Oh what do you do in the summer time?? Zoo anyone?!

My mother informed me last week that I needed to pick a day and be ready for some fun. She wanted to take the kids to the Zoo! That sounds simple enough right?! We decided that we needed to head out as early as possible because it had been such a hot day on Monday. We wanted to leave the house by 7 a.m. so we could be there by 8 when the Zoo opens. Which means that is at least a 6:30 wake up call for the kiddos. Karrie had spent the night with Nana so I only had myself and Mitchell and Tammara to get ready, pack lunches and get on the road. We did have a few meltdowns early on but really WHO wants to wake up at 6:30? Kids and I ate breakfast, got dressed and then it was on to making the picnic lunch. We headed for the door and up to get Nana and Karrie. Then we hit the road. We did have to make one stop before the Zoo. We can't go anywhere without going to Wal-mart first! Of course we needed batteries so that I could capture my kids with Nana and proof that we in fact did make it to the Zoo. Then we were off to the Zoo! As we got closer the kids began to get more excited. Mitchell who had been there on a field trip was sure to let us know that we were in fact getting close. The kids were just so excited to see the signs pointing us in the direction of the Zoo. We arrived in one piece! The kids couldn't get out of the car fast enough. They were ready for this wild adventure! Mitchell would have to be the tour guide since he had already been there.....so we started with the flamingos. Although they were still sleeping that didn't stop us from watching them. Karrie LOVES pink so she didn't want to leave these beautiful pink flamingos! Mitchell wanted to show us the HUGE catfish next. We all couldn't get over how big they were. Lions, Leopards, Tigers, Bears, Camels, Rhinos, Monkeys, Lizards, Snakes.......oh the list goes on and on! As the kids got tired and hungry we just found a bench and had a snack here and there . To avoid a HUGE meltdown we decided to stop and enjoy our lunch while watching a Camel sleep. The last thing we had to do was go through the section called Kids Country..........that was a blast! They had chickens, goats, a cow, sheep, bunnies & ducks. My kids wanted to tell everyone that we had some of the same chickens at our house! They fed the goats and sheep. Then we headed to the gift shop to spend the money Nana had given them at the beginning of our trip. They each had $5 to spend however they wanted. Well that just didn't happen, $5 isn't much at the Zoo gift shop.....so we opted to save it and spend it at Wal-mart the next time we go. We loaded the kids up and headed back to Salina to hit the bread store before heading home! We did make another stop in Abilene at Dairy Queen. We had to end our wonderful trip with a BANG! It was a wonderful trip and fun was had by ALL! I am sure that we will venture back one day in the near future for the Museum! I am told that is the place to go next!

CHUCK E CHEESE

You are reading this correctly......we ventured out to CHUCK E CHEESE!! We decided that since we had a 2 year old around for a while we NEEDED to have some fun. SO we loaded up the van and headed to Topeka for our FUN filled day. We decided to NOT eat at Chuck E Cheese's we ate at CICI'S instead. The kids LOVED it, that is once they found the kind of pizza they liked, oh and don't forget the desserts! Oh the fun could have ended there but nope we ventured across the street and headed to the FUN ZONE!! If fun was had by ONE it was had by ALL!! The ride HOME..........Not SO Much! I guess 2 can be terrible after all!! The kids had a great time and well so did we!! Unfortunately I forgot the camera SO we don't have any evidence that we actually did make it there and did infact have fun! I guess we will just have to make another trip! Stay Tuned for more excitement and adventure.........we are off to the ZOO this week!

Birthday Celebration Grammie Style!

On Saturday July 18th Lexi turned 2!! That's right Ladies and Gentlemen we officially have our hands full. The birthday celebration started on Saturday early in the morning. Birthday gifts were exchanged for a smile or two and a big TADA! This little girl is super cute and full of energy. We did have to share her with the other grand parents but hey we got to celebrate first and last. We ended the weekend with a BOOM......Swimming in the pool, birthday dinner and of course some cake! All in all it was great and what a way to end the day! Who says 2 has to be terrible?!

Date Night!

