UT Family Weekend

Adam and I started our Fall Break early by taking off to Knoxville first thing Friday morning. It was Family Weekend at UT so we were ready to see Casey and be with the rest of our family! We packed the car, started a movie for the kids, and hit the road. They were both so excited to see Casey that at lunch, they somewhat fought over who got to sit on his lap. We timed it just right and as soon as Casey got out of class, we picked him up and ate on campus at The Southern Kitchen. We were so hungry and it was delicious! After lunch, he took us on a little hike at The Bluffs. It took maybe 15 minutes to get there and once we parked, we started walkin'. Even though it was a nice trail, it was SO hilly it would have been impossible to push the stroller so thankfully we didn't even try. The kids had fun walking, picking up sticks (Landon), and riding on Adam and Casey's shoulders. The up and down hike was totally worth it when we saw the view of Knoxille below us! Beautiful!

After a while, we hiked back to the car. Our next stop was to see Casey's dorm. He is an RA and is over 38 residents at Reese Hall. I had no idea but being an RA you get amazing perks! One of those perks is having your own room and bathroom. We chilled out in his room for a bit and then started walking around campus. The kids were tired by this point and we knew as soon as we put them in the stroller that they would be out. Landon didn't last 5 mintues, Adalyn followed closely behind him.

My uncle, aunt, and Autumn were due to be there soon so we found some shade and sat while the kids napped. Soon, they arrived. We continued our walk around campus and made our way into a book store to look at UT gear. It was so crowded but we still managed to throw a football and not break anything :)

Well, at least two people are looking at the camera. 

Two pretty girls!

We went back to Casey's dorm for a bit and then decided we were all hungry and agreed upon Mellow Mushroom. (Only the best pizza ever). So we walked there. I have no idea how many miles we walked by this point, but what's a few more? I also have no idea how Freshman put on the "Freshman 15" when all you do is WALK everywhere you go! It was great exercise and I have to be honest, today is Monday and my legs are still sore. ha! The weather could not have been any better. It was a perfect Fall day and evening. While waiting at Mellow Mushroom, we played with the kids up front so they could look at the all lights and decoration thay had in the lobby. They also had huge mushrooms everywhere and Landon kept saying, "Mushroom. No eat. Yuck." hahaha Our pizza came and we all chowed down! Walking makes me so hungry! Landon stuffed his face of pizza while all Adalyn wanted was our crust. Towards the end of our meal, my mom and dad finally arrived! The kids were so excited to see them. They had already eaten so we made the walk back to his dorm so they could check it out. 

It was dark by then but everything stays so lit up so we had another nice walk back to campus. It's never a straight walk, it's up and down hills. All while pushing a double stroller. (excellent workout!) Autumn took over the stoller once we left Mellow Mushroom and at one point going up a hill, Autumn was pushing the stroller, with help from Adalyn, and I was behind Autumn pushing her. :)

Out of breath but we made it!

Adalyn was so happy to see her Granddaddy

Still walking (and jumping!)

Dad wanted to check out this cannon

We hung around his dorm for a little while so my parents could check it out then we made our way to the hotel. Our suite was huge which was nice since we were rooming with my parents. We gave the kids a bath and Landon fell asleep after he drank his milk. Adalyn stayed up a bit with the rest of us while we were trying to figure out mom's iPad.

We had to get an early start Saturday morning since the game was at like 12:30 or so. Landon was the last one to wake up. We turned on Cat in the Hat, layed him down and he drank his milk. Adalyn cuddled right beside him. She was so excited he was awake.

We finished getting ready, went downstairs for breakfast, then made our way back to campus. Someone gave my dad a parking pass and since they were able to park for free, he gave it to us. It was right beside the stadium which was awesome. We got the kids in the stroller and started walking to Casey's fraternity house. He is in Alpha Gamma Rho. Smokey lives in their house so it was neat to get a tour of it. Casey looked so good all dressed for the game!

Family!

(For the record, Landon is the hardest kid to take a picture of)

We wanted to watch the Vol walk so on our journey back, the kids loved listening to all the music that was playing and looking at all of the people. I told Adam I felt weird for pushing our red and black stroller through a sea of orange and white. ha. 

The kids played in the inflatable football helmet, got a couple of footballs and Adalyn even met a cheerleader!

Her day was made!

They loved Smokey. We had to eventually walk Landon away from him because he was wanting him so bad. This makes me happy knowing no tears will be shed next summer when we head to Disney and meet all the characters! 

This little boy sure loved this foam finger.

After we played and walked around, we hit up the restrooms and then made our way to the truck. I think next year we will take the kids to the game but there would be no game watching if we took Landon this year. He would be going from person to person, chair to chair, and up and down steps. lol. Next year he will be 3 and hopefully will be just like his sister at 3, easy easy easy!

We had a great weekend with perfect Fall weather. We are so proud of Casey!

All about Landon!

