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

Magic Springs

We recently took a day trip to Magic Springs in Hot Springs. We had not been in a while, and were pleasantly surprised with how much fun we all had! We even talked about getting season tickets next year!

There were so many fun rides for the kids to enjoy. We made a stop at the train for Carson. Christian jumped in with him too! See Christian's arm waving from the side of the picture? :)

Caylie and Christian rode the swings. Carson and I rode later in the day, but didn't get any pics. I know I must be getting old, because the swings made me feel a little sick!

We did get a picture of us riding in the plane! I was a little bit surprised that they let adults ride this ride because there was NO leg room at all! My legs were so folded up under me that I thought I would break!

I can't remember what this ride was called, but Caylie and Christian loved it! They are both very brave when it comes to rides. They never come across a ride that they don't want to jump on! Often more than once!

While Corey and the big kids were doing some wilder rides, I took Carson on the Merry-Go-Round...about 5 times in a row! He never got tired of it!

Carson went on his first log ride. We were not sure how he would react, but as soon as he got to the bottom of the big hill, and got soaked with water, he started laughing! He loved it!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Clinton Museum Space Exhibit

Today Christian and I headed out to see the temporary space exhibit at the Clinton Museum.

Part of our curriculum this semester, is the Apologia study on space, so we thought that this would be an interesting field trip.

The first stop that we made was the simulator shown below. The concept was that the "chair" Christian was strapped into hovered slightly above the floor, and after directing it over to the wall (with some help from the assistant), he was to perform a set of tasks...similar to some that an astronaut might do. Christian said that this activity was just "okay".

Next, we went into the exhibit room to see the display of various items that have actually been used by astronauts on space missions. This area was pretty interesting.

There were many fascinating displays that we read about and learned new things from.

Our last stop before leaving, was the MAT (Multi-Axis Trainer) simulator. It was a wild ride, for sure! It spun in every direction, with totally random timing. I tried to load a video, but my computer didn't cooperate, so you will just have to use your imagination!

I couldn't believe that Christian had the stomach to do it two times!

He LOVED it!

It was both a fun AND educational day! I am so happy that we are homeschooling! :)

Writing the Waves,
Christi