Soccer stars

Both kids were on soccer teams this year - Max was in a micro league and Lucy bumped up to U8 this year.

Hanging out at Lucy's practice...he loved going to her practices!

Lucy (green socks) got much more into it this year!

After being a sideline fan for Lucy, Max knew what it was all about - the post-game snack! He was so cute in his soccer gear and was excited to see his friend Garrett from school was on his team. 

He really enjoyed telling me and Lucy that we could not cross the white line onto the field during his practice...he had heard enough times at Lucy's games that he couldn't go onto the field but now the field was his and we couldn't go onto it!

He loved his first practice and was running around like a madman but had a bit of a breakdown when it ended and there were no snacks...he seriously just signed up for the snacks! When I told him it was just a practice and that there were snacks only after a game, he said "How come Lucy gets snacks after her soccer?" and I said, "She doesn't get a snack after a practice, just a game," his little lip started to quiver and he said, "Yeah her do!"

We hurried home to let him choose out a special snack and kept working on that concept - team snacks are only after games!

Lucy's turn to sit on the sidelines and watch!

Much unlike Lucy's first year on a soccer team, Max was excited about it and actually got out on the field. During her first soccer season (at age 4), she spent 0 time on the field and 100% of her time off the field either crying or refusing my and Dave's pleas, bribes and threats to play a little soccer...

Maxy didn't exactly play soccer either but he got out on the field. In fact, in his first game he stayed in the entire game! The coach would periodically ask if anyone needed a break and he'd take out the kids who raised their hands. Max never raised his hand so he never came out of the game! He also didn't kick the ball or follow it very closely but at least he was out there, right? 

Kicking the ball!

Rocking Out

A new craze has crept up and we're getting in on the fun - painting, hiding and hunting rocks!
Lucy and I found one in a tree at the library once and had no idea what it was all about. She pulled it out of the tree, we looked at it but then I told her to put it back because it was probably there for a reason...
I've since learned the "reason" - just to make someone smile! It did make us smile but we now know that we could have kept it (and hidden a new one) or taken it to a new hiding spot.
There is a Facebook group - NKY Hidden Rocks - where people post pics of the rocks they've painted/hidden or found.

We've been painting our own rocks and try to keep some on hand to hide whenever we're out and about...we found a bunch of smooth rocks at Grandma & Troy's river camp and Lucy even collected enough for her Girl Scout troop so they could paint them in a meeting last month.

The first rock Lucy ever found and took - once we knew what was going on! - was a special coupon rock! The Learning Express in Crestview Hills has gotten in on the fun and have painted and hidden coupon rocks in the area - hers had an underwater scene on the front and a 25% off coupon on the back. This one was also found at the Cold Spring library.
She was beyond excited and had tons of fun shopping at the Learning Express to make use of her coupon - she chose a mermaid tail for American Girl doll!

Maxy found his first rock - a football - outside of Walmart on day soon after.

Of course they love finding rocks, but we haven't found too many and they seem to enjoy hiding them just as much. Some people are very artistic, including Daddy!

He made the Rudolph and Clarice rocks...Max usually likes to choose one color per painting session and paints a plateful of rocks...one day, he painted several of them brown so I attempted to turn a little one into the poop emoji but Dave got way more into transforming Maxy's primed rocks.

We've been to new parks and places, just hoping to spot a rock...we went to the Alexandria Community Park a few times. My auntie had taken Lucy when she was small but I'd never been and what a shame! It's not too far and it's a great park and we've been several times in the past few months to make up for 6 years of not going!

There is a path around a lake and we've walked around it a couple of times and once we took the scooters. We've never found a rock there, but we've hidden several!

One day I painted several Shopkins rocks to surprise Lucy and make her smile and she loved them so much, she's refused to hide them!

We've have the most luck at the library - one day Max and I went to drop off some books while Lucy was across the street at soccer practice and he spotted two rocks! He grabbed one and was so happy but we left the other. After practice, he was telling Lucy about it and she wanted to go back to see if the other one was still there and it was so she snagged it!

Here are some of the rocks we've painted and hidden around town:

This was another one Max started -
that day, he painted a bunch blue and I added a sailboat to this one and an anchor to another one

They get really into hiding them - Lucy and Dave went to Pioneer Park one day and hid a bunch they'd painted with My Little Pony cutie marks on them...she wanted him to hide several far up in trees...one person posted in the FB group that the one they found was "hidden very well!" so Dave & Lucy think it was the one the put up super-high.

Silly little artist working on a batch of green rocks (that I turned into aliens, Frankensteins and flower gardens) plus another of Dave's amazing creations).

KY Down Under - one last summer adventure

"Last Minute Kathy" (as she called herself) stumbled across a deal on Groupon for tickets to KY Down Under in Cave City and asked if we wanted to tag along on an adventure with her, Nikki, Alli and Paisley. Since Mike declared himself "not a cave guy," Dave took the same stance, Craig had to work and Steven flat-out said he was not interested, we made it a girls trip - plus Maxy! 

