VBS-Wedding-Move

Last week was pretty packed. It was the week of Vacation Bible School (VBS) at church and the week Mike, Andrew’s best friend and the best man from our wedding, got married. Here’s how the week went down.

Monday: Andrew took Kayley to the zoo for their first big Daddy-Daughter outing. They had a blast as previously mentioned in the last blog post.

I helped out at VBS by helping to lead music and being a “floater.” And for all those wondering, yes a pregnant woman can sing, jump and do all the hand motions. ^_~ I got quite the work out and had fun doing it.

Checking out the birds

Tuesday and Wednesday: Kayley spent both days with the nursery kids at VBS while I yet again helped to lead worship. She even made a cute craft to bring home. Instead of being a “floater” I was actually the story teller for both days and got to teach the kids about Paul’s life from the book of Acts.

I had lots of the little kids randomly put they hand on my tummy to feel the baby, which was super cute. One child asked if I was having a girl or boy. When I told her I was having a girl I overheard a boy say “how can you know that?” I figured I wouldn’t go into explaining all that to the 6 year old when I only had about a minute or less to spare before the next group of kids came to learn about Paul.

I was also touched by how many people (adults and kids) kept checking on me to make sure Cub and I were okay since I was up on my feet a lot and jumping around. Some of the kids were concerned for the baby until it was explained to them that the baby was in water and the jumping around probably felt like they were being rocked. As for the ones concerned for my well being, I assured them that exercising while pregnant is actually really good to do and that I was being careful not to overexert myself. I left out the fact that it’s good to exercise while pregnant because pushing a child out of your body is a lot of effort and it’s good to be fit and build up your stamina for the labor ahead.

Resting with my feet up. Sadly no pics from VBS =(

Thursday: We packed for the wedding and got Kayley packed for spending the next few days with her Maimie. My niece Katie came over to babysit her before my mom was able to pick her up. We left for T-town, got settled into our hotel, got ready for wedding stuff, Andrew went to the wedding rehearsal while I stayed at the hotel to plan for the kid’s program at Fall Conference, we went to rehearsal dinner, and then hung out with Mike.

Watching the glorious sunset from Mike's folk's house

The guys of course had to do a traditional Slurpee run

Friday: Andrew was busy with best man things for the wedding, and I stayed and relaxed at our hotel. Sure I could have gone out and done something, but I hadn’t had a quiet day to me in a long while. So I took advantage of our situation. ^_^ I took a bath, watched HP7 part 1 and 2, read a bit, had my feet up (for they have stated to swell a bit due to pregnancy), and enjoyed some delicious food.

That night it was Mike and Heather’s wedding! And what a lovely wedding it was. We were so happy we could be there to support, encourage and celebrate with them. Andrew and I both enjoyed dancing with the happy couple until I had to watch from the sidelines due to Cub being in a position that made me feel very uncomfortable. But we enjoyed the night and enjoyed seeing how happy Mike and Heather were before, during and after the “I Dos.”

After sending the happy couple on their way we stayed to help clean up before heading back to our hotel. 

Prayer during the ceremony

The happy newlyweds!

The happy couple with their happy parents

Aww, best friends. They were best man at each other's wedding, and both signed the other's wedding certificate as a witness.

The wedding party having fun

WHOOHOOO!

We sent them off with sparklers. Aawww, bring back memories of our wedding and being sent off in the same way. ^_^

Saturday: No toddler around = chance to sleep in. And then we had a very filling breakfast at the hotel. I would be happy to eat there again. ^_^ We took a swim in the pool before checking out and heading to my mom’s new house to not only pick Kayley up, but to help my mom move into her new home, and also celebrate my Aunt Lisa’s birthday. AND!!!! To my surprise (and everyone else’s) my brother Jay was there to help out! My mom and he had secretly planned for him to come up, so I was delighted and surprised to see him. And totally happy that he was able to spend the weekend with Kayley. I love my brother. ^_^

Kayley with her Uncle Jay

I <3 my big brother!

Kayley LOVES her Maimie's new backyard.

So we helped my mom, sister, bro-in-law and nieces move into their new home (well, I mostly ran around with Kayley while Andrew helped with the hard work). We had a great time with family and friends helping out, and a wonderful yummy BBQ to celebrate Lisa’s birthday. 

Uncle Steve cooking on the grill

Time to serve it up!

Kayley playing with her cousin Roland

Sunny weather + BBQ + great fellowship = awesomeness!

And then! My cousin Ira was able to show up to help and he brought actual real props from LOTR and the Hobbit movies! The place he works at as a smith actually helps to create some of the swords and armor for the movies. So Andrew and I were able to hold Sting and wear nazgul gloves! Very cool.

Nazgul armor!

Sting!

