paddle boating

This morning we went and did our morning run and then headed to Montgomery Bell State Park again. We decided to try out the paddle boats today.  The girls were so excited.  The whole way down the path Heidi kept saying, "Oh Savanna!  We're going to do paddle boats!!  This is going to be so fun!"

 We had such a great time!  Caimbree was actually a little fussy, which was surprising, but I think it's because she wanted to be down and crawling around.  The girls couldn't believe their luck that we got the sparkly blue boat.  The girls couldn't quite reach the peddles, but they had fun taking turns steering...which meant we spent a lot of time going around in circles ha ha.

The best part of our boating adventure was when we it started to pour on us.  The girls were laughing and singing and thought nothing better could have happened.  It was so much fun and we are really enjoying the outdoors!  We had a picnic afterwards and came home for naps.  It was a perfect morning!

sisters at the park

 We like going to the park every chance we get.  The girls especially like this park with the big twisty slide.  They climb up and down repeatedly.  Today was extra fun because Caimbree crawled over and stood at the bottom of the slide so she could see her sisters when they came down.  I love how Caimbree loves her sisters.  I love that she is her very happiest when she feels she is part of the action.

 I love that you can see how much they love each other in this picture.  Caimbree would get so excited to see Heidi and Savanna pop at the bottom and they were equally thrilled to see Caimbree.  Caimbree was so cute because she would squeal and reach for them and then do her cute little wave.

We always say Caimbree is a little celebrity around our house because everyone always wants to hug her and be with her.  It was such a fun afternoon watching all 3 of the girls playing together.  I don't want to forget these special unplanned moments.

opryland

 We loved having an extra day with Jeff this weekend!  It was rainy so we decided to take the girls to Nashville and show them around Opryland.  When Jeff and I came on our trip out this way years ago, Nashville was by far my favorite place.  I think that's mostly why I was okay with the decision to make such a big change.  We really do love being so close to Nashville.  There is so much to do all year round.  We took the girls to the Opryland hotel because

 we figured they would think it was fun.  They loved it and think we should stay there...you know, stay in a hotel 35 minutes from home.  Ha ha. Maybe we will sometime...you only live once.

 The girls loved the water fountains and thought that throwing pennies in them was probably the best activity they have ever done.  Heidi kept asking me what she could do to earn pennies because she was sure that if she could earn money, this is how she would choose to spend it.  They also liked the escalators and would have enjoyed going up and down them for hours. We walked around all morning, went to lunch, and made it home for a late nap.  When everyone woke up we headed to our favorite lake to get our daily family walk in since the rain had let up and drove around to look at a few pieces of land.  It was pretty much the perfect day spent together.  I love these kinds of days.  Unfortunately last night was a long night with Savanna waking up in the middle of the night screaming...maybe a bad dream?  No one knows for sure, including her.  It took awhile to get her back to bed and then Caimbree was up shortly after I had fallen back to sleep and they were all up plenty early this morning.  So they are all a little on grumpy side today.  We are counting down the days to Saturday when we get Jeff home for the whole day!

montgomery bell park

 We have a state park about 10 minutes from our house.  We decided since traffic would be nasty this weekend, we would rather explore our own area and this was at the top of our list.  Our sweet neighbor works there and we had a bbq (which we have learned to say, "grill out") with them Friday and she told us about some of the fun things going on this weekend.  She also told us about a Jr. Ranger program they have this summer and we are trying to convince Heidi that she should do it.

 We took a picnic lunch up and went for one of the shorter hikes.

 Have I mentioned how beautiful it is by us?  I mean, seriously.  We can't get enough of the scenery and neither can the girls.  Heidi is constantly commenting on how beautiful it is.

 Caimbree got to hitch a ride in the baby carrier.  She adores the outside and was as joyful and happy as could be.

 We attempted to take a selfie while Jeff ran back to see if he could find the binky Caimbree launched.  We don't take many selfies around our house and clearly need some practice, ha ha.

 This picture cracks me up because Jeff and Savanna are walking the exact same way and looking the same direction.  Twins.

 Heidi has been fascinated with maps and directions lately.  She was thrilled to learn how to follow the trail signs and was pointing out the red markings on the trees along the way to tell us we were still headed the right direction.

We had a wonderful day!  We absolutely love having the opportunity to be so active with our girls here.  We are outside most of the day every day and the girls are loving it.  It was great hiking weather and we can't wait to explore all of the trails!

