Kitchen Help

Anytime we are in the kitchen now, Ays has to be in the middle of it all.  He pulls a chair over to the counter so he can climb up and be a part of the action.  On this day, I was cooking dinner, reached over to grab a spice, and found this masterpiece.  This kid cracks me up...we may have an engineer or a contractor on our hands ;)

Nashville

We have so much to catch up on.  I just realized that my last post was nearly a month ago!  Sorry blog...I've been neglecting you, but I'm back.  I promise December will be full of pictures and posts :)  So, to start of my blogging spree, here is a little looksy at our trip to Nashville.

Although the main reason for the trip was business, we got to mix in a bit of pleasure as well.  From the CMA's, to Broadway, to Honky Tonks, to wineries, we did a little bit of everything.  

We were lucky enough to be in town during the Country Music Awards.  This seriously has been a dream of mine, to go to the CMA's, and although we didn't get tickets to go in, we went down to the red carpet for awhile to watch the celebs arrive.  We were a few rows of people back, so it was kind of chaotic, but it was fun and we got to see a lot of people, so it was totally worth it.  

Just a few of the people that we saw...Faith Hill.  She is seriously as pretty in real life as she looks in magazines and TV!  

Kelly Pickler...thank you girl with the cell phone for ruining my pic.  

And the person who I was most excited about...yes, that is Lionel...I almost peed myself ;)

Although the CMA's were fun, our favorite part of the trip was our visit to Arrington Vineyards. This vineyard is owned by country star, Kix Brooks, and sits about 20 miles outside of Nashville.  

 It was so beautiful!!!!  It sits in a very quaint, country setting, and is well worth the drive.  

We sampled a few wines and got to walk around the vineyard...

pretty much my idea of heaven :)

Of course, we had to get some pics in front of the big, super fun, wine barrel :)

Would LOVE to go back someday!
 

We tried to tour the famous Ryman Auditorium, but we didn't quite make it in time, so here is the outside :)

And finally, here is a look at Broadway.  This street is lined with bars and little honky tonks.  It was such a fun atmosphere...almost every single one had live music.

A big THANKS to Grammy and Pops for watching Ays while we were gone :)     

 

Arkalalah

Elmo was out in full force at the Arkalalah kiddie parade.  This was Ays's second time to walk in the parade, and he made it the entire way this year.  Last year he was practically running people over with his little ambulance, but this year, he took his sweet time, taking it all in. 

He was so cute, clapping...

waving...

and holding hands with Strawberry Shortcake (Kierslynn) the whole way.  It's so fun that these two get along so well :)

After the parade, we headed to the carnival.  Ayson was able to ride several rides, but his favorite by far was the carousel.  Look at that face...pure joy!

Haha...so typical!

He was getting a little too brave for his britches by the end of the ride.

Look at this big kiddo, riding his first ride without us...

and it's a roller coaster!  Kierslynn & Ays were perfect riding buddies.

Watch out for these backseat drivers!

I think he really thought he was driving ;)  Ha! 

 

 

Elmo Out on the Town

We took Ayson to "Goblins on Grand" tonight.  It's a great event that PC does every year for the kiddos.  They block off Grand and most of the local businesses set up trick or treat booths.  

Ayson is "Momo" this year, and he had fun running around and checking everything out.  

We hit up a few of the booths where he got to choose a duck for a prize, but he still doesn't get the concept of waiting in line for candy, so we mainly just chased him all over the place ;)  

He had fun, but next year, I can see him really loving this!  Busy weekend ahead...tomorrow we are off to AC for Arkalalah and the kiddie parade, then Saturday we are taking Ays to his first OSU football game.  Should be fun :) 

First Field Trip

We have started taking Ayson to Mother's Day Out once a week.  It's been great for all of us!  He loves it and gets to interact with other kids his age, and it gives me some time to get things taken care of around here.  He has been going for 5 weeks now, and each week gets a great report card.  The ladies in the 2 year old room are so sweet and patient.  One of their most impressive feats is getting all the kiddos to lay down for a nap...IN THE SAME ROOM.  I'm still not sure how they accomplish this, but Ays has taken a good nap every single time he has been there :)  Miracle workers, I tell ya!

Occasionally they will take field trips, and today they went to the Pumpkin Patch.  I kind of wish I could have been a fly on the wall, to witness this whole experience.  From the bus ride over there, to trying to wrangle all of them in the pumpkin patch...I'm sure it was quite a sight.  But it must have gone well, because Ayson came home with a glowing report card, and pumpkin from his first little field trip.

He was so excited to show me his pumpkin that he picked out and decorated, when I picked him up!  Such a cute lil' punkin & pumpkin!     

OKC Zoo

If you ever get a chance to go to the Oklahoma City Zoo, you should definitely do it!  We were blown away by how nice it was.  We were used to the Tulsa Zoo, which I'm sorry to say, pales in comparison.  We can't wait to go back!  After uploading the pics from my camera, I realized I didn't really take too many...we were too busy checking out all the animals.  On the top of the list for Ayson's favorites were, the sea lions, goats and elephants.

He would have spent all day with the goats if we let him. 

They kept jumping up on the back of the bench, so of course, Ayson had to get up there with them.

The meerkats were the cutest!  Look at the two in the middle giving each other kissies ;)

This little guy had his own perch.

The new elephant exhibit was amazing!

Sadly we only got to see the elephants for a few minutes before they headed inside :(

A Day Out With Thomas

Last Saturday we took Ayson to the Oklahoma Railway Museum in OKC.  Just seeing "choo choo's" would have been enough to make this little kiddos day, but we had an extra surprise for him...Thomas was there!  They were hosting "A Day Out With Thomas," so there were lots of activities for the kiddos, including a ride on Thomas the Train.  It was so fun to see his little face light up, and run with excitement from here to there.

They had an entire tent full of train sets.  We spent a lot of time here!

I'm telling you...he was in choo choo heaven!

Checking out the model train set with Mimi

Showing Dad-deeeeeee (as he calls him now), his new Choo Choo tattoo ;)

Ays & Dominic playing with the trains :)  Two little blond-haired, blue-eyed cuties!

They were ready for the train ride...but the train was not ready to move yet.  Thank goodness for iPhones!  How did parents before us survive without them??

Finally moving!  He was all smiles for the 20 minute ride :)

Ays & Mommy

How stinking cute is this?!  Hugs from Dom :)

He must have said "choo choo" about a million times that day.

And and finally...picture time with Thomas.  I didn't have high hopes for this, and after Ays picked up a handful of rocks and chunked them at the camera guy, I knew we were just going to have to take what we could get.  The boys wouldn't sit there by themselves, so the "big boys" had to be in the pic too...haha!


It was a fun morning, and we weren't done yet.  After the train station, it was on to the OKC Zoo!  Stay tuned for pics...