visit to my sister's house and baby shower

Two weekends ago the boys and I took a little road trip to visit my sister!

We were only there 1 day and night, but had a blast! The boys are old enough now to play with their cousins, instead of just watch...so that's nice :)

We love a picnic lunch outside!! 

It was a gorgeous day!!

 We played hard in their basement {stocked with tons of toys!}, out front, and out back. I only added 2 to the mix, but it seemed like lots of kids everywhere we went! haha

Keaton got these awesome jammie jams his cousin, Hadley, outgrew. Yes, they're pink. No, I don't care :) He loves them and so they're a win for me! Haha

 Movie night :)

The next morning we headed out pretty much right away to drive south for my sister-in-law's baby shower!! The boys did a little jumping before getting in the van again. 

And I know. They have a trampoline in their basement. So awesome! Even Penguin wanted to jump with K ;0) 

 The shower was beautifully done! I'm so thankful I was able to make the trip and be there to support Shannon and little baby boy due in October!

Ryan had to work and so I was there solo with the boys, which wasn't ideal, but we made it work. I was a little bummed I missed visiting with everyone and watching Shannon open all her gifts, but that's life with little kids! They kept me very busy the entire time!! haha

 I think I took 4 pictures the entire time. A minute I got to sit down while they watched Trolls...

 And then Keaton literally acted like Godzilla and jammed this entire cupcake into his mouth and mushed it all over his face. Cupcake EVERYWHERE! hahaha Whyyyy? It's a good thing I wasn't trying to make a good impression because I would have failed.

We got home Saturday night and I collapsed on the floor :) Another busy weekend in the books!

family day at knoebels

Last week we had our annual Cowell family day at Knoebels!!

Look at how little the kiddos are at last year's trip! They've all grown so much!

Check out that really big kid on the far left ;-) We missed the littlest cousin, Noel, but next year he'll be big enough to ride and have fun!

One word to describe this year: FUN!

Keaton was so afraid last year and so we weren't sure what he'd think of the rides and noise, but he loved it :) And it's SO much more fun when your kids are having a good time!!

My niece, Hadley, was Keaton's little riding buddy most of the time. She's a hoot...the 3 of us had fun together.

K wouldn't have gone near the helicopters last year, no less ride it alone! Big stuff knew just what to do!

 I was pretty sure Penn would like the rides and I was right! He LOVED them! 

He's our little daredevil!

 I felt comfortable with him on all of them...except maybe the helicopter. This one went way up in the air and so we put Keaton on the outside for good measure.

I can't even handle seeing these 2 riding together - SO cute!! {And check out how bored that big kid is behind them. He needs to ride the Phoenix next hahaha}

Sister and Hadley!

  We loved the balloons!

 We rode a bunch of rides and then took an ice cream break. Penn doesn't like a lot of foods, but he loves his ice cream {and popsicles and donuts :) }

My dad, BIL, and older nephews were riding big rides during our ice cream break. This picture cracks me up because it was right after my sister Emily {sitting on my left} read a text from my Dad telling us what ride he was about to get on. As you can see my oldest sister and Mom were a little concerned the Dramamine didn't have time to kick in yet! 

"Dad is riding what?!?"

Oh my gosh I love him. If there's a crowd and noise he's happy...the rides were an added bonus!!

They just had the time of their lives!

Just a bunch more pictures from our fun day!!

 

Already looking forward to next year!!

my little swimmer

We've been beating the cold winter blues over here with some splashin' in the pool!

Keaton thinks getting in his bathing suit in the middle of winter is FUN!

Ryan is giving me his best GQ model pose here {he was excited :)!}

  This week it was Ryan's turn to get in with K-man, so I got to take a few pictures! They were all from kinda far away and with my phone so the quality isn't so good, but you get the idea!

Headed over to the deep end! 

Yes, Ryan is holding Keaton right. It looks awkward {and is!} and uncomfortable, but the babies don't seem to mind being drug across the water by their shoulders! 

Good catch buddy!

 

They did lots of other fun things like....splashing! Going under! And kicking across the pool! Ya know, typical swim class stuff ;0)

The big alligator slide was last....

 And I think Keaton's face here sums it up pretty nicely - "seriously Dad?!"

I'm not going to be that Mom and say we have the next Michael Phelps on our hands but...

I think he might be the next Michael Phelps! Strong kicker this one!

the weekend before christmas

We had a fun and busy weekend!

Keaton and I started things off right with a trip to Target. Duh.

I don't post nursing pics {ever}, but these moments I just treasure. Being out with my boy and giving him just what he needs and when he needs it! It's not always this convenient, but we always make it work! Anytime, anywhere!

After a stop at the madhouse, formally known at Target, we checked out Once Upon a Child and stocked up on some great 12 month used clothes! Used clothing stores are always hit or miss....I'd call this a hit!! Notice the brand new overalls with tags?!?

 You can see how much Keaton cares about the clothes!

Ryan got out of a work a little early on Friday and then had the weekend off, which instantly made it that much more fabulous!! :)

Keaton and I love having him home! K especially loves the Christmas serenading that happens post-nap....

And story time. 

Be still my heart.

On Saturday morning, we headed to NJ to have a nice Christmas lunch with Ryan's extended family! We don't get to these annual lunches as often as we would like, so I'm thankful we made it this year! Keaton did amazing! He missed 2 naps and was around a lot of new people, but still kept it all together. It took all but 2 minutes for him to fall asleep as soon as we started home :)

Sunday was another big day with Ryan's youth group guys Christmas party right after church and then our small group Christmas party. It was so much fun!! We had a "laid back" party {aka pizza and sweets}, but I thought it was perfect! We had to leave a little early, because Keaton needed to go to bed, but we had a blast! 

I can't believe Christmas is in just a few days! Eeek! I was in the grocery store today with K-man and basically skipping through the isles. Tis the season! :) :) 

date night & apple trample 5k

We had a busy weekend!

Let's start with date night!! 

Ryan and I had our first date night since having Keaton on Friday night :) I surprised Ryan with a babysitter and took him to a BBQ joint and Harbor Freight Tools to browse - haha! He's such a good husband and Dad, he deserved a special night out for him! A friend from our church, Shannon {aka the baby whisperer} stayed with Keaton. He wasn't too happy about the whole situation, but managed to go to bed around his normal time :)

Saturday morning we woke up at our usual time, then headed to West Virgina {about an hour and a half away} to run the Apple Trample 5K! Since we weren't able to run in GA, we replaced it with WV. Ryan has us on a tight schedule to get all these 5K in 50 states done...2 a year to stay on track! haha :) 

These 2 before the race are just too cute!

And as I was going bonkers over the cuteness of little man, a great big southern guy came over and told me to get in the picture -- K obviously wasn't so sure about this guy ;0)

There were about 500 people in the race and Keaton wasn't the only stroller! Ryan pushed most of the way...I did for maybe 1/2 a mile, which I vaguely remember being uphill :) 

Even though we started in the way back of the pack, we managed to come in first in the self-proclaimed "stroller division" with a time of 26:45! We know we were first because as we got near the finish some guy yelled "yay! first stroller! good job!" BAHAHA.

Again, K wasn't impressed. He slept through the entire race and woke up at the end with a very "that's all you got?" face.

It's the Apple Trample 5K buddy! We got an apple too!

And a free slice of pizza! 

After the race Ryan basically ran straight to the free pizza stand while I dry heaved in the corner. OK...I wasn't dry heaving, but I was trying to catch my breath! I didn't feel quite as good as him this time ;0)

It was a perfect fall day to be outside! I loved being with my little family!!