11 months

 Yesterday marked 11 months for Caimbree! In one short month my baby will be one.  The first year really does fly by so fast.  We love this little angel more and more every day.

*Waves if she hears anyone say, "hi"
*Good little eater and will eat whatever we are eating or baby food
*Still super easy going
*Still making the most serious little faces
*Crawls all over
*Goes through phases where she will pull herself up on things, but doesn't seem to show that much interest in it
*Wiggles like crazy when you are trying to get her dressed or change her diaper
*Naps at 9 and 12:30.  Goes to bed between 7 and 8
*Tries to put shoes on if she finds a pair
*Loves watching her sisters
*Loves to be on the trampoline with the big girls
*Absolutely adores being outside
*Gets really excited and kicks her legs when she sees animals
*When Jeff gets home she reaches for him and hangs with him for about 10 minutes and then wants mom again.  It's cute because she is excited to see him at the end of the day
*Seems to do just fine when other people take her, as long as she isn't tired or hungry
*Still refuses bottles and sippy cups
*If she happens to get anything to come out of a straw, the second it goes in her mouth she panics and spits it out
*Loves to read
*When she is sitting on the floor and wants attention she will cover her eyes to play peek-a-boo
*Mimics your actions
*I can't think of a time or place where I have gone somewhere where someone hasn't either commented on her cheeks or how easy going she is
*Has 5 teeth, almost 6 (2 bottom, 2 fangs, and 1 front)

We love this little Caimbree girl so very much.  She is just so fun and easy to be around.  I cannot imagine how we ever got along without her.

We love you Caimbree!

chattanooga

 We spent the weekend in Chattanooga.  When we moved out here we decided we were going to try to use the weekends to see and do everything we could because we don't know how long we will be here...although we hope it is for a long, long, long time of course.  It's just that last time we thought it was going to be forever so we don't want to get our hopes up I guess.

 Anyway, we had a great time!  We left Friday when Jeff got home.  We stayed the night in a hotel, which the girls still think is the coolest thing on the planet.

 We drove around Chattanooga in the morning checking it all out.  There are so many things to do there, but we decided to take the incline up Lookout Mountain.  The girls wanted to go on a train so this was what they wanted to do.  Caimbree absolutely loved the little ride and so did the big girls!  It just wasn't long enough for them.  It was a beautiful ride.

 The view from the top was pretty incredible!  The girls loved looking from the observation decks.

 I think Caimbree was pretty enthralled with the whole thing.  Well actually, she seems to be happy and enjoy wherever we go.

 We went on a little hike at the top and checked out a little civil war history.

 I love this picture of my little Zanny Zoo.  Oh, and now she calls our place the "rental house".  Oh my hilarious.  She insists on wearing her "running shorts" wherever we go now.  So cute.

We were going to go to the Tennessee State Aquarium but it was quite pricey and we decided we didn't have enough time to really justify spending $100.  There was a cool area with pools of water that kids were playing in and it was so fun for them and it was free so it was a win all around.  They did not want to leave.  I think we might be doing a little swimming this summer!  It was a fun weekend and we had a blast checking out Chattanooga!  We hope to go back again sometime soon.

the latest funnies

The baby books are in a box in the garage, but there are some funny things Heidi said in the last week that I don't want to forget.  I can't write them in her book where I keep a record of them, so I figure if I write them here I can at least remember and add them to her book later.

Heidi: Have you seen my brown sandals?
Me: No, I haven't.  Have you checked your closet?
Heidi: They're probably in some random box in the garage.

Yeah, we have a lot of "random" boxes.  Ha ha.


While on the trampoline this morning:

Heidi: Mom!  Don't jump that high!
Me: Why?
Heidi: Because I'm fragile.


Getting off the trampoline the other trampoline the other day:

Heidi: Mom, can you help me down so I don't get my pants wet?
Me: Sure
Heidi: Okay, take me off like a tropical fruit.

I wasn't sure how exactly to take her off like a tropical fruit, but I gave it my best shot.


Right before bed last night Heidi said she had to go out to the mailbox to "get something".

Me: There's no mail on Sunday.
Heidi: Oh, I know.  It's something else.
Me: What?
Heidi: Savanna's necklace
Me: Why is her necklace in the mailbox?
Heidi: Because she was throwing a fit and I told her if she didn't stop screaming I would put her necklace in the mailbox and she didn't stop screaming.

