Kaylen's first TN game

We decided that Kaylen was old enough to experience a Tennessee game. We wanted to go to one that we thought we could win so we chose the UAB game. It ended up being a great game with us winning in double overtime. It was exciting to watch but I wish we would have been a strong enough team to beat them easily. Alas... another year. Moving on...

We were nervous about Kaylen being uncomfortable. having to sit still for that long. getting bored. getting rained on. the list could go on and on but the conditions were perfect. We ended up with great seats right under an over hang (so we had constant shade and no rain if it would have rained). We were near the end zone which was great. There was a cool breeze and we had coloring sheets. Those were a life saver. She loved smokey and the cheerleaders. The band played Rocky Top a million times (as always) and she loved singing along. Our markers dropped a few times and we had to get some help getting them back but other than that, we had loads of fun. No tears, no complaints, just enjoyment. Did she get in to the football? Of course not but what girl ever truly does? There are a few of us out there but not many.

Here K is pre-game. She was ready! We were waiting on the Vol walk.
Would have been such a sweet family pic at our first game but K wasn't feeling the smiles all that much.

Closer to a smile but the sun was in her eyes and we just got a silly expression. She was getting impatient while we waited.

Sweetest smile of the day. :)


They made it! Here they come! She loved the majorettes. She watched in amazement. Look at those girls twirling their sticks!!!
We are finally at the game and more fun! The band was really fun for her to watch.
Their famous T in all of it's orange glory!

And of course she konked out for the end of the game and totally missed the double overtime. She slept through the loudest part of the game!
Everyone around us thought she was so cute and we had a great time at dinner after the game as well. We did a little shopping and headed back home. At about 9 pm we were 17 miles from S. Pittsburg and traffic came to a screeching halt. Their had been a wreck between two tractor trailers and their cargo had flown everywhere. So we sat completely still for 3 hours awaiting the clean up and reopening of the road. We ended up getting home around 1:30 am. Kaylen was a trooper and it was an unforgettable first for us!

Frantic Frog

I haven't mentioned on here anything about the races I have been involved in lately on here. Mostly because my point and shoot died and I didn't want to lug around a big camera. And even if I did, who would take the pictures? Well, at the Frantic Frog, Jeremy so graciously took pictures for us.

Just to mention the other races I have done, the Wet Dog was in July. I didn't have a very good race that day for some reason. You know how sometimes you just have an off day? That was me for that race. Oh, and I ran the Cotton Row back in May, I think. My time for that one was 26:57. I felt like I could have done better that day too but it gave me a good time to beat. I did the Frantic Frog two weeks ago and it was a 400 meter swim, 14.5 mile bike and a 3.1 mile run. My time was 1:33 and some change that I have forgotten. This is the only one of my races that Allen did with me this year. So I am chronicling this for both of us. Anyway, I also did the Care Center 5K this past Saturday. I finished in 26:20 (which at least beat my earlier run). I am hoping to get my time down even more and might do the Liz Hurley race in October.

Here we are pre-race and you can tell that it isn't quite daylight yet. This is the happiest you will see Allen the entire event!

Here we are in the bike corral getting set up and ready to go. Allen needed help putting those pesky numbers on his shirt. The rest of us seemed to manage fine on our own... but safety pins can get confusing! :)
By this point we are really gearing up. We have gotten down to our swimwear and I don't do that until I absolutely have to. I sincerely think that these races are a lot of people in too much spandex.
I liked how this race had us jump off the dock to start. That's much better than awkwardly running through the water and flopping in. They started us two at a time. Allen and Amy started way before me. I ended up swimming the wrong direction at the end. I swam along the side of the pier and we were supposed to veer right near where the picture is being taken from. Oh well. :)
Here Allen is getting out of the water and on to his bike for his most dreaded leg of the tri.
And here he is finishing the run. He was hating life right about then.


But then again, so was I. I came in after him because I started so much behind him. It is not any fun to know that everyone in your group is already finished and sippin' on some tasty agua while munchin' on orange slices.
Amy and I trained for the race together and she has become a great workout partner. I do so much better when I am held accountable! And we are right there on the same level so we really seem to work well together.

Here are all the girls chatting afterward while we await the results posting. Of course miss fitness blew us all out of the water. Hollie is what I consider the mere definition of discipline. She works hard and it shows. We all seemed
I am not going to brag too much about the outcome of this race... I will let this picture tell you who the winner was between our competitive duo. I will say that I trained WAY harder than he did.

Field Trip to the Botanical Gardens

***Disclaimer*** If you plan to go to the Botanical Gardens and see the scarecrows, I would skip this post or nothing will be a surprise. I am pretty sure Kaylen HAD to have her picture taken with every scarecrow there!

Here they all are at the start of the day looking and feeling fresh and excited!
This is Alexis and Kaylen. They have been the closest of school friends!

