Picnic at the park

We met some of our family at the park last weekend for lunch, playing and some fun family time. It's been super busy lately with the all the kids starting school, so this get together was long overdue. We had a great time!

My mother-in-law is a RIOT. Plan and simple. Love her to pieces. Just a fun lady.





We ended the day at the lake so the kids could feed the fish. Pretty gross (in my opinion), but they love it. It was a hit, as usual. Thanks for the awesome day, we can't wait till the next one!

When Luke is away . . .

These two are pretty funny together. It's interesting to watch them interact while Luke is at school. When Luke is home, he and Evan are pretty much inseparable and Kate just follows them around or she tries to get in on the action in any way she can. However, when Luke is gone, Evan is actually interested in Kate. He wants her to be with him. You'd think he'd enjoy this time to play something on his own (not really possible, I suppose), but nope, he likes company.

Even if Evan wanted to build blocks by himself, I doubt Kate would comply. : )

I am enjoying the two mornings a week that I have with Ev and Kate. It's a new routine that we're still settling into and I quite enjoy it. I believe they do, too.

A fun day for a fort . . .

Fall is in the air . . .

The stomach flu has recently taken over the McCrary household. It started with me, then found its way to little Evan and a week later finally got to Luke. Hopefully it has had its fun in our house and is GONE (for good)! In order to feel somewhat normal we've tried to get out at least once a day to feel the cool breeze and the sun on our faces.

Luckily Kate and J have dodged this one. We're praying that it continues to pass over them.

This girl is feisty! She's getting quite the 'tude. She is quick to protest when things aren't going her way.

See. Check out that "stink" face.

Well, here's to health and being able to enjoy Fall to it's fullest before the much dreaded winter sets in. (Blurry, but couldn't help but show that determined face - who knew riding a scooter required such focus!).

Check it out!

Look at this girl go! We can't believe that she's doing this. Kate has been standing for a while now and started cruising around the furniture, but to be walking behind this lion. Oh, it just is almost too much for me! I can hardly believe that in just over a month she is going to be 1! My goodness. Anywho, she's pretty proud of herself. (quality is bad . . . it's from my phone). Enjoy!

Vacation - Branson Landing

Every night we walked down to the Landing with the kids. They have an awesome fountain and light show overlooking the river. The kids absolutely loved it . . . so did we. We would park the stroller and let the boys get out and run. They threw coins in, danced to the music, made friends, and got a little wet in the process. It was a busy weekend and challenging at times (5 people in one hotel room) but it was great. We'll definitely have to go back soon!

Movie Night

It's been awhile since we've had a movie night. With summer being as busy as it has been, it was nice to get a good kids movie, order some pizza and relax. We heard good things about Rio, so that's what we decided on. We laid a blanket on the floor, popped Kate in the booster seat and feasted on some greasy, delicious pizza. Good times.



Of course you can't have a movie night without sweet treats, too. J bought some frosted sugar cookies from the store to have after we ate our pizza. Apparently someone left their cookie behind for this little gal to gobble up. I came around the corner to find Kate with her hands in the icing and then they went straight into her mouth. This is a blurry shot, but just look at that face. She knew she was up to no good!

My mom called just before we were getting ready to start the movie and asked if her and Jae (my niece) could come by. I said, "sure"!!! So, they joined us for the evening. The more the merrier, right? Almost. : ) With four kids under four, there wasn't a lot of movie watching going on, but there was lots of fun happening. They boys get along with Jae great and Jae mothers Kate. It's a pretty sweet combination.

Here's to more movie nights and the possibility of actually watching the movie. : )

Luke's 1st Day of Pre-school

It finally arrived. Luke's much anticipated first day of pre-school. We've been talking about this day for months and I honestly didn't know how it would all play out. Luke has seemed excited all along and everyone I talked to continued to reassure me that he would love it and he would do great. Well, that's awesome. But, what about me? Am I going to do awesome? Or, am I going to be a sobbing, blubbering mama when I drop him off? I am I going to make him nervous. Is he going to be ok without me? Will he remember to tell the teacher when he has to go to the bathroom? Oh my. Those were just some of the thoughts that ran through my mind leading up to this big day!

There was no reason to worry. Justin's mom was a rock star and volunteered to come over and stay with Evan and Kate so that I could take Luke by myself (love her). I woke up early (to an actual alarm, not one of the kiddos!), got myself ready (actually fixed my hair!), made coffee, and quietly tiptoed into the boys room to wake Luke up (without waking Ev (fingers crossed)). Success! Luke woke up happy and eager to start his day. We had a quiet breakfast, just the two of us (for the first time in a LONG time). We got dressed, took pictures and headed off to school.

Once we got there we found our way to his classroom. His teacher was great. She helped him find his name on the wall to hang his backpack and then showed him around so he could start playing during "free time". All the while, he just nodded and followed her looking over his shoulder to make sure I was still there. After a few minutes, he decided on an activity. I took this as my cue to get out of there. I leaned over and told him it was time for me to leave. I gave him a hug and kiss and he was great. I snapped a picture of him as I was outside his classroom and he hadn't even turned to look for me. He was ready! Thank goodness! Oh, and I was great, too. No tears. I was so happy to see him happy - that's all that mattered. Here's to an amazing year at pre-school. Hopefully the rest of the year goes as smoothly as his first day!

Vacation - building cars

We took the boys to a place on the Branson Landing where they could build their own car. It's like Build a Bear, but it's cars. In other words, Luke and Evan's dream day.

Oh my it seemed like an eternity before they could decide on a car. They went back and forth, back and forth before finally deciding on their cars.

Check 'em out. This place has it all figured out. You pick your car, tires and wheels and head over to the build station. They get to screw the base to the car frame, put the wheels in the tires and pop them on. After that, you're done. You can then go try on different spoilers, hood ornaments and other car stuff that I know nothing about and buy them if you want. Fun times.

Just check out the smile on his face. He's so excited.

Here's Ev in the process of building his car.

This shot is blurry but captures Evan's excitement and personality perfectly.

Vacation - a day on the lake

So, J and I decided that we couldn't go to the lake this year without renting a boat. I am so glad he pushed for this, it was an absolute blast. When we got to the Marina the boys immediately headed for the dock so they could feed the fish and turtles. I must admit - after seeing these GIANT fish begging for food (seriously), it made me a little nervous about getting into the lake. However, I overcame that thought and decided to relax and enjoy what the day would bring.

Even Kate was amazed by those enormous things!

From the start all Evan wanted to do was "get in lake". Poor guy, the search for the "perfect" spot took a little longer than anticipated due to one minor hiccup that we weren't planning on - no anchor. What? Really? Yes, that's right, no anchor. So . . . we had to find a spot calm enough to stop and swim and hope that the boat wouldn't get too far away from us in the process. It was a bit tricky at first and the kiddos were getting antsy, hot, hungry, etc...

However, we found a spot and this is the response we get. Pure bliss. : )

Sweet girl. Honestly, we drag her around from place to place more than I care to admit and she just hangs in there with a smile and little complaint. All she needs is some attention, snacks, a place to rest and she's good to go. Lucky us, right?

Apparently Luke likes to play it safe when swimming in the lake. Take note of the life jacket, his muscles and the noodle. I think you're good, buddy. He loved it.

What a great day to be on the water. Thanks, daddy.