Huntsville Space and Rocket Center

one of Sophie and Abbie's favorite things-a kiddie ride (they rode this a bunch of times)


Abbie is conducting some space experiments on a space station

The girls were laying down like real astronauts in an Apollo space capsule model.



Sophie playing in one of the kiddie areas

Last Saturday, we decided to head down to Huntsville to visit the Space and Rocket Center.  We have a membership at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville so we could do most of the exhibits for free in Huntsville.  Sophie had a unit about space at school so we thought the girls might enjoy at least parts of it.  It was a beautiful day!  When we arrived at the Space & Rocket Center we discovered that it was pretty busy because they were having these Moonbuggy races.  Many colleges had brought teams to compete in racing these self-made moonbuggies. It was kind of interesting to watch them.  We decided that overall, our girls were a little young for a lot of what they had to offer at the Space and Rocket Center but they did enjoy the kiddie areas a lot.  Their favorite area had a kiddie ride that went up and down bouncing as it went, almost like the adult version of the ride.  The girls rode it repeatedly! 

Sophie enjoyed learning a little more about launches to the moon, etc.  There was a lady there who let our girls try on the special boots that astronauts wear when they are walking on the moon.  They were pretty heavy!

Sophie and Abbie take on "The Fast Food Song"

Sophie learned "The Fast Food Song" at school about a month ago, and she's been singing it at home.  Abbie really likes to try and sing the song too.  Sometimes, Abbie will sing "Burger Hut" instead of "Pizza Hut," but she sings the song with a lot of enthusiasm.  The original song by the Fast Food Rockers is below so you compare it to Abbie and Sophie's cover version.

Best Buddies

                                                             Meagan & Abbie

                                        Sophie, Abbie, Drew & Jackson in their firemen's gear

                                                 Meagan & Abbie playing in the kitchen

Abbie & Meagan are special buddies. We go to church together and they are in the same class at Mother's Day Out. Each of them always asks about the other one. It is just so cute! Well, Meagan had a birthday party last week and I knew that it was one that Abbie couldn't miss. I think this is the 1st party that Abbie's been invited to that is officially one of her friends (not invited as Sophie's little sister or just a family friend). Her birthday party was at Peekboo Playtown and Meagan's mom said that Sophie could come too. It is really a cute indoor play place with a playground type area, grocery store area, cars to drive, dollhouse, dress up stuff, kitchen and school play areas, etc.

Costume Party

Emerson & Sophie being silly (I told Emerson to say "argh!" and Sophie to say, "yee haw!" before I took the picture.) I should have tried for a more normal pose too. =)

                                                 



Linnea & Sophie

Sophie & Abbie on the trailer bed after the hayride.

                                          

Here's the girls with one of our pumpkins.  Their daddy carved another one. Fun traditions! 

Last weekend, Sophie was busy with parties after her soccer game in the morning.  First, she was able to attend her friend, Carley's gymnastics party.  Then, she came home and changed into her Jessie outfit for Emerson's costume party.  This year, Emerson opted for a Halloween party instead of celebrating on her birthday which was in September.    Their family invited all of us but Abbie ended up taking a good nap that day so she only came for the last part of the party.  The kids had fun playing games, snacking, doing crafts, and going on a hayride around our section of the neighborhood.  All of the kids enjoyed the party and the hayride was a big hit!               

All Aboard

                                                        Abbie's waiting in line for the train

                                                          Abbie & Sophie riding the train

here's one of the trains that they used

This past weekend, we were able to go to Train Day for the first time.  It's an annual event that a couple from Crieve Hall hosts.  My mom has told me about it for the last few years but we've never been able to go.  There was a great turnout, plenty of food, and the girls rode the trains several times.  Both of the girls had a lot of fun and they were able to see some friends too!  One of the trains operated on steam and they used gas for the other train.  My mom had an old engineer's cap so she let Abbie borrow it.  =)  The next morning, Abbie woke up with stomach problems again so we had to keep her home on Sunday.  Now, she seems to be doing just fine again. 

Home Projects





our home before the new roof goes on





Abbie's big girl bed (she has a siderail but I took it off for the picture.).







Another area of Abbie's room




It's fun to help Daddy wash Mama's car!

For about a week, Abbie had a pretty bad stomach bug. She is feeling much better now. We had to keep her home for several days. This week, we got a new roof put on our house. It wasn't that old but there was a hail storm in May that damaged some of the roofs on our street pretty bad. Thankfully, insurance is covering most of it. Also, about a month ago, we painted the upper half of Abbie's room (pink, of course!) and redecorated her room. She moved to a big girl bed. She does fairly well now with staying in her bed but it was hard at first. I finally remembered to take some pictures to post.

Sophie still loves school! She's learning a lot of new sight words. When they learn a new list of words, her teacher gives them a piece of candy. Very effective I might add.

My Little Buddy

Will & Abbie at the zoo

Abbie likes to make a mess & occasionally help clean it up.

