Eleven for the Week

1. Frankie participated in a service project to earn money for scout camp. He did the aeration project two weeks in a row. It was hard work but he raised the money he needed to cover the costs of camp this year.



2. We went to a fireside for the youth and parents to go over Youth Conference. They are doing a wilderness youth conference near Wisconsin Dells. They will be repelling, rock climbing, canoeing, night hike, kayaking, and mountain biking. It sounds like a ton of fun!



3. I attended a baby shower for my friend at church. She too is having a little girl so I was able to donate some unused items to her that I never had the chance to use for Savannah.



4. Frank and I left for the Spring Fling in Nashville, TN. I missed most of the whole event due to the baby being with us. We stayed in the Opryland Hotel and really enjoyed our visit. It rained all day long on Saturday and Sunday and the hotel flooded and had to be evacuated. Luckily we had left before this all occurred. Unforunately for us we couldn't get out of Nashville. The area received 13 inches of rain and flooded all the roads. Every main road was closed and Frank drove down MANY backroads and some how found a way out. It was just awful and we were all very stressed out. All the hotels were sold out and I thought we might have to sleep in our car over night. Luckily around 1:30am we came across a hotel that had an open room. We caught some sleep and than headed over to Arkansas.



5. It turns out we were almost out of the nightmare that we were trapped in all night long. We were about 30 minutes outside the flooded areas. We lost a day at Lara's house but were happy to have finally arrive in NW Arkansas.



6. Lara and I made two cakes for the birthday party. We made an elmo cake for Savannah. The cake looked awesome and I was very proud of myself. It was a lot for work for my one year old! My mom helped cook the other cake however we were rushing and forgot to add a few items to the cake and had to start all over.



7. My parents decided to leave the next day to allow the flood waters to go down some more. We ran a few errands during the day and allowed the kids to stay up for the grandparents to arrive. We gave them baths at the rental house and rushed them off to bed. It was a very long day!



8. Craig and his family arrived on Wednesday around dinner time and we were getting ready to head down to the park to enjoy a nice bbq. The kids had a great time and the party was an overall success. We made homemade ice cream and had to make a second trip back to the house to pick up the second cake (forgot). It was great getting to see Kaitlyn for the 1st time. It's been a long time since we have all been together.


9. We went to the Wilderness Animal Safari and had a picnic lunch. The kids loved seeing the animals. Some of the larger animals scared Kaitlyn when they came up to the vehicle. We were able to hold a baby monkey and we all took turns holding a snake around our necks. That was a cool experience!

10. Lara took the kids over to Tanyard Creek and we took photos at the waterfall. That evening we attended a minor league baseball game. It was a slaughter game but still enjoyable to watch. We took the young kids home early. We went to a craft fair and looked around. Frank and I headed home to get Frank back to work for Saturday morning.

11. Lara and Landon ran in a 5k race and Logan and I ran in a 1k fun race. I had no training and was outrun by a five year old. I was struggling to keep up with the kids. I'm really out of shape. It was an overall good experience and I was proud of my family!