Keeping up with the K-Bashes

Fall Break

Fall break had a completely new meaning to me this year, after going back to teaching for the first time in 6 years! It was SO needed! I feel like I've been trying to keep my head above water for the first few weeks, trying to get back in the swing of things. So I was ready to do a whole lot of nothing, plus catch up on things around the house.

Last weekend, Taylor had a basketball game on Saturday, and our friend Peter and his two boys came over that afternoon to watch GT football and eat dinner.

Scooter-ing in the rain.

Then, we decided to take a quick getaway and take the kiddos to Great Wolf Lodge! It was only about 1.5 hours away, and we planned to stay Monday and Tuesday night there.

It was so much fun! Everything is in the hotel/adventure park area- the water park, putt putt, (mini) bowling, ropes course, rock wall, arcade, build a bear, and more! It's definitely a one-stop shop.

We got there Monday after lunch, and we got checked into our room. Then, we hit up the water park! It was fun! Not as big as White Water or Volcano Bay by any means, but there were about 5-6 good slides with little wait. After about 2-3 hours, the kiddos were pretty much done- but they probably rode those slides 10 times each! ;)

The first night, we drove into downtown LaGrange and ate dinner at Your Pie. There was a balloon animal guy there, and the kids had so much fun with him. Sydney got a monkey, Parker got an alien-looking thing, and Taylor got a basketball rim with a ball!

The next morning, we woke up, ate breakfast, and hit up the water park again! They had fun until about 1, when they were ready to go. We ate lunch and came back and had some fun with the other parts of the hotel. First, we did the ropes course- it was fun and a bit scary (you don't realize how high the upper level is until you're up there!). Then, we did mini bowling, which was a blast! We went to the arcade to close out the night.

The next morning, we ate breakfast, got packed up, and headed home! It was a fun little getaway.

The rest of the week, we did a bunch of random things... celebrating Sydney's birthday, doing stuff around the house, hanging out with neighbor friends, Taylor had a basketball game on Saturday, and afterwards, she and Stephen went to Mercedes Benz stadium to watch Tech play!

I got some lesson plans done, I got some special education paperwork done, I'm catching up on my blogs (!!), I cleaned the house, cleaned out the garage, and lots more. I'm so sad to see this break end! Back to reality tomorrow. :)

Sydney is a Teenager!

Somehow (!!!), my oldest child is a teenager! It's hard to believe!

If you had asked me 10 years ago, I would've cringed at the thought of dealing with the teenage years. But now that we're here, I say bring them on! Sydney has really grown up recently, she's gotten to know herself better, she's figured out other activities besides athletics that she enjoys, and has learned to see through the BS of things. Which I love! ;) She thinks a lot of things are silly- people doing all these cheesy social media things for attention; people obsessing so much on sports, thinking they'll make it big; she can almost sense a dramatic person when she meets them and she stays cautious... I absolutely love that she's able to steer away from a lot of those things. I'm like that as an adult, but didn't know that as a child! I think her injury has put a lot of things in perspective, and shows what's important and what's not, in a lot of cases!

For her birthday, we spent a few days celebrating.

The Saturday before, I took her out to do some shopping and get a pedicure (just paint this time).

We spent the couple days before her birthday at Great Wolf Lodge!

The night before her birthday, she went to a "Color Wars" night at youth group and took a friend. She came home looking like a smurf!

That night, she opened her presents!

She finally got a phone!! (since she was the "last person in 7th grade to have a phone", we figured it would be a good time. ;) )

On her actual birthday, Stephen cooked her waffles and bacon, her request. Then, she spent 6 hours babysitting! It was her first official babysitting job, and she loved it. (and she literally made more than 3 times what I made babysitting at her age! ??)

That night, we went to Uncle Maddios and Grandmom met us there! I can't believe I didn't take any pictures, but we had fun hanging out.

Then, Sydney went home with Grandmom and spent the night with her. The next day, Grandmom took her shopping, out to get (real) pedicures, and out to lunch!

That night, she spent the night with a friend, whose mom took them to get their nails done (tips!!). This girl has got to have the best finger and toe nails out there!