First Haircuts

Baby D and Miss Ruthie got their first hair cuts today!

Big brother B was concerned when he heard that Miss Ruthie was getting her hair cut.  He loves her long hair.  He said, "Mom, will you make it so I can't tell she got her hair cut?"  I assured him that she was just getting a trim.  Sweet big brother.

Big bro Q didn't need a hair cut but he wanted to join in on the fun.

They have the coolest chairs!

Look at this sweet baby boy.

A VERY rare sight.  One of my children with a sucker.  Desperate times call for desperate measures!

He sat by himself for a couple more minutes and then after that he was on my lap.

All done.  My handsome little man.

I had to take a couple more pictures when I put him to bed tonight.

What a big boy!

We met the Duggars!

My family teases me that Michelle Duggar is my best friend.  

Needless to say, I like their show.  I find it inspiring and encouraging.  

They clearly love the Lord, their family and others.

It was such a joy to meet them tonight!

I love it that my sister, Rock Star, went in for the hug!  There are so many of us Mommas who understand.  Parenting little ones is so stinkin' hard and Michelle gives sound advice and encouragement via their show and their books.  She always points us back to the Lord and His Word as our strength in this season.  Oh man, do I need that reminder.

Rock Star and I joke that "it was not a Mrs. Duggar day" when we have been impatient with our children.  Of course, I am sure that she has those days too!  

Our children enjoy their show so it was fun for them too!  

What a fun memory.  I'm so glad we made it out tonight!

8 Months and 13 Months

Baby E is 8 months and Baby D is 13 months.

These sweet baby boys are growing and changing so quickly. I really need to capture some pictures of their newest accomplishments. Baby D is taking more steps each day. It is so fun to watch him take a few steps and then clap his little hands as we all cheer him on. Baby E has mastered sitting up and is quickly getting into position to crawl. I even caught him trying to pull up the other day. These babies are on the move!

Pumpkin Patch 2014

We love fall!  One of our favorite activities is our trip to the Pumpkin Patch.  It was a beautiful day and we all had an awesome time!

B

W

Q

 Miss Ruthie

'

Mommy and Miss Ruthie

Baby E and Baby D snoozed away.

B's last year to ride the Barrel Train!

The sign says, "8 and under only please."

He decided right before they got in that he didn't want to ride it.  I think he thought it was a baby thing.  Please, please ride it.  Do it for your mother.  You are growing up too fast.  Give me this one last year.  Ha!  He rode it but only because he was keeping an eye on sissy.

The zip line is a highlight each year!

They added the "Rat Race."  B and W won!

The big slide!  This was my very first year to get to slide down.  It seems that every year I am either pregnant or have a baby in a carrier.  This year the babies were both content in the stroller for a while.  Miss Ruthie and I had a blast!

There were fun activities everywhere we turned.

8 pumpkins to represent our family.

Another Pumpkin Patch trip in the books!

Go team!

Our Kansas City Vacation

We love to travel but having two little babies has slowed us down a wee bit.

We thought about heading to Dallas this fall but we chickened out when we considered the long drive.

Kansas City was a nice short drive and there were plenty of fun activities for us to do.

The first question...where do we stay?  We require a lot of space with six kiddos.  We checked out several hotels to see if we could find a suite large enough.  In the end, we decided to rent a VRBO "Vacation Rental by Owner."  EJ found a two bedroom apartment right off the plaza.

It was nice to have the extra space.  The full size kitchen was also a big benefit.  We brought the 'ol crock pot and some other groceries so we could easily feed our bunch.  We ate out a lot too but it was good to have a few meals at the apartment.

We did not consider asking if the apartment was handicap accessible.  We use our stroller to transport the babies.  There were stairs to get in and then the elevator was tiny.  We figured out a system to get us all in and out but it was a little tricky.

Day 1

First stop...the much anticipated visit to Lego Discovery Center!

Our Lego loving fellas were in their element!

We finished up the day with a visit to Fritz restaurant.  You order via a phone in your booth and then a train carries your food to you.  It was fun for our kids but not so much for the kid in the booth near by.  The train malfunctioned and dropped her burger and fries on her head.  It would have been kind of funny if it was a grown up but it really upset this sweet little 3 year old girl.  She just cried and cried.  Bless her heart.

Day 2

Federal Reserve Bank - Money Museum

Free Admission!

WWI Museum

(we snagged bogo tickets for the WWI Museum from the Money Museum)

Sea Life Aquarium

Baby D loved seeing the fish swim by!

Fountains at Crown Center

Day 3

Union Station

Science City

We got in free to Science City!  Our membership to the local science museum got us in.  We didn't realize we could do that but an awesome lady at the info booth in Union Station gave us that money saving hint.

It was so much fun!

I love this picture of my babies.  Baby D doesn't always cheese so big for my pictures.  I love this toothy baby smile.

I am definitely raising boys.  When they realized there was a toilet in the NASA exhibit they were like, "Mom, take my picture!  It looks like I am going poop!"  Geez.

Ummm...this is unacceptable.  Baby Sister thinks it must be cool since the big bubbas are doing it.  Oh my.

Isn't this fella handsome!

My oldest little man, B, is not so little anymore.  It won't be long before he is taller than his Momma!

Me and my man.

The kiddos just thought they were "out of school" while we were on our vacation.  Little did they know they were going to learn a lot.  This home school family views life as one big classroom!

This little guy snuck in a lot of naps in the carrier.

Deanna Rose Farmstead

We LOVED this place!  It was a beautiful fall day and it wasn't crowded at all.  We went on a Friday so we paid $12 to get our whole family in.  If we had gone Monday through Thursday it would have been free.  

Everyone chose a souvenir.  Q chose a tractor.  Miss Ruthie chose a Mommy Cow.  B and W chose Racoon Skin Caps.  They wore them for the rest of the vacation.

The next day, a man saw them and said, "Nice Haircuts!"  They thought that was hysterical.

Day 4

Nelson Atkins Art Museum - Free Admission!  We had fun going through this beautiful museum.  We also ate lunch here and it was delicious. 

IKEA

I had heard of IKEA and I knew that KC just got one recently.  I wanted to check it out.  I made a big mistake.

We went to IKEA...

On a Saturday.

With 6 children.

We were happy to get out of there alive.

Those of you who have been to IKEA before are laughing.  I just know it.

Day 5

Kansas City Zoo

We traveled home on day 5 so we decided to head to the zoo first thing.  We figured we would spend a few hours there and then be on our way.  Good heavens, that Zoo is MASSIVE.   We were only able to see little bit of it before we left.  Good thing we got in for half price.  Thanks to our membership at our local zoo.

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Vacationing with six children is a lot of work but it is totally worth it.  We love to share adventures with them!  This season will be over before we know it.  Some day we will travel by ourselves and think about the "good 'ol days" when the kids were home.  We will probably wonder how we survived all the craziness!