End of Summer Pool Fun

The boys have had a lot of fun this summer at the pool! Lots of swimming, jumping off of diving boards, running across pool sharks, visiting another pool, snow cones, popcorn, and more! Grandpa Mark and Grandma Betty took them to the pool a lot, I wish I had pictures of them together but I don't. Just lots of the boys having fun :). Here they are at the Mt. Vernon pool before heading off to the diving boards. We all enjoyed the lazy river multiple times that day too!

Benjamin flossing before he jumps off the high dive at the Salem pool!

Pool shark fun!

The last weekend the Salem pool was open, they had a back to school party with a band, free hot dogs, and fun games for the kids. The boys went early with grandpa and grandma so I missed them entering the contents, but Benjamin made it to the semi finals of the flossing contest and Caleb did well in the hula hoop contest. I had no idea they could hula hoop, but they can and they are pretty good!

At the end of the day, it was free style flossing and hula hooping galore. Benjamin is in front in the green swim suit, flossing away to the music!

Boys getting their hula hoop on!

We are thankful to have had such a nice pool to enjoy this summer and for all the swimming fun!

Third Place Champs

The first week in August, Mark and Betty's church hosted a family worship event called Famtastic nights, and the theme was Third Place Champs. The boys and I had a great couple of days learning about how to put God first, others second, and ourselves third. Each night, there was family worship, a Bible story was presented,  then there were fun activities planned each night. 

Benjamin loved the bear mascot and literally tried to follow him everywhere and smothered him with hugs!

Caleb volunteered to go on stage for the Bible Story the first night. He was one of the fish in the story of Jonah.

For activities that night, the boys did several crafts and they made mosaic crosses, flags, and towels.

The second night, they presented the story of Jesus feeding 5,000. That was a neat story to hear again because back in January our family visited that location near Capernum, Israel and walked where Jesus, his disciples, and the crowds walked. Both boys volunteered to be part of the crowd, and when they were passed out the bread, they actually started eating it and had a sword fight with the bread rolls...which gave people a laugh.

That night's activities was inflatable games, jump houses, and slides!

And another fun photo booth. It was a great couple of nights worshipping and learning together as a family!

Marion County Fair

The last week in July, the boys enjoyed going to the Marion County Fair. We went on kid's day and there were lots of fun activities. The boys enjoyed petting baby bunnies, goats, and pigs. 

Practice milking fake cows and goats.

Riding the carousel.

First time eating funnel cake...and they were most interested in the powdered sugar on top!

Then we cashed in our free ice cream coupons...

It was a fun day!

Later in the week, they had an Emergency Responders night. Grandpa Mark took the boys for a guys night and they ended up staying late and riding some of the rides!

They look pretty serious, haha!

Grandpa Mark rode the ferris wheel with them.

But they were on their own on the 'swingers' as they called them. The boys have wanted to ride this ride for so long, but any place we have been in the past, they have not been tall enough. They were pretty happy that night!

It was another fun time at the fair for these guys!

Holiday World

The last week in July, we took a day trip to Holiday World. The boys remember going there a few years ago with their cousins and could not wait to go back to ride the waterslides and rides. And since they were a bit taller, they could ride just about every waterslide in the park with a grown up this time around!

I on the other hand could not ride any slides, being 34 weeks pregnant, but it was lots of fun to see the expressions on everyone's faces coming down the slides. I took a few pictures/videos...here is the Mammoth...they rode this twice!

The bumpy slide races were a big hit.

I think the Zinga was the biggest hit, and was ridden 3 times! 

We opened and closed the water park, then moved onto the rides in the evening.

The boys were tall enough to ride about half the rides, and they can't wait until they are 48 inches to ride a few of the bigger roller coasters next time we visit. They are 44'' and 45'' tall, so they are  getting close. Riding the Hollidog.

Mini drop tower.

As you can see from the darkness, we shut down the amusement park as well. It was a really fun day and we were glad to be able to visit this year. We left around 7am and got home around midnight, and Grandpa Mark won the super star award for getting us there and back safely after a full day of riding water slides!!

Trip to Memphis, Tennessee

The week after Caleb's birthday, we met Uncle Ed and Aunt Laura in Memphis for a couple of nights of fun. We stayed at the Bass Pro Shop Hotel. It used to be an Egyptian museum, then a sports arena, and now the store and hotel. It was a unique place to stay for a couple of nights!

This was the entrance to the store, the hotel was on the upper level.

The hotel had a nice sitting area with comfortable couches and rocking chairs, that you can relax and look down upon the store.

Bass Pro does their exhibits and marketing right! There was so much to see and do between the boat, 4-wheeler, camping, fishing, shooting displays, rifle arcade, toy area, aquarium, and much, much more!

The first evening we ate dinner at the restaurant at the top of the pyramid. To get to the top, you took this cool elevator, which happens to be the tallest free-standing elevator in the US.

We had a great view of Memphis from the observation deck.

The next day, we went to the Memphis Zoo, which was really nice!

It was a hot and humid day, and the boys have enjoyed being able to use public water fountains! Something we cannot do in Jordan...

We were all happy to take the train around the zoo. We even got a good rain shower in the middle of the day, which helped cool things off.

There were so many nice animal exhibits, everything from sea lions, pandas, elephants, reptiles, birds, and more.

After working up an appetite at the zoo all day, we went to a famous BBQ place called Corky's. The server convinced us (let's be honest, we didn't take too much convincing) to wear the bibs, and we relatively quickly realized that we were the only ones in the restaurant wearing them. The restaurant staff probably got a good laugh out of us, but hey, we didn't get our shirts dirty!

Next we drove past the famous Beale Street and past the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated.

We ended the night with glow bowling at the hotel. This hotel really had it all! It was fun to watch the boys bowl. Caleb had been one other time and this was Benjamin's first time. We had bumpers up, which helped all of our scores. 

And the winner was....Caleb! He made a big comeback with some late game spares and strikes, after being behind much of the game.

The next day, the store was holding a summer camp session, and the kids got to shoot bebe guns, learn about fishing, and conservation, with various activities hosted at the store. I think the bebe gun was definitely the highlight for both of them!

Grandpa Mark is a very good shooter himself...showing his skills at the rifle arcade.

Conservation and fishing sessions.

And some fun games around the area.

We had a great time with everyone, and are thankful for the fun trip and fun time we spent together!

Until next time :)