We left early on Saturday, July 22 and made the 3 hour drive. I remembered to give Lucy some car sickness medicine (Bonine) and she did great - she even watched a movie in the car and didn't barf...hooray!

KY Down Under is right next to a McDonald's so we stopped there first for lunch.

The kids were beyond excited to get the adventure going! One of the first things we did when we got inside was go into the lorikeet enclosure...well, almost all of us. Max really wanted a bird to land on him and Lucy really did NOT want a bird to land on her and was so worried of the prospect that she decided not to go in at all. She and Grandma stayed outside to watch and take pictures.

He wanted a bird to land on him so bad but once one did, he was a little nervous about it and wanted him to fly away pretty promptly! He loved feeding them juice though! 

It was very hot that day - around 92 degrees - so luckily Grandma had picked up a few mini cooling towels for the kids.

We got to see and pet and feed the kangaroos but they were feeling the heat, too! They weren't super-active...they were pretty much just laying in the shade and were mostly too hot to eat, but we did see a couple hop around a little bit. 

A lot of them had joeys in their pouches! We saw a few climb out and even saw one hop away. Lucy was cracking up when the mama quickly hopped after it..."That mama's like 'You get back here!'"

There were a few other animals mixed in with the 'roos - some goats, a pig, some emu...

Max and Alli especially had fun feeding and talking to the pig

We also went inside a cave!

The kids all enjoyed the cave - we all especially liked how cool it was in there compared to the heat of the day. Max loved finding little puddles to splash in.

We still had the rest of the weekend ahead of us and weren't 100% sure what else we were going to do but after this cave, we ruled out Mammoth Caves - "You've seen one cave, you've seen them all" was Kathy's thought that everyone seemed to agree with!

Max was telling this owl all about the stuffed animal owls he has in his room

This sign made me laugh!

And Alli made this bird laugh! There was a sign that said "If you “roll your R’s” at a high pitch they will begin to laugh" so Alli gave it a try and she was successful! The bird was laughing!

Soon it was time to cool off with popsicles which Grandma treated us all to!

They also got to "pan for gold" and all loved it.

We had a very fun day at the Adventure Zoo!

We had a great first day of our little trip and soon the fun continued at the hotel. We got checked in and quickly changed into our suits and headed over to the pool. We ordered pizza and ate it in the pool area which worked out perfectly. Lucy and Paisley had fun playing together in Lucy's princess rings and with some little toys. Max was obsessed with Alli and those two had so much fun! She's so sweet with him and he wanted to do everything she did. Every time she jumped into the pool, he tried to duplicate her jump...if she ran from the back fence and jumped in, he did the same.

The water in the main pool was not exactly refreshing - it was bathwater-temperature - but still lots of fun. But these crazy children kept going over to the Jacuzzi pool - which was even warmer! - to play in there.

Once we were able to coax them out of the pool and back to our rooms, they got cleaned up and into pajamas and played together some more...cousin fun is so special!

I shared a bed with my little bed-hog while Lucy had the other bed to herself and the other ladies were in the room next door.

The next morning we headed to the lobby to eat some breakfast - Max sat with his bestie while the girlies buddies up with Aunt Nikki.

After breakfast, some helpers came with me to put more ice in the cooler and we couldn't help but notice the scary-looking weather headed our way...

Luckily, it passed very quickly and we just waited in the hotel room until the coast was clear! 

Soon enough, we embarked on our next adventure - to Dinosaur World!
Lucy and Paisley were dying to ride in the car together and since it was a short drive down the road, I let Lucy ride in Grandma's car without a carseat. 
Max wanted his buddy to ride with him and Alli was a good sport and rode in Lucy's booster!

We figured the playground would get hot quick so we played there first before the sun could bake it. It was a pretty cool little play area.

There were some interactive things for them to do  where they learned more about dinosaurs and then we went along the dinosaur trail. That was pretty cool, too, but I think we were all a little disappointed that the dinos were behind ropes and you weren't allowed to touch or climb on them. I guess that's the way to keep them intact...

Aaagh! T-rex!

Max found a dinosaur like the ones on his shirt!

 We climbed up to the big dinosaur visible from the highway to get some pics!

They go to pan for gold again and dig for dinosaur bones. Big fun!

 

 

  

Even the trash cans were dinosaurs!

We all had so much fun at Dinosaur World! They allow you to bring in your own food and drink so we'd stopped at Subway first and brought that in for lunch - we ate at the picnic tables that surrounded the playground. 

After spending the day there, we went back to the hotel where the kids played and swam together some more. That evening, we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner and then Max, Lucy and I headed home.

I'd forgotten to pack Lucy's medicine but she still did well on the way home - no barf! She was definitely ready to be out of the car when we got home, though!

Such a fun little trip!