Family Day:Legoland

I recently heard that Branson was host to a temporary Legoland. So, today we went as a family to investigate! 

WE FOUND IT!!
(it is at the Branson Landing...free fun for everyone)

 When we walked in we were greeted by a very friendly guy...and Jonah was given a lego pirate hat. He is wearing it over his ball cap, so it's hard to see in most of the photos. 

 here he is with a lego guy that is as tall as he is. 

 building with Daddy

They constructed vehicles that they raced down this ramp. 

While the boys were playing Elizabeth and I just hung out...

The Ball Game.

A while back my sister called and asked if she could take Jonah out to a ball game. A minor league game...which is the biggest game Jonah has ever had a chance to attend. And so, of course, I said yes. I didn't tell him until the day before. I try to avoid too many questions when possible! 

Jonathan and I had hoped to take him ourselves sometime this summer, but with his schedule and my pregnancy...well, it just didn't suit. I'm glad Auntie Em had the opportunity! 

I think Jonah had a good time. He didn't have much to say afterward. I think he was in a junk food/over-stimulation coma. I'm sure the pictures Em sent me can explain more than Jonah has! 

Center: Jonah and Em

Clockwise from Top Left: Our cute little bobble head, Jonah and his new buddy, Brad, Hammons Field (home of the Springfield Cardinals), Jonah having ice cream, a little action on the field, and finally...Jonah playing on the slide. 

He didn't only have ice cream and cotton candy. Oh, no. Em takes better care of him than that. He also had NACHO's!!! (that was the one thing he came home telling me about). 

Family Night Out: mini-golf

Last night we went out as a family! Jonathan and I looked forward to it all day long. He has been working most evenings, so it was exciting for us to all spend time together. We decided to take Jonah to play miniature golf for the first time. He likes to pretend he's playing golf around the house, and has even told us his score from time to time (he always has a double bogey). I credit our Wii mini-golf game for that one. 

Let me tell you, the Wii has nothing on a real miniature golf course! (combined with our little cutie, of course)

We went to a local indoor course. The temperature had dropped through the day, and there was a chance of rain. This indoor course is really colorful and pretty, but made it difficult to get good photos. 

ALL of the photos are blurry. We tried and tried. 

The lighting (and too-excited-to-stand-still-tot) just wasn't conducive to quality photos.

 (we asked the sweet lady working there to take a family shot, but they were the worst of all...I did slip them into the video)

He got progressively better through the course. Practice makes perfect, you know. The lady who was working there could not believe he'd never played on a mini-golf course before. In the beginning he manipulated the ball to do what he wanted, but, Jonah actually made a couple of holes on par...like, he really got it in without "cheating."

We're gonna do this again soon!!

A Sporting Good Time

I first uploaded each of these pictures individually, but it wasn't as enjoyable to look at. So, I made one of my fun collages! Aren't you excited!

If you have met Jonah, then you know he loves to play ball. Any ball, he's not picky. But, he doesn't limit himself to just balls. He likes anything that is done outside, or anything athletic (although he doesn't yet know the word or meaning of 'athletic')

above you see Jonah:

• wearing a bike helmet (the way he thinks it should look)
• sporting BEN's tennis racket (it had to be Ben's)
• with his fave....the basketball
• ready for swimming

• being Joe Cool
• playing t-ball with Molly
• drying off after swimming

below you will see Jonah playing his own little made-up game...

Football on the Hammock, or "weeep" 

(since that's what I call the word he keeps repeating):

I did not put the ball on the hammock.
This was all Jonah's doing...no form of weird parental torture! 

Weekend Update: Perfect Friday Night

My recipe for a perfect Friday night includes two boys, some fun puzzles, and a pizza!! I've listened to lots of laughing and dried a few tears...we're living it up! 

(what they don't know is that we're all going to bed early too)

Giving Thanks

Well, it's Tuesday. I can't believe it's been a whole week since I last wrote on this little blog. And then, on the other hand, it feels like it's been two weeks! 

We have been busy, as I am sure many of you dear ones have been too. 

We joined the Atkins family for Thanksgiving. The crowd was 13 people fewer than normal, but  it still felt pretty large. (there are normally nearly 50 people there...in a small farm house.) I love the people who we see at Thanksgiving each year and I love the traditional game of Hand and Foot. (if you've never played before you should...just don't play with us!)

