To the FL OB's:

Aedan the Alligator

A Vieux Carre Visitor...

This past weekend we welcomed to Ryne Hand to Cookeville!! Ryne is the pastor's son from Vieux Carre Baptist Church in New Orleans. We met him this past June when we were down there on our Samaria Project. Ryne got in town late Friday night (at Kevin's house). Ryan met up with he and Kevin for lunch on Saturday, and then later that night we went over to Mark and Sherry's house for dinner. We had a great time, and the kids did really well. They were entertained by Paul's many toys, especially his dinosaurs. (Paul is our pastor's son...he's middle school age and in the youth group.) Paul was so generous to give the boys a HUGE t-rex that he had from when we was younger. On Sunday after church we invited Ryne over and the youth for a cookout. We had a great time just hanging out:) We're thankful that Ryne was able to come, and enjoyed our time with him!

Ryne and Ryan

Some of our beautiful youth

Ryne reading with Aedan and Josiah

Ryne and Aedan

Here's a picture of the dinosaur that Paul gave the boys:)

a dance worth watching...

(hit play and then pause it to download, otherwise, it will freeze up) be patient...it's worth it:)

the wilder girls' blog debut!:)

I took the kids swimming today with Rachael and her kids...and the Wilder girls were there, too. Thankfully, I had my camera with me to take some pictures for my blog...Peyton and Bethany are avid readers...so it's their first blog debut...yay:) Here are a couple pictures of our morning:)

Peyton chilling out by the pool.

Bethany in the water with Caleb

Caleb in the water. He does really well going under water. In this shot he had just come up!

Aedan is used to the floaties he has to wear. He didn't cry about having to wear them today. Aedan also did better floating today, and getting used to balancing himself in the water when he isn't touching. Hopefully, he'll get more and more comfortable with it.

Josiah:) He went under the water for the first time today. I was supposed to catch him coming down the slide, but I got side-tracked by Aedan. He didn't like it too much..oh well.

Aedan and Josiah

Rachael and Josiah

Here's the only picture I got of Charis today:( I thought I got one of her swimming, but I guess I didn't. She got this toy stuck in her hair. It was all wrapped around...very tightly. Rachael got it out, though:) yay!

Mini vaca...pigeon forge

On Thursday we headed down the road to Pigeon Forge for an overnight trip. Our main purpose in going was to see the Dinosaur Walk Museum. After reading mostly bad reviews, we decided that Josiah and Aedan would probably like it no matter what! After seeing the museum, I can see how some people wouldn't like it and feel like it was a waste of money. If you take the time to read all of the dinosaur facts then the museum wouldn't seem so short to walk through. We didn't read the info displays mainly because our kids wouldn't wait for us to read them. Josiah and Aedan loved it, though!! We went through it twice...they were so excited! Josiah has been talking about going back to the dinosaur museum since we got back. A major complaint that I read online was that it cost too much, but for us, children under 4 are free, so it cost us $20 for all four of us to go...not too bad. We liked the gift shop, too...it wasn't too overpriced! We regret not getting a couple things to save for Christmas. Here are some pictures of our overnight trip!

Ryan swimming with the boys at the pool hotel.

Josiah with his swimmies and noodle

Aedan getting in the big pool...no tears over having to wear swimmies:)

Ryan, Josiah, and Aedan in the little pool.

Ryan and Josiah

Aedan looking cute!

We went out to eat at Fuddruckers. The boys LOVE the food there. Too bad we don't have one here in Cookeville. Last time we went to a Fuddruckers was with my Dad on Thanksgiving break.

Josiah LOVES brochures.

Josiah and Aedan getting more brochures.

you can never have too many...

hmmm...maybe just one more!

After eating we went to some of the outlets. Ryan and I took turns going in a couple stores while the boys watched dinosaur movies:) These shirts for the boys was our only purchase!

Josiah and Aedan in the hotel bad. Aedan actually slept in his pack n play, but enjoyed laying with Josiah relaxing.

Dinosaur Walk Museum

The T-Rex

T-Rex, Ryan, Josiah and Aedan

The T-Rex is Josiah's favorite dinosaur!

a flyer!

Me and the boys with the T-Rex's foot!

Ryan with a huge swimmer dinosaur

Josiah and Aedan with the T-Rex's feet!!!

Josiah and Aedan call this dinosaur the "harp" dinosaur.

Josiah

Aedan

Aedan and Josiah: two cuties...so happy to see dinosaurs!

Me and Josiah...check out those toenails

digging for dinosaur bones

wow...bones!!!

the parasaurolophus...Aedan's favorite dinosaur

watching the dinosaur documentary

out front!

Playground fun: We found a playground to play on:)

Next, we went out to eat for lunch. Ice cream came with the kids' meal that the boys got.

Aedan enjoying his ice cream

Sleeping on the way home...dinosaurs in hand:)

Josiah is about to fall asleep in this picture. Notice the Dinosaur Walk Museum brochure, and also the dinosaur on his lap:)

We had a fun time! I look forward to next month and our vacation when we head to the beach!