Arkansas State Fair

The Arkansas State Fair has been going for the last week or so, and Friday morning was Family Day. All of the rides were free for the younger children that morning, so we decided to take the kids.

Here is Caylie helping Carson walk across a bridge in the Fun House.

Both of the big kids are so good about participating in things with Carson. He loves them sooo much, and is blessed to have such a loving big brother and sister!

Christian took Carson on this little ride...

Carson climbed up the ladder, and slid down the Super Slide all by himself!

Papaw always enjoys the fair, so he drove into town that morning to take it all in with us. Caylie loved getting visit with her Papaw.

Carson was very interested in the animals. He even got to feed them, which he thought was a lot of fun!

Here, Christian is feeding a zebra!

Later in the day, Corey's sister, Kinley, and her family joined us. We all ate lunch together....even shared some fried Oreos. They were actually pretty good!

After lunch, Caylie and I had to leave so that she could get to play practice, but the rest of the group stayed for hours longer! Here Carson and Jackson ride one of the fun rides together.

In the past, I had only gone to the fair at night, and was NOT a big fan. The last time I went, I said that I didn't care to ever go again, but this year, Corey convinced me to give it a try during the day. It was a much different environment...less crowded, and just a better feel in general.

I don't know if I will ever be one to do the marathon, full day trip to the fair, but I think that I will probably go for part of the day again. It was much better than I had remembered it being!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

The Pumpkin Patch

This weekend, we visited a pumpkin patch that we had never been to before. We had seen an ad for it in a local magazine, and thought that it looked like fun, so after church on Sunday, we made the short drive to check it out.

As we pulled into the area, we couldn't believe how many cars there were! There were sooo many people, but it really just added to the fun!

Our first stop was the pony rides. Carson was a happy camper as Corey placed him up on the horse, and they started walking around.

Anyone know why I can't center this video on the page like the pictures...driving me crazy!

After the pony ride, the kids posed for me in front of a little area that had been created for photo ops. The owners had really gone to a lot of effort to create a fun experience for the visitors.

I tried several times to get a cute shot of the kids in the corn, but this was the best one that I was able to get...Carson was ready to move on to the "fun stuff" again!

This was more like what he had in mind...jumping! He loved it!

Unfortunately, after this picture, my camera died, and I missed getting pictures of the other fun stuff that was going on.

There were playground areas set up for the kids, including one that had tons of corn kernels for the kids get into and play with. It was like a sand box...only with corn kernels! This is a picture from the website. I don't know who these kids are...just imagine that you see Carson playing in there! Isn't he cute?! :)

While Carson was playing in the corn, Corey and the older kids went into the gigantic corn maze and played for a while. Corey would take one of the available tall bicycle flags into the maze, and then come back to the entrance and tell Christian and Caylie that the first one to find the flag would win a dollar. They did several rounds of this, and really had fun! Here is an aerial picture of the corn maze from the website! Pretty amazing!

Hayrides are also available, but by the time we left, we had been going strong for a while, and were already pretty worn out, so we decided that the hayride would have to wait until next year.

They have a party area that people can rent for birthday parties, etc. I think that would be so much fun, but we don't have any October birthdays in our family! On the day that we were there, this area was available for people to sit and drink their hot chocolate and cider.

It was a fun day, and we all had a good time. Carson wore himself out playing, so of course, he was out like a light before we even got out onto the main road!

We will have to plan on going again next year...only with a fully charged camera!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

One Last Stop Before Heading Home

Before heading home today, we made one last stop.

Often, when we go to Northwest Arkansas, we stop by a pizza/entertainment place that the kids really enjoy.

When we arrived, Christian headed straight for the bull ride! He gave the bull a run for the money, but eventually the bull won!

Carson found a school bus ride that was more his speed. I'm not sure where his shoes went between walking into the building, and getting on the school bus!

Corey is still a pretty mean shot when it comes to basketball!

And Caylie is not so bad herself...

A friendly race.

