cake.
Rewind: Halloween
My mom sent the boys these cute foam Halloween houses to put together. They loved it! Those little houses kept the boys entertained for hours!
We went trick-or-treating with the Willburs. We met over at their house and made our rounds through the neighborhood.
Greg and Brighton getting geared up.
Ben was a robot. I didn't get pictures of the other kids but Nick was a minion from "Despicable Me", Kristen was Minnie Mouse, and Emily was a cat. Joy makes the most amazing costumes ever. There is nothing that woman can't do.
The cutest cow I've ever seen.
It was cold that night, and Brighton is definitely a fair weather child. He was also being a bit shy, so he was content to just sit in the wagon the whole time.
Greg totally got into the whole "get tons of candy" thing. He would run up to the door with the other kids, say thank you, come give his bag to me, then run to the next house. Then he'd get a little frustrated that he had to wait for me to get his bag. After a while, he finally figured out that it would just be easier if he held on to his bag.
When we got home, Greg was helping me take something out to the garbage and he saw some trick-or-treaters. He started shouting, "Hey! I like your costume! We have lots of candy at our house! Come say trick-or-treat, and we'll give you some!" It was pretty funny.
Noel helped the boys carve the pumpkin we got at the pumpkin patch. What a fun Halloween!
Rewind: Fall Festivities
Remember how I'm really bad at keeping up on memory keeping (journaling, scrapbooking, blogging, etc.)? Yep. So to keep our family scrapbook/blog alive, here's some of the things we did this past fall.
I had a Groupon to Bounce U, so Noel and I took the boys one afternoon that he unexpectedly had off. What a fun afternoon! Greg LOVED it! Especially the slides.
Noel and I thought that Brighton would be all over the place since he loves jumping off furniture and whatnot. Not the case. He got in one bounce house and wanted out immediately! He did, however, love the little "batting cage." You put the wiffle ball over the cone that had air coming out of it and then you could hit the ball. He thought it was really fun and was actually pretty good at it.
We bought a fire pit on sale at Lowes and had a few marshmallow roasts in the backyard. Neither of the boys like roasted marshmallows. That's okay, more for me!
Brighton was terrified of the fire, so he just snuck marshmallows and played on the slide instead. I guess a healthy fear of fire is a good thing, right?
In October, Greg's preschool had a field trip to Bi-Water Farms, an awesome pumpkin patch in Georgetown. They have play sets, sand boxes, a tricycle race track, slides, a petting zoo, corn maze. All sorts of fun. The boys didn't want to leave!
Ashley, Greg, and Brighton
Greg was obsessed with wearing Noel's sunglasses. He looks so cool!
On the hayride out to the pumpkin patch
It was pretty cold that day, but after we picked out our pumpkin, I could not get Greg to wear his jacket. I'm an awesome mom.
Greg and Bear: the Best of Friends
When Greg was born, Aunt Gale gave him this little snuggly bear. Four years later, he still loves Bear. One day he wanted me to take pictures of her (yes, bear is a girl because she has a dress).
Bear wearing Greg's shark hat. :) I love my boy!
Rewind: Greg Starts Preschool
In September, Greg started attending preschool at Building Blocks Preschool at the North Lexington Church of Christ. He LOVES it! It's insanely affordable, but it's an amazing little preschool. He goes every Tuesday with some of his best buddies: Ashley, Emily, Evan, Gray, just to name a few(there are tons of LDS kids who attend). His teachers are Ms. Ginny and Ms. Robin. And the lucky boy, he gets to have his best friend Ashley in his class.
First day of school. I tried to get him dressed in some shorts and a polo shirt, but he said, "Am I going to church? I don't want to wear that." And then he picked out his own outfit. It was really funny. You gotta pick your battles right?
Outside the school
Brighton had to get in on the action too!
There was an open house the day before school started, and the three of us (Greg, Brighton, and I) went. Both the boys thought it was so cool. The next day, I think Brighton thought he got to go to preschool too. He was soooo sad when we dropped Greg off. He kept saying, "I stay too! I stay too!" He cried almost the entire day because he missed Greg. Honestly, he is still a bit grumpy on Tuesdays because he misses his best buddy and just has to hang out with mom all day.
Greg had to take a picture of himself to school to put on the bulletin board. It's hard to get this kid to make a normal face for a picture. :)
The kids and teachers put on a little Thanksgiving program in November for the families, followed by a yummy Thanksgiving dinner. So fun! Here's Greg with his class (his buddy Evan is to the right of him).
Pretty sure that he didn't sing a single word, but he was really cute nonetheless. :)
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