Yay For Getting Away

About a month ago, we enjoyed a long weekend away at my dad's MOST favorite location... Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge.  We had a great time!  I've reached the conclusion that one of the best things about going on vacation is, for the time you are gone, you aren't staring at laundry and housework that must  be done.  Now, it's a different story when you return home from the trip, but for the few days that you are gone, ahhh... it's just so nice to have a break from it all, not to mention the round the clock childcare assistance :) 

Group pic,minus Mom, on balcony of cabin

  We enjoyed driving through the mountains and picnicking along the way.

My dad could TOTALLY never go to the beach again, but he is such a good sport to take his family every summer :)  It was time we made him happy and went where he enjoys going most!

We had fun celebrating Hayden's 5th birthday with a boiled shrimp dinner, his favorite, along with birthday cake and ice cream!!!

Kenadie was sound asleep in the car in the next pic!

A little candy with cousins never hurt anyone :) Berkley dreaming about the day she gets to enjoy a sucker!

Air brush t-shirts are a MUST when you visit the mountains!  T-rex for Hayden, Ironman for Henry, butterly for Kenadie and an elephant for Berkley :) 

Aaron, the good sport to sleep up there one night with Hayden and Kenadie!  It was very high up!!!  And, a little bit of my motherly instincts felt like it wasn't right :) but we did it anyway!   Aaron slept on the end nearest the very steep ladder.  Needless to say, I didn't rest very well this night, but the kids enjoyed every second!

See, I told you it was WAY up there!!!  I'm not going to elaborate here that my somewhat cautious 3 year old, who had been told not to and who obeys Mommy and Daddy quite well, climbed to the top all by herself while only her very cautious cousin was watching!!!  We were notified when she got down!  Seriously, she could have broken her neck, and she almost lost ALL priveledges for the remainder of the trip!  If there was ever a time that Kenadie deserved a spanking, it was now!  Boy did we give her grace!

Hands down, this is the best pic of the trip!  Gotta love the sun shining so bright that not even the adults can grin and bear it :)  I take that back, Dad's doing pretty good :)

Dad, I'm so glad you love the mountains and your family so much!!!  Thanks for a wonderful trip!!!  I promise we will go back, you just say when :)

Fabulous Fall!!!

And fall just wouldn't be complete without a trip to the pumpkin patch!

The day was just beautiful, a little hot, but fun nonetheless!

Kenadie loved playing in the corn, while Berkley DID NOT love the ducks!  Just wishing I had taken this picture from the ducks perspective.  On the other side of this sweet little head were tears when they started quacking in her face...  I'm sorry, Berkley, but it was kinda funny...  Just a little :)

Racing her little ducks...

Aar-on, [air-uhn], noun. Male given name meaning walking compass.

I'm pretty sure that if I had taken Kenadie and Berkley to the pumpkin patch alone, Aaron would have made me sign a legal document stating that we WOULD NOT go through the corn maze, for the safety of his family, of course!  Just hoping Kenadie and Berkley got a little of their daddy's sense of direction :)  It's only fitting that someone who enjoys working with numbers would also have a GREAT sense of direction at ALL times!  If traveling any uncharted territory--ALWAYS take Aaron with you! 

Things That Are Fun

It's always fun to visit the Georgia Aquarium,

and it's especially fun to be with these great people, and being at a Braves game only makes it better!

Not to mention, it's super fun to be OUT past your bedtime, with blue teeth from your cotton candy, I might add :)

It's fun to eat donuts, before heading to the...

World of Coke!

3 D shows are fun too!

But, what's most fun of all is spending time with your family.  Thanks so much D and Papaw!  We had a great time!!! 

More of what she tells us...

"I don't have a runny nose anymore.  I ran out."

Kenadie (mumbling gibberish)

Lindsey: "I don't know what you're saying."

Kenadie: "I'm trying to tell you that Berkley dropped her cracker, in Spanish."