In case you're wondering, I have never once threatened putting any of their things in the mailbox to get them to behave--ha ha ha.  I was laughing so hard I couldn't even discipline her for taking it upon herself to mother her sister.


If she doesn't want to do something she always says "insist me".

Me: Get your shoes on and we can go for a bike ride around the lake.
Heidi: If you insist me to go around the lake I will.


Heidi refers to the house we live in as the 'rental house'...always.  In every.single.situation.

Me: Should we go home?
Heidi: You mean to the rental house?

Heidi: I just put the crackers in the rental house.

Heidi: Did you pick up another key for the rental house?

If anyone asks her how she likes her house she always says, "It's a rental house."

When the washer flooded she said, "I can't believe all this water is on the floor in the rental house!"

When she has conversations on her little fake phone she saying things like, "Oh yeah, yeah.  Well, we're just in a rental house for now."

And if, heaven forbid, Savanna does anything like bump into a wall Heidi is the first to say, "Savanna!  We don't OWN this house!  It's a rental house!  You need to be careful."

Cracks me up every single time I hear her say "rental house".  What 4 year old knows they live in a rental house?  Apparently Heidi.

And Savanna...

On Sunday in sacrament meeting Jeff was holding my hand.  Whenever Savanna saw, she would push Jeff hand away and start holding my hand.  I guess she was a little jealous.

There were tic tacs in the diaper bag and of course Savanna found them.  She kept calling them "Tic Toes."  We were laughing so hard.  I guess she was thinking tic-tac-toe.

two and a half

 Happy half birthday to our little Savanna girl!

On Saturday she hit the 2 1/2 year mark...crazy!

She is learning and growing faster than we can keep up.

*Calls herself Zanny

*Will do just about anything if she thinks it will get a laugh

*Her hair is getting curlier and curlier by the day.  It goes halfway down her back but curls up to her shoulders

*Loves to do whatever Heidi is doing and be wherever Heidi is

*Knows just how to make Heidi mad

*She is the best big sister to Caimbree.  Whenever Caimbree wakes up from naps or in the morning, Savanna is the first to rush over to her saying, "Morning hug!  Morning hug!"

*She wants everyone to "watch" what she is doing

*When someone is sad she is usually the first one to try to cheer them up

*Doesn't sit still for very long

*After lunch she has been going in her room and putting  

 herself down for a nap
*When she wakes up in the morning she says, "Good nap!"
*Calls Caimbree "Maim"
*Has a major sweet tooth
*Starting to talk a lot more and we are enjoying hearing all the funny things that cross her mind

 *Loves to do hair.  She loves brushing my hair and Heidi's hair
*Loves baby dolls
*Very adventurous
*Terrified of all bugs
*Throws a fit if she thinks there is anything in the tub with her (a little piece of dirt or grass and she is jumping out of the tub)
*We hear, "No, self" A LOT
*Will say the opposite of whatever you say
*Likes talking on the phone but has been known to hang up after a few seconds
*She has such a tender heart
*Nicknames include: Zanny Zoo, Zans, Zanzibar, Zanny Fras, Curly Sue

We love, love, love this spunky little girl!  It seems like yesterday she was born.  Happy half birthday, Zanny Zoo!!  Our lives would be so very boring without you!  S

old timer's day

We lucked out to be here for a fun weekend the first weekend here together as a family.  It was "Old Timer's Day" and there was a parade in the morning.

The girls had so much fun watching the floats, tractors, bands, and horses.  They waved and danced the morning away.

Savanna loved showing the necklace and sticker she got to all of the horses.  It was so funny.  "Look ,Horsey!!  Sticker!  Look, Horsey!"

Savanna also enjoyed the police cars and kept waving and saying, "Hi Cop!  Hi Cop!"  We were laughing so hard!

Caimbree seemed to enjoy her day at the parade too.  She didn't get a nap, but she was happy as could be...seriously, I don't know how to explain how much I love her easy going nature.  It makes things so much easier and more enjoyable!

It was a super fun first weekend here in our new town!

enjoying the outdoors

We promised the girls a trampoline when we moved and once we got settled in our house, we made good on our promise!  It has been so much fun and the girls have been outside jumping all day long.

There is a lake with a path around it and we are trying to go every night after dinner.  The girls walk or ride their bikes and Jeff and I take turns running.  Hopefully we can get back into shape soon.

