Teapot Trot 2010

Last night, our whole family participated in the Teapot Trot 5K. We had a great time - definitely see it becoming a family tradition!! The weather was great - a little windy....okay a LOT windy, but other than that, it was fine. There were about 220 participants in the race this year. Mark came in 14th overall (4th in his age group), Parker came in 41st overall (3rd in his age group), I came in 54th overall (5th in my age group), and Kinlee came in 179th. She was kind of bummed about her number, but I told her over and over again how proud we were of her just for doing it! That's a long way for 8 year old legs to go.....for that matter, that's a long way for 37 year old legs to go!!!

It was a great hometown, family event and I love those!! I even got chills at the beginning with the police escort, people cheering, all the participants....the chills soon came to an end, though, as I reached that first hill!!! Fun stuff!

A Campin' We Will Go....

And that is exactly what we did do this past weekend! We went camping at Chickasaw State Park. The weather was wonderful, and we had an awesome time! I've always said that one night a year is about all I can take - well, we had such a good time, I might even be willing to go again IN THE SAME YEAR!!!

After we got there on Friday evening and we got our campsite set up, we ventured across the bridge to the big playground. The kids (as you can see) had a blast!!! Noodle the Poodle was even in on the fun - stay tuned for some pictures of how Noodle ACTUALLY felt about the whole thing!!
We stayed at the playground until dark, and then the kids spotted the lightning bugs! Then the fun really began. We chased lightning bugs for quite some time (I got lucky on the pic. of Kinlee's bug actually lighting up!) and then headed back over the bridge because it had gotten VERY dark and we didn't have a flashlight!

Needless to say, we made it back just fine and just in time for some yummy s'mores by the campfire. Notice below the picture I warned you about - Noodle was less than amused at the whole outing, but did seem to enjoy the campfire. When she wasn't being "lugged" around, she could be found curled up in the chair, lifeless, and unamused, thinking we had all lost our minds....
The next morning, we headed out on a nature hike. We saw some really cool things - baby geese with their mama, a frog on a log, a cool snail, and a tiny frog (Kinlee was so proud that she actually held one!)

Then, it was back to the campsite for some more relaxing, eating, and playing. Look at that campsite would ya - looks like professionals to me!.....
In case you have noticed some strange faces in the pictures, it is because we met up with a super-nice family (the Smiths from Memphis) that we spent a lot of the weekend with. They had 5 kids (4 of theirs, one was a friend), and they were all so nice. The kids enjoyed playing, hiking, and chatting with them all weekend. We exchanged numbers in hopes of another possible "camp date" in the future.

All said and done, we were exhausted, but it was so worth it! We had an awesome time - like I said, so awesome that I just might do it again......soon!

Backyard Camping

Okay, not so much the "camping" part, but we did have the campfire. Every once in a while, we like to build a fire in the backyard (I'm sure we are breaking all kinds of city ordinances) and roast hotdogs and make S'mores. Finally, the rain stayed away long enough the other night to take advantage of the opportunity. It was such a nice night, and lots of fun together.Later on in the month, we are planning a REAL camping trip (State Park, tents, sleeping bags, and all), so I'm sure I will have some more pics. to post after that.

Don't you just love our burning box??? We are not nature people, by any means, and don't just have tons of firewood lying around. The box was all I could come up with. The boxes don't burn long, so we had to have our hotdogs ready on their sticks for round 1 and hurry before the fire went out. Then, we loaded up the sticks with marshmallows for round 2 before we threw on the last box. Hopefully, before the real campout, we'll come up with some better equipment. We would never make it on Survivor, but for our backyard, it was just perfect!!!

Fun at the Mall

While we were in Nashville this weekend for Parker's DI competition, we had a little free time to spend as a family. We headed back to the Opry Mills mall, even though we were just there last weekend. This time, we ate at the Rainforest Cafe - that place is cool! For dessert (as if we hadn't had ENOUGH to eat), we stopped off at the Marble Slab Creamery for some yummy ice-cream!!!After eating (great timing), Parker and Kinlee each had a turn on the "Spider Jump". I think I would have definitely lost my lunch if I had done that right after I ate, but they got along just fine. Parker had done it before, but this was Kinlee's first go at it. She was a little hesitant at first, but it didn't take her long to get the hang of it!!!

Hot Rolls!!!

Well, the Fintons decided to venture out on a "road trip" yesterday afternoon. Mark had had a very busy week at work, so we felt like a quick trip to Lambert's in Sikeston, MO, was just the thing that our family needed. We checked the kids out of school a couple of hours early and headed out. We have gone to Lambert's two other times and enjoyed it so much. It had been about a year since our last visit, so we decided it was about time. For those of you who have never been, this place is known for its "Throwed Rolls". The guy comes around with fresh baked rolls yelling "HOT ROLLS!". If you want one, you raise your hand, and he chunks one across the restaurant to you (or AT you, I should say!). Here are some pics. of the "roll catching". I love the one of Kinlee - funny thing is, I didn't actually get a good one of her catching it from the guy across the room, so this is just one of Mark tossing her one from across the table! :o) If you look closely you can see Parker's roll in the top, right hand corner of his picture.

We had a great time and got a lot of good pictures. Definitely a "memory making" place to go.

As if the cheeseburgers and chicken tenders were not enough for us, we saw a little "old-timey looking" ice-cream store called "Houchins Ice Cream and Donuts" and stopped in for a little dessert. It was yummy, but we were all miserable when it was over with. WAY too much food for one night, for sure. We did bring home left-overs from Lambert's, though, so we'll have those today for lunch. The atmosphere won't be quite the same, but I told the kids I'd throw them a roll if it made them feel any better!! :o) Enjoy the pictures - we had a great time!!