I  caught a couple of pictures...one of which has less to do with Thanksgiving than  it does with a recent birthday!

Cooking with Grandma Atkins

(cranberry bread)

the Nerf football with Chiefs helmet and jersey from Aunt Melody! it was one of the highlights of our visit. he LOVES it! (and so stinking cute when he'd throw the ball...the helmet would fall down over his eyes.) can you see the chinstrap over his nose?

Hugs with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Atkins. And Tiger, my sister-in-law's favorite dog who she lovingly nicknamed 'underfoot!'

The Canceled Birthday Party

Ok, it really was a canceled party. BUT, we had it anyway. We weren't going to risk spreading chicken pox to the unsuspecting. But, we also weren't going to miss a photo-opp. To this day I am not sure if Jonah had the pox or not. I thought I saw some bumps that could have been...I just don't know. I still feel terrible about the friends that didn't get to come. I'm a big fan of "the more the merrier" and I think this party is just such a case. It could have been LOTS of fun. (we did have our own fun, though)

My mom and dad came up from Arkansas. Mom had done a lot of prep-work (before cancellation). My sister came over from Ozark and we partied like fools. 

 *please note those "birds" on the {angry} centerpiece. my mother did an AWESOME job hand painting some rocks to look like birds. Those rocks truly were my favorite of all the decorations!

 we had birds hanging from the ceiling...

...and roosting atop the cakes.

 setting up the "angry birds" game in the backyard

(you can't see it in the picture, but the balloons have pig features)

...destroyed!

Cutest litte Cat-in-the-Hat!

Our church has a Kid's fun night every year on the 31st. Well, we like to make it a Family Fun night...cause our family likes to have fun together!

see:

When Jonah was a baby we were given this Cat-in-the-Hat costume by our friend Dawn.

So, I have been planning this dress-up-as-a-family idea all year...knowing the Cat would fit Jonah this Halloween. 

But, as usual, I was scrambling around at the last minute. Why do things have to take longer than anticipated to put together?

But, we made it. And we had a good time!

    Jonah's favorite area was the one with basketballs...

throwing a bean bag to knock down the crows. thank you, mrs. jan for your help!

And he also found a new way to "play" at the duck pond. he re-arranged each duck to a new pond, rather than pick just one to see if it was a winner! they ladies running it thought his idea was a good one!

Oh my goodness....look at this cute cute girl I saw. I have no idea who she is or which adults she was there with...but her dancing brought quite the crowd!

And then, after we got home, he had to sort through his loot. I didn't even have to teach him how to do this! 

Football.

I've never really been a big football fan. I guess my philosophy on football is this: the younger the players the more enjoyable it is to watch. I don't care for professional football AT ALL. I can cheer for the Razorbacks, Missouri Tigers, or for Auburn just fine, but I don't live to watch. 

If the footballs all looked like this I might be more interested:

maybe.

Now, High School football, well, that's something I can get behind. I love sitting in the bleachers in the crisp cool air on Friday nights!!

Do you know why?

I love to watch the band at halftime. 

Why?

Because I was in the band when I was in H.S.!!

Christmas parade...1998

(do you see the smile on my face? i was trying not to laugh in embarrassment because my mother made me POSE for a picture right there in the street...and now, well,  i'm glad to have the photo.)

ok, back to present day...


My son apparently likes the game more than I. Go figure!


He learned a new word tonight. Well, maybe not new to him, but new for him to SAY!!

He is so cute. I'll definitely watch him play if he so chooses someday! 

What's His Deal? (video added)

What is Jonah's deal??? I'll tell you...it's that he learned to deal...cards, that is!

Jonah was very occupied the other night. Upon investigation I saw he had found a deck of cards and was "dealing" them out all over the coffee table. It was the cutest thing! I wondered what brought about this new interest and remembered I'd been playing card games with Ben quite a bit this week. Jonah just wanted in on the fun.

He would deal (shove cards to all sides of the table) very intently. Then he would pick them up one by one and look at them. Finally, he came to me (I may or may not have been feeding my new addiction to Pinterest) and pulled my hand until I joined him at the table. We played for a while...then Jonathan came home and the three of us played.

Two things I noticed while working with these pictures:

1. Jonah needs to work on his "poker face." (middle left)

2. You, dear reader, need to ignore that he is pantless...sometimes that is how we roll!