Abbie all dressed up

Now that Sophie's in school, Abbie and I have some days where we just hang out and others where we've had some fun play dates. Last week, we got together with Joshua & Julia one day. Abbie and Julia were crazy about each other. Yesterday, we met Will and his mommy at the zoo while their big sisters were in school. Abbie and Will are in the same class at Mother's Day Out. It was a great day for the zoo! Abbie loves wearing her hair in pigtails but in the bottom picture, you can tell that I had to fix her hair a few times too many because they are totally lopsided. Oh well, she's cute anyway! I can't wait for Halloween! We've got the girls' costumes ready to go!

Capture the Moment

It's been a while since I've posted.  Last week I had a terrible cold but I'm feeling better this week.  I LOVE the cooler fall weather!!  I have a lot of random thoughts to share it seems but I'll try to make sense.  I still miss Sophie being around but I'm really glad that she likes school.  I feel like I get the "leftovers" of Sophie meaning she gives her best at school and then, by the time she gets home from school, she's pretty worn-out.  Maybe this is why I dreaded her really starting school because I knew that once she started, she'd be gone so much of the time.  Don't get me wrong though, I'm really happy for her.  Sometimes it's the little things that make Sophie so excited to telll about her day like being praised for being good, getting in the treasure box, etc.  On Friday afternoon, I was just thinking, "I wish that I could capture this moment and make time stand still for a little while."  Sophie had her first loose tooth and she was so excited about it that she wanted to call several family members.  She was skipping around the house, wearing her school shirt with her hair pulled back in a pony tail.  It's one of those moments that I hope I can look back and remember.  She just recently started skipping. 

Abbie, on the other hand, is talking so much clearer.  The other day, I decided to walk with the girls over the hill to a neighborhood playground.  We were almost there. Sophie had taken her scooter but Abbie was walking with me.  Abbie said, "I 2 now.  Abbie need princess scooter too."  It didn't come out that clear but I realized what she was saying and it was so cute.  =)  By the way, another thing that I may forget one day is that Abbie asks everyday, "Why Sophie go to kindergarten?"  I have to explain that she's 5, etc, etc.  I tell Abbie that she'll get to go one day too!  Abbie asks a lot of "why" questions now.  She also likes to do everything by herself!

Sophie was trying on some shoes a few days ago that a friend of mine passed along.  I said, "did you try on the red shoes?  I wanted you to try them on."  She says, "yeah, but I took them off."  I told her that I had wanted to see them on her.  Then, in her serious voice she said, "My feet just know it's not time to wear them so they want to take them off."  I thought this was very creative of her and I just laughed.  I said, "you mean your feet know that they are church shoes or that the shoes are a little too big?"  Kids are so funny sometimes. 

Soccer and Body Art

Here's Sophie all suited up for her 1st soccer game!

Here's Abbie a few days ago. Matt took her for a drive to see if he could get her to take a nap. He didn't realize why it took a while for her to go to sleep. She had found one of his pens in the cars and she was drawing all over her legs!!

Sophie is playing soccer for the first time this fall. One of her best buddies who is a neighbor of ours was also playing so we were hoping that they would be on the same team but they are not. Sophie's team had only had a couple of practices before their first game. She's having fun learning to play soccer and some of the girls on her team go to school with her. They do not keep score at this age. All of the girls got a chance to play but they also got a couple of breaks. I don't think Sophie minded because by the end of the game, I think she was tired of doing so much running. Mama, Abbie, Nana, Paw-paw and Uncle Phil were all able to come and watch Sophie's first game. Her daddy had to miss it because he's teaching a class on Tuesday nights. Hopefully, if Sophie keeps practicing, she can score a goal or two!

Recent Zoo Trips

Abbie goes beyond the call of duty-she's got a brush on each hand.

                                                      the flamingoes are here!

                                                       Abbie's 1st day of school

This past week, Abbie started back to Mother's Day Out.  Yay!  Both of my kids are back in school.  While I'm still adjusting to having Sophie gone every day and really wish that she was around more, I was excited to have a day or two that's scheduled where someone else is watching my kids.  After having them home with me all summer, it will be nice to have a break!  Anyway, Abbie did fine at school but she hasn't taken a nap so far.  I'm happy that Abbie is in Ms Katy's class and several of her friends from church are in there.  While Abbie was in school, Matt & I both worked on getting her room painted so that we could transition her into a big girl bed over the weekend.  Pictures of her room to come soon...  Abbie has done really well with that transition.  Her first night in the big girl bed she was grinning from ear to ear because she was so excited about her big girl bed.

On another note, the weather has been a little cooler outside and we've been able to go to the zoo a couple of times.  I didn't take very many pictures but the first time it was just me and Abbie.  We had a great time but poor Sophie missed out (and Daddy).  This past weekend, we planned it so that we could all go and we were able to see the new flamingo exhibit.  The zoo got pretty busy since it was so pretty for Labor Day weekend but we still had a nice time!