Heidi loves to ride her bike and Savanna loves to try to catch her.  The girls also enjoy watching the ducks and geese.  We are enjoying our evenings together at the lake!

a new place to call home

 We made it to our rental Sunday night.  We had no utilities so we stayed the night in corporate housing where Jeff had been staying.  Monday morning we went and got all the utilities set up while we waited for the moving van.  The movers came around noon and got everything situated and beds set up for us.  We are keeping a lot of stuff boxed up in the garage while we wait to build or buy something permanent.  I spent the week unpacking and organizing and had it all pretty much done by Thursday.  We have been walking around and exploring our new area.  One thing we can all agree on is that is absolutely breathtaking!  We are loving the green scenery that surrounds us and the beautiful weather only adds to it.  One reason we wanted to live in Tennessee was for four, milder seasons and the hope of being outside and active as a family more of the year.  So far, that has definitely been the case!  We spend very little time in the house.  We got the girls a trampoline and we are on just over an acre of land.  We are also discovering places to run and hike and bike.  I am excited to make memories with our girls here.  I have good days and lonely days and I feel a little out of place still, but overall we are doing just

 fine and the girls are adjusting remarkably quickly.  Heidi and Savanna now share a room and Savanna has graduated to her big girl bed.  The only problem we have been having is earlier wake ups.  Savanna tends to wake up around 6 and start calling for Heidi.  A conversation I had with Heidi about it had me laughing so hard.

Heidi: Why does Savanna have to wake me up so early?

Me: I think she is just so excited to see you.

Heidi:  Well, she needs to just lay in her bed and quietly dream about me.

 We also found a little cat on one of our walks.  The girls are hoping the owner wants to give the cat up so they can have it.  It is a really sweet little kitty and seems to enjoy the girl's attention.

We are also getting used to seeing a few more bugs.  Savanna smashed a caterpillar and Heidi got so mad!  "Savanna, how could you?!  You deaded it before it could become a butterfly!"  We are trying to teach Savanna not to dead everything ha ha.

Now we are on a quest to find a piece of land to build on or to find a home we can move into.  We are so glad we are renting for now and are starting to get a feel for the area and Jeff's commute.  He is loving his job so far and comes home from work happy and excited about his day and the things he is learning.  We are happy to be all together as a family and are looking forward to this new experience!

kentucky

 We made it to Paducah Saturday night.  We stopped at my brother's Sunday morning before heading to our final destination and new home!  The girls are thrilled to have 3 cousins so close now and very disappointed that they are all boys...ha ha.  The boys aren't thrilled they only have girl cousins either!  Once they warmed up to each other, the gender didn't matter quite so much and the girls did not want to leave their cousins.  They got to feed chickens and a baby cow and collected some eggs.  It was a fun morning and we are so, so, so happy to live so close now.

St. Louis--arch

It started to rain as we were leaving the zoo.  The girls really wanted to see the arch and we really wanted to take them because I remember that being one of my favorite things Jeff and I did when we came out a long time ago.  We decided to have a quick lunch since it was raining anyway.  The rain would not let up.  We went and parked at the arch, but it's a 15 minute walk to actually get to the arch.  We tried to brave it out, but it was a serious downpour and the girls were getting soaked!  Finally we told them to run in front of the clock tower and we would take their picture with the arch behind them.  It was pretty funny actually.  We were sad we didn't get to show them more of it.  We will definitely have to come back.

st. louis--zoo

 We made it to St. Louis Friday night and decided to check out the zoo Saturday morning.  No bunk bed hotels in St. Louis and the girls were so very disappointed.  I wasn't sure they were going to go to sleep, but they eventually settled down in the pull out sofa bed!

The zoo is free in St. Louis (except for parking).  It was such a beautiful setting!  The girls were thrilled to go another zoo and it was a nice morning for it.

They ran up and down the bridge with their arms stretched out for some reason.  It was so cute.

We loved the enclosed sea lion area.  We stayed in there for quite awhile.

The maps were as big of a hit as the animals themselves.  Heidi wanted to navigate where we were going the whole way, so of course Savanna had to have her own map as well.  It slowed us down quite a bit, but watching them with the maps made it worth the slowness.

 The weather was a overcast and it was supposed to get rainy.  The girls were getting hungry so we decided to head to lunch and hit the arch before heading out on the next leg of our journey.  We were so glad we stopped at the St. Louis Zoo!  It was well worth the visit!