Lindsey: "We will blow your nose as soon as we get to school."

Kenadie: "No Mommy, no Mommy, I already blowed it back up."

Kenadie: "Could I have some lotion please?"

Lindsey: "Why sure you can."

Kenadie: "Oh thanks Mom!  You're the sweetest girl I ever saw!"

8 is GREAT!!!

Berkley definitely thinks being eight months old is GREAT!  Why, you ask?  Oh, well just because she pretty much gets whatever she wants, all the time... within reason of course :)  She could be summed up as happy all the time, if in any one of the following: when she's being held and walked around the house wherever I go, when she's sleeping, or when she is freely roaming about the house, doing as she pleases!!!  You can just forget about putting her in ANY type of holding device, i.e. exersaucer, jumperoo, swing etc.  Wait, I take that back, she does like the exersaucer.  For like five minutes :)  She is truly a sweet baby and I am always finding myself telling Aaron how sweet she is.  Let's just say she likes to be held, likes her freedom and likes her sleep.  And, these aren't bad things by any means, she just doesn't let you forget that she doesn't appreciate you setting her in the exersaucer, ha! 

     You attempt to pull up on anything you come into contact with!  Sometimes when you're just sitting on the floor, it's as if you are going to stand up right there, without the help of anything!  I'm not saying you are pulling up just yet, you randomly have if the object was just the right height, but it sure won't be long and I'm sure I'll be finding you standing up in your bed in no time.  Your first little tooth is just barely coming through :)  It's your bottom left tooth.  You've had your first ear infection and have been on your first antibiotic :(  You never ran fever, just pulled/tugged/made little sores in your ear over a couple of weeks, so I took you to see your doctor before going out of town. 

Probably your daddy's favorite recent milestone... you attended your first Southern Miss football game, and did great!!!

     And last, but certainly not least, you LOVE Kenadie!!!  And she would say she LOVES you more!  On ANY piece of school work, art work, doodling-type work, coloring page etc., she writes "Kenadie Zumwalt Berkley."  She's ready to see you immediately from you waking from a nap, or if she's been away from you for any length of time.  When I took you to the doctor last week, she stayed with Kay Kay, and made sure to tell me to call her after your appointment and tell me what the doctor said :)  Gee, I sure hope that's genuine and that I haven't OCDedly passed that on to her :)  She was sweet though, she wanted to know if you were sick :)

Here's to hoping that your eighth month doesn't fly as quickly as your seventh, because if it does, it means that we will be celebrating Kenadie's 4th birthday, BIG tear :(  But, she's way too excited for me to get too sad about it...  I'm sure I'll make time to have a closet cry about it when no one is looking :)  I love you my little Berkley Pie! 

Family Dedication

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Proverbs 22:6

Family Dedication was this past Sunday at our church.  It was just a sweet time, where our family, along with six other families, stood before the church and committed to raising our children in Godly homes.  It is a priveledge to be Kenadie and Berkley's mommy.  It is my prayer that they grow to love Jesus and honor Him in all that they do.  May I always set the Christ-like example God has called me to be. 

   Thankful for our little blessing, Berkley.  And thankful, and I'm not joking here, that Kenadie did EXACTLY what she was supposed to do: Be very still, be very quiet, and if she felt the need to do anything other than stand there and look pretty, she could smile :) 

Extreme Makeover: Nursery Edition

On Monday, Berkley discovered how to go from laying down to sitting up all on her own.  Monday night when I put Berkley down for the night, I told Aaron that this would probably be her last night to sleep in her bed without it being lowered.  10 minutes after putting Berkley to bed... Aaron was lowering her crib!  Even though she's not pulling up yet, I could just see her taking a nose dive over the side of her crib.  I also had to remove the bumper pad from one side... she thought she needed a place to look out more than the comfy pillow surrounding her :)

  And, she gave her new and unimproved bed two thumbs up!  While her mommy was sad it was already time to do such :(