A few more favorites...

I had the girls pictures made a couple of weeks ago and we also took some family pictures. I really wanted a good picture of the girls together and it had been a long time since we had had individual pictures of them made. We did it just before kindergarten started going in full swing. Abbie was more photogenic that day than I think she's ever been for a photographer. I thought we got some great pictures of everyone! 

Recent Portraits

both girls were smiling here!

This picture is just so Abbie!

Busch Gardens

Here we are at Busch Gardens in the Sesame Street area of the park. Sophie had been recently when she was able to spend a few days with Matt's parents by herself but she was excited to show the rest of us everything, especially in the Sesame Street area. It's a relatively small area of the park with just a handful of rides but the girls enjoyed each of them. Sophie was able to meet all of the Sesame Street characters but Abbie wanted nothing to do with them. They also put on a live show that we could watch. It was cool for us parents too because we grew up watching Sesame Street. =)

Sophie with Bert & Ernie

Sophie & Abbie

Sophie, Mama & Abbie riding the Elmo ride

Aunt Leia, Daddy & Sophie riding the roller coaster in Sesame Street land. It was actually a pretty decent sized roller coaster. I was a little surprised because I thought it would be a real "kiddie" roller coaster but it had a decent sized hill, some big curves & it was pretty fast. Sophie loved it though!

Hanging Out

the three redheads-Kate, Sophie, & Abbie

smiley Sophie

Sophie & Abbie are having a picnic with their babies.

Many days, we find things to do outside of our home with other people. Sometimes however, the girls have a blast just hanging out at home and using their creativity to do all sorts of things. A couple of weeks ago, Abbie had a little virus so we were somewhat "forced" to stay around the house and play until she felt better. One day, we enjoyed going to play at the Clifford's house with Kate and Harrison. Sophie & Kate had a great time doing crafts together while Harrison mostly hung out with his mom and baby Merritt. Abbie just enjoyed hanging out with everybody.

Fun with Friends

Sophie and Meredith are so silly!

the girls eating their picnic lunch

Matt and the girls getting ready to go through the maze up to the slide!

Earlier this past week, Meredith was able to come over for a play date. She and the girls had a great time! Sophie & Meredith enjoyed modeling the Potato Head glasses! They were both sweet about being quiet for a little bit so that I could get Abbie down for her nap.

Then, on Saturday, it finally started to warm up outside! It was pretty cool in the morning but we decided to head to the zoo anyway. We all enjoyed being outside and it had been a few months since we had been able to go to the zoo. The girls enjoyed seeing all of the indoor exhibit with the turtles, fish, snakes, etc. We also saw a few other animals, enjoyed a picnic lunch and then had a great time on the playground. Both of the girls went through the maze and down the slide with their Daddy. We ran into Meredith and Luke at the zoo too!

A Real Snow!

Abbie and Matt

Friday night-Abbie's 1st real experience in snow. She's saying, "what are you people trying to do to me?"

Sophie

the girls on the "Levitator"

This past Friday, we finally got a "real" snow. It started snowing in the morning but by early to mid afternoon, the ground was pretty well covered. That evening, we walked over to our neighbor's home for a little bit and let the girls check out the snow. Then, on Saturday morning, we woke up to more snow. The snow had a layer of ice on top so it was a challenge to walk in but we got somewhere between 4-6 inches I would guess. Abbie seemed to enjoy the snow better on Saturday and wanted to try and keep up with her big sister. We all went out but Matt and the girls took turns sledding. (He always went with them though.) Our side yard was fun but the alley behind our house was a really nice place for sledding because it's a long gradual hill. Sophie LOVED sledding and we were so happy that she was finally able to try it! Abbie liked it fine but we didn't want her sledding too much. She just wanted to be where Sophie was so on Saturday and Sunday afternoons Matt and Sophie went sledding during part of Abbie's naptime. It worked out well. Sophie also really enjoyed being able to sled with some of the neighbors on the alley parallel to ours.

We had bought some sleds for the last snow and found that my parents still had some of our sleds, including a wooden one that worked really well. Paw-paw (my dad) had also decided to buy the sled shown above for the girls (the Levitator). I'm sure they will enjoy it more in the future. In the picture above, they were trying it out in the house since my dad had just brought it over. The girls still have some of their mismatched snow attire on from that morning (we always go for the layered look for snow and it doesn't really matter how well things match). =) It was funny because my dad told Sophie that the sled was called the Levitator. Then, Sophie kept saying, we need to try out the Levitator or we should let our neighbors borrow the Levitator (when Matt took Sophie sledding with their neighbors they shared some sleds but didn't take that one with them).

In other news, Abbie had her two year check-up last week and all was well. She weighs 29 pounds which is 78th percentile but is only in the 42nd (I think) percentile for height.

After so much togetherness time, I think I'm about ready for some sense of normalcy. I guess every now and then it's good to slow down and just spend time as a family.