I blog because it is my personal scrapbook of our family memories so it would only make sense to document Landon's stats and what he is liking nowadays!

Wednesday, September 18, Adam and I took Landon to Murfreesboro for his 2 year check up. When we got there, he played in the waiting room and looked at the fish tank. He kept saying, "The fish is in the grass!"

Once they called us back, I sat him on the scale to be weighed.
31 lbs 9 oz- 86th%

Then they measured him. Twice. 37 1/4" tall. Which put him in the 99th% for height. 

While waiting on Doctor Eastham, we played, ate Goldfish, and looked at books.

 Landon loved Dr. Eastham. He has a monkey that hooks around his stethoscope and Landon would say "Monkey" and held on to it the enitre time. If Dr. Eastham left the room, he would say, "Where Dr. Eastham go?"

He received 1 shot and a toe prick. Tears were shed but not for long! After our morning appointment, I dropped Adam off at North Coffee, took Landon home to Lynn, and went back to work. 

Landon loves anything that is related to Farming or Construction vehicles. He has countless tractors, bob cats, combines, gators, diggers, cranes, and bull dozers to last him a life time. It is so neat to see him at this age and see what all his loves and interests are. He is in a 7.5 shoe, 2T clothes and still a size 5 diaper. He has been peeing in the potty for a few weeks now. Anywhere from once a day to a few times a day. He is no where near ready to be potty trained, but he gets the concept of it and in due time when I feel he is ready for serious training, we will get started on it. His favorite movie right now is "Despicable Me". He received it as a birthday present and has watched parts of it everyday since he got it. He will annoy you to death asking for "Picable Me" "Picable Me" "Picable Me" until you finally acknowledge him and turn it on. He will look at me and say, "Picable me bad boy!" haha. A week or so before his birthday his bottom 2 year molars finally came in. No more teething for this guy! (or in our house period! yay!) He is totally opposite than his sister and loves junk food. Esp. candy. I'm still waiting on the day when he will eat whatever we put on his plate, but it doesn't look like that will be happening anytime soon! He loves playing outside. Mosquitoes love his sweet, little, fair skin. His hair is still as white as can be and stick straight. Although the back is starting to curl outwards when he gets sweaty. That's exactly what Adalyn's hair did  too before it turned curly. He talks in sentences, counts to 10 and can sing most of his ABC's. He has the loudest squeal you have ever heard. Can throw a doozy of a fit. Climbs on anything he can touch. Loves sitting down and "reading" his books. And he gives the best hugs around your neck and says, "I wuv you." 

I am so thankful for this little guy. He brings so much joy to our family and I can't wait to watch him grow and learn new things. 

Enjoy being 2 little buddy!

Fair

Tuesday evening Adam and I took the kids to the fair. We both love everything about the fair- the food, atmosphere, seeing the animals and art work, and just walking around! It was so much fun this year since Landon is tall enough to ride all of the rides with his sister! I didn't bring my camera so I took pictures with my phone.

We started the night in the barn! 

Then they each rode a pony

Landon kept saying, even before the ride was over, "I do it again?" 

Then we made our way to see everyones art. I actually forgot Adalyn's preschool entered in their artwork so we searched for that first thing. Before we found it, we bumped into Snow bird. Adalyn was SO excited to have her picture with him. We don't watch Channel 4 News so she has no idea who he is, she just liked the fact that he was a large penguin :) (This makes me excited for our trip to Disney World in June and for her to see all the characters! She will LOVE to have her pictures made with them!)

LOOK what we stumbled across! Not only did we find Adalyn's class artwork, but she won 1st place on her "B" butterfly! We were thrilled!

We were all hungry after we looked at all the art work, so we found a booth with some space and parked it. Adam and I both got a cheeseburger and shared french fries and a Sun Drop. Adalyn and Landon shared chicken fingers and french fries. Landon was hungry so he actually sat very still and ate, which allowed Adam and I to eat, too! 

Next, it was time for rides! Landon was tall enough for all the kiddie rides so he was able to ride with Adalyn. Their first ride was the balloons. I was a little nervous because the ride actually went decently fast and it spun around pretty quick. I was hoping Landon wouldn't try to stand up and thankfully, he didn't at all! He sat so still and had a huge smile plastered on his face throughout the entire ride. It was awesome.

They did a couple more then we came upon the dragon roller coaster. Adalyn went first and since all the other seats were full, Landon and I waited our turn. He was SO excited to ride. 

I remember riding this roller coaster when I was a kid. For a "kid" roller coaster, it actually goes pretty fast and will sling you around. Landon laughed just about the entire time. Like he said when riding the pony, "I do it again?"

We walked around, rode some more, and got us a funnel cake and the kids a ring pop. We left around 8:30 and as soon as we got home, put the kids in the bath (they were so dusty!) and then put them to bed. They were tuckered out!

We all had a great time Tuesday night- I love when the Fair comes to town!