Tweetsie! Boone, NC

Saturday, July 11, 2014

  

We traveled to Boone, NC to visit Uncle Scott, Aunt Karen and Nora this weekend.  Emily was very excited for the visit and was even more excited to go back to Tweetsie.  She remembered a little bit about it from when we went during Scott's wedding.  She was really looking forward to the petting zoo and the ferris wheel!  As soon as we arrived we headed for the train and took a ride through the wild west!

We were pretty sure that Nora would like the petting zoo so that was our first stop after the train ride.  We were right Nora loved it and so did Emily!  The kids fed goats, llamas, an Emu, potbellied pigs and more!

  

  

After visiting our animal friends and giving them a little snack (out of ice cream cones), we headed over to the playground for a little bit and then grabbed some lunch.  Note the cute Tweetsie lunch box!

After lunch Emily went to a magic show and then it was time for Nora to take a nap in the stroller.  So, Emily headed off to ride rides!  We rode the mouse mine train together and then Emily and Uncle Scott rode a few together too, including (of course) the ferris wheel!  They also drove the little cars together.  Emily also rode a few other rides, including the carousel.

  

  

At the end of this adventure everyone was worn out!  As a souvenir, Emily got a pink cowgirl hat and mommy got a funnel cake.  :-)  Great family fun!

Another Hedgehog Encounter

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Peterson, our neighbor's hedgehog, got to come outside and play with the kids tonight.  He was much friendlier on this visit than the last.   I guess being outside suits him.  Who'd of thought?  :-)  He's pricklier than he looks (especially when he get scared) so the kids had to wear gloves to hold him, but they had a great time!  Emily loves him.

Catching Fireflies

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Amazingly enough, Daniel still had fireworks that did not get set off during our party on the 4th of July.  So, we drug out all the leftover desserts, cracker jacks, blue cream soda and more and set them off with some of our neighbors on Saturday night too. Emily had much less interest in the fireworks and much more interest in God's littlest fireworks - lightning bugs.  They were all over Reagan's back yard and the kids loved chasing and catching them.  I guess since she is still so young we have just not been outside after dark in the summer for this quintessential childhood rite of passage.  Well, that has now been remedied and she loved it.  Of course, she was also very concerned that God's little creatures be set free at the end of the night so that they would not be alone and scared in a box.  I love her little heart and I loved this time out to remember what summer is all about for a child. Fireflies.  It really is about the little things.

    

Fourth of July Fireworks & Dessert Party

Friday, July 4, 2014

Happy 4th of July!!  What a great weekend!

  

We celebrated Independence Day with our Second Annual 4th of July Fireworks & Dessert party.  We had a "blast" last year and we just had to do it again. We still kept things very small with only a few families but it was still a lot of fun.  Thanks to Pinterest, I made red, white and blue sugar cookie bars, Rice Krispie lolly pops, fireworks cupcakes (sprinkles in the middle), chocolate star wands and fruit skewers.  We also had Cracker Jacks, Twizzlers, blue and white chips with salsa and pop rocks!  We got red and blue kool-aid bottles for the kids and even blue cream soda (and some adult beverages) for the grown-ups!  There was loads of food and loads of fun.

We had treat buckets for all the kids and a fireworks painting craft.  We also let the kids decorate their bikes and scooters with streamers for a little bike/scooter parade.  They seemed to really like that.  We also let them have a silly string fight which was definitely a highlight of the evening.

After some food, friends and fun it was finally time for fireworks!  This year's were even better (and way longer) than last year.  Emily braved a sparkler (with a cup) which was kind of a big deal after a little spark got her arm last year.  Dan and Paul really rocked the show.  They had some little "fireworks" that the kids really loved (the little panda Emily picked out, parachute guys and yes, a pooping puppy) and a bunch that Emily said were "just like Disney."  They went way up in the sky and were really beautiful.  I never even knew you could buy those!  For a show just on our driveway, it was pretty amazing. It was a super fun night.

  

   

The boys of summer!!