A fun little outing with Hood cousins

So Liz had wanted to take all of the grandchildren (Abby, Sydney, Trigger, and Campbell…well I guess it wasn’t all of the cousins because Reid wasn’t there…too many germs for a newborn!!!) to Monroe for a fun day during Thanksgiving break.  Let’s start by talking about the ride over there.  Liz had it all thought out of who would sit where (which was Trigger and Sydney in the middle seats and Abby and Campbell in the back).  I thought Sydney might like to sit in the back with Campbell too and that would allow us to keep that middle seat flipped up which meant it would be easier to get the back seat children out (WHEW…that was a run-on sentence for sure)!  Anyway, it sounded like a good plan in my head.  However, Campbell is not used to having two little girls (or really anyone for that matter) pay so much attention to him PLUS he was sleepy.  BOTH OF THOSE equal an UNHAPPY traveler.  Around Calhoun Abby asked us when were going to be there.  I replied “soon” and Liz replied “in 15 minutes”…to which Abby sighed really loud and said “this trip seems alot longer with Campbell”.  Haha…I tend to agree with Abby.  A screaming baby makes the shortest trips stretch into what seems like an eternity!  I would like to say that Trigger HAD IT MADE…I guess the man thing starts young because he just sat in the middle seat (with plenty of room I might add) and watched his movie, completely oblivious to the mahem going in the backseat.  TYPICAL!!!  Here’s the backseat crew. 

We started out by visiting with the special man, SANTA.  While waiting, which wasn’t a very long time because we were third in line, Liz and I quickly realized just how outnumbered we were…a 7 yr old, 3 yr old, 2 yr old, and a 6 month old.  I did not own a double stroller so when Trigger spotted the firetruck and wanted to “touch it”, Liz quickly paid money for Abby and Sydney to ride in it.  It was great to have the two of them confined! 

I was soooo surprised that Trigger didn’t cry when he saw Santa.  He did great!!!!  I was very impressed.

 

 

Then, we headed off to the carousel for a couple of rides.  This was Trigger’s first time to ride.  Ummm…I’m still trying to decide if he liked it or not.  Sydney wanted to ride the teacup so we put Trigger in there with her…took a few pictures and then they decided that they wanted to move.

For his first ride, he was on the giraffe and it didn’t go up and down which I think was a good thing for him!

All was well as you can see from above…then we moved places and I’m not sure the up and down WHILE spinning around was such a good thing for Trigger.  His face looked like he was about to throw up but he didn’t…THANK GOODNESS!

  NOTE:  Campbell was on the ride as well…i didn’t get a picture of that though.  I was doing good enough to hold my camera, the 6 month old in my arms, AND stay on my feet. 

Our next stop:  BUILD-A-BEAR!  I was just as excited about this as they were.  I love that place!  Trigger made a reindeer, Sydney made a girl reindeer and Abby made a white bear with snowflakes on it.

Step 1: Stuff your animal and put the heart inside.

Did I mention that this was NOT a favorite step of Triggers!  He did NOT like the loud noise the machine made. I love this picture!  “Momma, hold my hand” Soooo…I did!! I sure love that little boy!

Step 2:  Make sure the music works!

Step 3: Give your animal some LOVE!

Step 4: Pick out some clothes

Step 5: Give your animal a bath  (Trigger did NOT like this…the dryer made a loud noise and he kept saying “turn off”)

Step 6: Dress your animal

Step 7: Show off your animal

Step 8: Name and register your animal  (AND GUESS WHAT THIS REINDEER’s NAME IS?!?!  JIM…that’s right JIM the Reindeer! Why is he caught up on the name Jim?!  We don’t even know a Jim!)

It was so fun building Trigger’s reindeer and believe it or not, he has played with Jim quite a bit!!!

We worked up an appetite so we had to go to Chickfala…LOVE THAT PLACE!  Afterwards, we stopped to get the kids a cookie.  As you can see, they enjoyed their cookie!

And I couldn’t finish the trip without a few pictures of my precious baby!  Campbell was really good but got very tired by the end….and his sleepy fingers came out and entered his mouth..and all was well! :)  Oh and that is his little happy from the build-a-bear store.

For the ride home, we did a little rearranging of the carseats.  We knew we had to move Campbell to the front.  Then, Trigger decided he wanted to move to the back.  THEN, Abby bolted out of the back seat….I don’t blame her! Of course Sydney and Trigger had to carry their reindeer all the way home!

It was such a fun trip!!!!  I was worn out though..I don’t know how people have four children!  I was constantly counting and making sure we had everyone!  AND, after this outing, I decided that a double stroller was a MUST!  So I purchased one THAT night!  HA!!!  It’s actually pretty great..or I think it’s going to be a great stroller.  For right now it has two seats…later I can take the back seat off and there is a bench for Trigger to sit OR there is a place for him to stand.  I thought about getting just the sit and stand one but there is no way that Trigger is ready for the bench seat or standing right now.  He needs straps and confinement.  HAHA!!

Maybe we can make this trip an annual trip.  I love me some family outings!!!

The playset is COMPLETE!

Matthew is truly amazing.  It all started with me saying that I didn’t like the store bought playsets and that I really wanted one like my parents… and from that point, the project exploded.  It got bigger by the day!  Soooo now we are left with a huge awesome playset that I hope the boys LOVE and get lots of use out of.

I’m going to show a few pictures starting from the beginning.

I say it’s complete but the twirl slide that is going off the back still needs to be installed.  That board that is on the right, top platform will have a slide too but it hasn’t been ordered.  AND, off that right side there will be a rock wall with a zipline but I’m not sure that I want that done right now because I’m afraid he would fall out while playing up there!  It is so nice and I actually love being up in the top.  It’s a peaceful little getaway so maybe if Trigger and Campbell don’t like it, I will build some walls and make it a craft house! :)