I'm pregnant and I have a sword... Don't mess with me!

My cousin, Joel, imagining being a hobbit. Good things the sword didn't start glowing blue.

Check out the craftsmanship

My niece, Sara, being kind of creepy with the Nazgul gloves.

And then after all the weeks excitement, we all went home to sleep so we could get ready for a regular packed Sunday.Kayley had a great time with her family while we were gone. Just like the last time we left her, she didn't really seem to care that we were back... Of course she was excited to see us, she just loves everyone else in our family so much that she didn't miss us too much. 

Kayley blowing kisses to Maimie and thanking her for the fun time she had while her mommy and daddy were away

Summer Fun

Since the weather has been so nice FINALLY, we have been trying to take advantage of it and get Kayley out of the house and in the sun for some fun adventures. Two weeks ago Kayley and I went to a kid’s concert at Marina Park. She seemed to enjoy the music the band played, but ended up wanting to watch and quack at ducks the majority of the time. I had fun with her as she explored benches, watched people, and continuously tried to get in the lake so she could be closer to the ducks.

Watching the band

Sitting on a bench watching the ducks and boats go by

Running around to the music

Quack! Quack! Quack!

Later that week as a family we went to Derby Day. Kayley got to make her first “big girl craft” at a stand, we had a picnic in the park, watched some bicyclist race, shared cotton candy (which Kayley had no interest in), ran into some friends, Kayley ran through the sprinklers and we all enjoyed the live music (which Kayley danced and clapped to, and then nearly ran up stage). It was a fun family outing that we’ll have to check out doing next year. Then maybe Kayley will be tall enough to go on some of the kiddy rides.

Sporting her new visor she decorated.

The bicyclists

Andrew carrying dinner to our picnic spot while I pushed the stroller and held two snow cones.

Enjoying the sunshine

I love splitting a cotton candy with Andrew. ^_^ It reminds me of one of our first dates

Kayley did not want anything to do with the cotton candy, which is totally fine with us!

Having a blast in the sprinklers

Kayley got to go to the zoo again. And this time it was a Daddy-Daughter outing, and their first BIG outing together. They timed going to the lion area perfectly. Kayley and Andrew were able to see the lions pretty close up as Kayley roared and pointed at them. And when they were at the jaguar exhibit, he walked right past them. Kayley also got to see some pretty colorful birds up close in an aviary section that I’ve never taken her too before. I was told they had a great day out.

Roar!

Checking at the jaguar as it passes by

Pointing at the birdies

Ps. I entered the 3rd trimester of pregnancy today! It's getting closer to when we get to meet Cub!!!

Berries, Horse and Swimming

Last Monday Kayley and I took Andrew to Remlinger Farm to pick raspberries (it’s where we did strawberry picking a couple weeks ago). We went right when they opened to miss the heat and have a chance to pick the best berries before lots of people showed up. We timed it perfectly, missing the crows all day.

Walking down the field, about to start our berry picking adventure

Kayley was great at finding red ripe raspberries. Her picking strategy this time was to find ripe berries, pick them (she usually didn’t need help) and then she popped them right in her mouth! She ate at least 15 raspberries. We had a fun time with our joyful girl and picked just over two pounds of berries. I think together we probably ate half a pound while in the field… 

Andrew showing Kayley which berries to pick

Kayley's first pick

She reaches for the berry and picks it and then...

Sticks it right into her mouth.

We enjoyed some too

Picking berries with mama

After berry picking we had lunch at the farm’s restaurant. Since Kayley filled up on berries she ate an extremely small lunch, but had a ton of energy. She had fun playing in the play area, doing puzzles, playing with trains, and riding a horse for the first time. She loved the horse ride machine. At first we just had her sitting on it, but she seemed to like it so much that we stuck a quarter in and let her ride. Oh my, she had the biggest mouth-open smile on the whole time! Her balance was great too. I was holding onto or standing right next to her, but I don’t think I needed to be as worried as I was about her possibly falling off. 

Looking at herself in the funny mirror

So excited to ride a horsey! I can't wait to take her on a real one.

When all of Kayley’s energy was spent we stuck her in the car to go home. She fell asleep almost instantly and finished her long nap after we got home. We then ended our family fun day at the pool. Andrew commented that it was so nice to not have to look at the clock and worry about what time it was. Neither of us knew what time we went to the pool or how long we stayed. We didn’t pay attention to the clock all day until we knew it was close to Kayley’s bed time. It made the day so much more relaxing and fun. 

Daddy helping Kayley into the pool

Swimming with mama

Crazy hair after the pool and bath

I’m looking forward to whatever family adventure we’ll be doing this coming Monday!

Our little helping

Our joyful girl

After a family effort, these are our berries

I hope so too!!!