The night started just like a typical friday evening. Pizza night of course...........but it wasn't "MY" pizza. It has been a little too hot to heat up the kitchen for my pizza these last few weeks. Nana came and picked the kids and pizza up and took them off to her house for the night. The kids had been looking forward to an evening with Nana all week long. Papa has been gone to Texas all week with work and got home just in time last night to go and get Ice cream with them. An experience that Nana said "she wouldn't have been able to handle alone"!

Mark and I went to "Annie Get Your Gun" at the Opera House in Junction City. It was such a great show! Mark and I don't usually have date night but I think that we might just have to keep this up! I love my children but this summer has been a tough one on me. I have been a bit on the grumpy side......to say the least. It is really bad when your husband and kids start blessing YOU to not be so grumpy! Maybe it is the fact that I will only have Karrie at home this year. Tammara is going to Kindergarten..........I thought I was fine with it. I guess time will tell.

We came home last night to an empty house.....VERY ODD. We also needed ice cream last night and bought everything we would need for a sundae. YUMMY! It was just so weird not having the kids around it was really hard to settle down and get to sleep. I did enjoy the sleeping in part this morning because my kids didn't recieve the memo that on saturday we sleep in, so they are always up around 7 no matter what time they go to bed. I am lucky that I don't have to worry about an empty nest any time soon!

Easter Egg Hunt

The friday before Easter we the Tiller family hosted an Easter Egg Hunt for a few friends. We have the perfect yard and we decided that we should put it to good use. That is exactly what we did. We started out with a few friends and worked our way to 20 plus kids! 400 eggs + 24 eggs each = LOTS OF FUN!! I am sure that next year will be just as much fun. We tried to get everyone in the picture....but I think a few are missing! Maybe they were enjoying their loot!

Happy Birthday Karrie!!

Today Karrie turns 4. That just doesn't even seem possible. Where has the time gone?! I look at my little girl and can't believe that she just isn't so little anymore. We have a week full of parties and fun planned. We had our Nana and Papa dinner on Sunday. Nana always goes all out for the kids special dinner! So I will have to work on my decorating skills! Karrie and I went to walmart yesterday and picked out some special decorations for our family party tonight! She thought she was fooling me when she picked out everything that Nana had on her table! We will just have to see if My table looks as good as Nana's! I spent the afternoon decorating and getting ready for this party. I just wanted everything to be perfect for my little girl and her birthday. I know that nothing can be perfect and well lets just say that I learned that little lesson very well today! I wanted my party for Karrie to be just as special as the one my mother gave her on Sunday. I guess that is where I went wrong. Never try and out do your mother! Be humble and possibly things will work out better. Well I started the day off with just the ordinary chores...and moved on to the major chores. I had an entire room to decorate so after lunch the girls were put down for their afternoon naps. I put on some music and headed into the dinning room........this is where the fun begins! I put up streamers and balloons and decorated the table . Then I moved into the Kitchen where I began to make cup cakes. I have made cup cakes a millions times.....but today for some reason(perhaps trying to one up my mother) they just didn't turn out like they usually do. I was just upset and wanted to give up.......but I have a Birthday Girl and she needed her special treats! So the next batch came out a little better. I decorated them and finished working on dinner. Time for the guests to arrive.......and the Tiller house gets a little crazy. I know silly huh?! Time just goes by so quickly once we begin. I can't even remember what I was complaining about earlier today or what the big fuss was....it seems like a big blur now. Except for the fact that today is Karrie's Birthday! I am sure that next year I will just throw something together and forget about out doing my mother! I feel so blessed to have such a sweet,energetic, silly & loving little girl in my life! Happy Birthday Kare Bear!!

Pinewood Derby

This was a few weeks ago....but I had to share! Mitchell placed 4th! He also got first place for most creative design! Mitchell and Papa worked very hard! Mark has many talents but this just isn't one of them. He said all he could see out of this block of wood was a pile of dust! So Mitchell asked Papa to help him with this awesome car! Mitchell is very proud of this car. We look forward to many more Pinewood derby races and the many different cars to be made!