Just one more time...

We were on our way out the door on Saturday night. We were on our way to a big night out - taking the kids to Chik-Fil-A to eat and we were going to pick up some Mexican for us to bring home.

The children had been riding their toys down the driveway and near the mud of the construction next door. Stephen told Pryor he could ride down one more time...it was a face plant...whoops...

A Bobcat Badge

Grady's pack had a hayride and campfire ceremony last week. We all went and had a great time. All you have to do is mention S'mores and I'll be there.

His leader is a really nice father of an only child. He seems really gung ho for Boy Scouts - and that's that I want in a leader.

It was a really cute ceremony and Stephen helped with Grady. Grady got his Bobcat badge and now he's ready to be a Tiger Cub!

There are 10 boys in his Tiger pack - the most you can have I think. Grady is the one with the Tiger Cub cap on above.

I think he is really going to enjoy scouting. They seem like a really nice group of people. They had 2 bonfires and sticks all organized for hot dog and marshmallow roasting! That's what I call being prepared!

Duff Park

The park system here in Murrysville is pretty extensive. They have a really nice park about five minutes away with extensive trails. This (by the way) is also the location of the trip and fall which brought about the broken finger the week before! We did this last Saturday after the children got their flu shots. No crying for any of them! We were so glad.

Scavenger Hunt & Bonfire

One of our neighbors, Carolyn Mento, Maria's Mom, invited the bus stop children to her house on Friday afternoon for a scavenger hunt and bonfire. We were divided up into two teams and had to find fun woodsy items like: three different types of leaves, something that doesn't belong in the woods, etc. It was really cute! Grady Arnold was in heaven! He loved the whole thing.

What could be better than a scavenger hunt? S'mores! The Mento's have a big fire pit in their back yard. We all enjoyed some hot chocolate and s'mores.

They had some outdoor speakers so Pryor was dancing and just the life of the party. We got there about 4 and didn't leave till after 6 PM! No one wanted to go home!

Triple B Farm

Alice had her first field trip on Friday and I was able to find a sitter so I could go too. The bus drive was about an hour - but it was definitely worth it! Eight of the children in her class were out sick! So I had "all" of the girls - three - Alice and her friends, the twins, Michelle and Rachel.

When we pulled up there were 5 or 6 other school buses there but you never would have known it. They run this thing like the army! Each group has a guide who moves them from place to place. Our activities included: a hayride, time to play on the "playground" (see the barn picture below), lesson on bees by the wife of the farmer who used to be a kindergarten teacher (I learned a lot!), feeding the goats (the goat learned how to pull up the rope on a pulley which had the can attached with food inside - it was incredible), walking through pumpkin land which had hundreds of pumpkin "people" characters - every princess, super hero, nursery rhymes, the Grinch, Noah & the Ark, Moses just to name a few (see Veggie Tales picture below), and of course picking a pumpkin!

I didn't even mention the Liberty Tube slide! The hill must have been 100 feet high and the tube started at the top. These pictures don't do the slide justice to get the scope. I went down too and loved it!

Instead of having the children argue about who gets the biggest pumpkin, the farm only grows baking pumpkins which are smaller and all grow to be the same size. This place has it down pat.

Alice had a great time and wants to go again! I said we might have to save this for next year.

2 Pieces of Tape

So all of these appointments, turmoil and nervousness - for two pieces of tape. Grady and I were at the orthopedist at 8:30 this morning. The doctor was very nice and after two minutes showed me where to put tape on Grady's fingers. No gym and we go back in a month!

A First

Well, it's official, we have our first broken bone.

Unfortunately, the doctor's office didn't call till 8:15 AM this morning, and wasn't able to tell us when our appointment is till 10:00 AM. I had a choice of going to an office an hour away (at least) at 3:30 PM today with all three children or wait till tomorrow morning and take just Grady to an office 20 minutes away. So we're going to the office tomorrow at 8:30.

When I took Grady to school at 10:15 this morning, the school nurse (they have an RN on site at all times!) put a splint on it. Fortunately, Grady is not uncomfortable at all. He slept through the night and didn't want any medicine this morning. I think as far as he's concerned, it's a non-issue.