Caylie was old enough to ride alone, so it was Caylie against the boys. She is sticking her tongue out. Hmmm...does that mean that she is a sore loser?

Carson and I were the cheerleaders/photographers.

Back inside again, Caylie goes to town on the jump rope game...

Told you!

Christian got in on the action too!

After the kids turned in their tickets for prizes, we loaded up and headed home.

It was a great weekend!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Hannah's Hope 5K

This morning, Caylie ran in the first annual Hannah's Hope 5K in Bentonville. It was a children's cancer benefit, and it was a great race!

The weather was perfect for a 5K...nice and mild, and the location was beautiful! We were thrilled to find a playground located right beside the running path, so Carson was a happy camper while we waited for Caylie!

Caylie's goal was to beat her previous time of 29:45, and beat it...she did! She finshed in 27:27!

Below is the video that I took of her crossing the finish line!



The happy runner!

Caylie was thrilled to win a ribbon for placing 1st in her age division! Here she is receiving her award...


I think that Carson was kind of jealous...Caylie was nice enough to let him wear it for a little while!

Our little running girl...

Some of the participants in the race posed for a group picture after the awards had been given.

We really enjoyed our morning, and are looking forward to having a fun day. We'll do some shopping, then have lunch together, do some Razorback tailgating, and then Carson and I will come back to the hotel room while Corey, Christian and Caylie go watch the Hogs beat Georgia (hopefully)!

Writing the Waves,

Christi

Road Trip...First Stop...Razorback V-Ball!

Tonight we arrived in Fayetteville for the weekend, just in time to catch a Razorback v-ball game.

As we entered the building, the Razorback mascot greeted Carson, but Carson was not sure what he thought about that Razorback! He didn't want to let go of Christian's hand!

He finally, cautiously, agreed to give the Razorback a high five.

After we settled in, and Carson had gotten more comfortable, Corey took him back to the Razorback to see if he would interact a little bit. Carson didn't want Corey to get out of reach at all!

Corey had a little bit of fun by walking in a circle around the Razorback, and watching Carson chase after him...he was NOT going to be left alone with that Razorback!

The big kids and I were watching and recording it from our seats and laughing at how funny he was! :)



It was a fun night, and we all had a good time.

After the game, we settled into our hotel for the night.

We had an early morning coming!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Last Days of Summer

We recently had the pool liner in our pool replaced.

While our pool had been out of commission, the kids had been swimming at another pool, but they sure were excited to have their own pool back up and running.

They are squeezing all of the swimming they can into the last days of summer!

Carson loves playing in the pool with Caylie and Christian.

Caylie and Christian playing ball in the pool...

Carson showing off his jumping skills!

Caylie and Christian about to jump in together...

All three kids jumping in together...my slow camera did not cooperate too well for this!

Writing the Waves,

Christi

Labor Day at Lake DeGray

For Labor Day this year, we decided to spend the day on DeGray Lake with Corey's parents. We do not own a boat, but we love to rent one a time or two each year, and head out to enjoy the water!

Here, Caylie and Carson are relaxing on the tube.

Corey's mom took this picture of our family swimming in the lake.

The water was absolutely perfect!

Corey's dad, Papaw, is never one to miss out on the fun, so here he is diving off of the top of the party barge! He would dive under, and stay under as long as he could...scaring us all to death...just for fun! Corey and Christian aren't the first in the family to love pulling pranks!

Caylie jumping off of the top of the party barge...

Christian showing off his dive...

Carson jumped off the the barge for the first time. He only jumped from the ground floor, not the top, but he loved it! He did it over, and over, and over again!

Here is Nana relaxing in the sun.

Christian loves knee boarding!

Showing off with only one hand! :)

Caylie knee boarding...she enjoyed the tube more, but did get up on the knee board a couple of times.

Christian loves to have someone throw a ball for him to catch as he jumps off of the top of the boat. He's pretty good at it!

My two guys, enjoying the good life! :)

Christian and Carson tubing together!

It was such a fun day out on the water! We just love hanging out on the lake!

Writing the Waves,
Christi