And now we get in to the parade of the scarecrows and Kaylen. First up, Captain Jack Sparrow.
Next we have Ariel... we couldn't tell that was her but the sign swears that it is. Kaylen said she must be getting married or something.
Next... not sure what he is. I am going to call him the headless businessman of Sleepy Hollow.
Closest thing to a traditional scarecrow we saw (minus the green pumpkin head).
Pinocchio! He looks a little scary but he was loved for being so short and easy to look at by the little ankle biters.
Can you believe they have a play area with balls in it? I thought those were banned for being so dangerously dirty. But I guess I was wrong... Of course I let my precious baby play in them!
Buzz Lightyear getting a big ole hug from my little one.
Princess Fiona (or so the sign said), Kaylen and Amelia.
A scare-ghost and Kaylen.
They had a star wars theme and this was a "treewok" village. Cute, huh?
A big spider and some class friends. Hayes, Lacy, Kaylen, Georgie, Seth, ???, and Nikki. Hey, 6 out of 7 isn't bad!
Rushton and Kaylen give Woody a big hug!
Kaylen as Goldielocks.
They said not to touch the butterflies but they never said anything about not letting them touch you!
These 4 girls are such good friends. Georgie, Katie Rose, Rushton and Kaylen.
Here is my little guy. He has been getting in to EVERYTHING these days. I am so worn out and am just trying to keep both him and I alive with nothing around us broken!
Here is how he feels about Kaylen being the boss of him these days. And she is getting frustrated with him some too. On wed. Sept 15, 2010 Kaylen told her brother that she hated him for the very first time. It broke my heart and she tried to take it back right away. I know that is just the beginning of many more years of sibling fighting.

first soccer game

This game was so fun to watch. I had a blast cheering from the sidelines. You know how competitive I am so I have to let you all know that Kaylen's team is really good. They won handily. We scored goals for both teams even! I don't think we are going to have much trouble winning games this season. The coach is really good with kids and very knowledgeable. Kaylen is learning a lot and I am thankful for this program!

So throughout the evening she did listen some to her coach when they huddled up.
There were times that she was in the game running hard and chasing after the ball.
There were times that she stood around with her shirt up and no idea what was going on around her.
Times that she danced for the crowd.
Times that she cheered for her teammates from the sidelines.


And here is my picture story of her practicing making a goal before the game. (you might need to click on the image to really see it well)
Of course there was attitude for days! Sassy little thing!

She got all hot and red-faced.

She was completely surprised that her Aunt Nikki came to the game and she welcomed her with a big hug.

And I am pretty sure that the best part of the game for her and her two gal teammates was the snacks and hang time afterward. Such a fun season ahead of us!

Fast Trip to Arkansas

Over our Labor Day weekend we took a quick trip to Arkansas to visit family. This was our view on the way down Friday evening. It was amazing!

We got to Memphis (where my aunt lives and so graciously lets us all stay) and realized that I forgot Tripp's pack-n-play. BIG MISTAKE! He has to have that to sleep! So we all had a restless night. Needless to say, we got up early Saturday morning and headed off to Arkansas to visit my Papaw. We were following my aunt who was using her GPS that took us through some pretty interesting sights. So things got a little crazy with the photo journalism. I wish like crazy I would have gotten the inner city Memphis we went through. I am very sure that we were not invited to frequent those parts and needed to leave as fast as we came. Anway, we took a picture of the only white person we saw within a 10 mile radius of that place:


So since that was so momentous we decided to replicate that and show the other white person I had seen but forgotten about:

We had to go through Mississippi to get there so we drove through Tunica. We learned all sorts of things here!

Like, Michael Bolton is still alive and well and preforming in Mississippi! Be sure to check him out because if you are anything like me you have been asking yourself, "How am I supposed to live without you" any time you think of him. Anyway, there were many other people that we found...
like Kenny G! I thought this guy had been arrested for lulling drivers to sleep and causing an outbreak of car accidents in the late 80's. Guess he made bail and is back at it in Tunica. Hey, did anyone else know that he holds the Guiness World Book record for longest note held on a sax? 45 minutes! Enjoy, everyone, enjoy!
We also saw cars that were missing back windshields. Yes, you can see this anywhere but on this trip, it made the list.
This is one of my favs. Only in Tunica will you see both Tractors and Tour buses on the same 4 lane highway! Really?!?!?
We had a good time in the car as well. Here are my two being so sweet.
Amber and Kaylen posing. We sang, danced, videoed such activities without the knowledge of the singer and dancer... Good times!
My babies playing together. I love that they can entertain each other!
We did have some tears with this little guy. He was a trooper but some things were just more than he could handle. He was so ready to be out of his seat!
We saw lots and lots of cotton!
And now we are reaching our destination!!! Arkansas!

There really isn't much there. It is so much like the place that time forgot. I honestly love that about the area though. It is as if you are going back in time. Things have just aged and stayed the same. Take this house, for example. It looks like it was really nice many years ago. Now it is run down. What a fun restoration project, huh!?
And then you have stores that look like this. It probably used to be a mom and pop convenient store that the native-to-Arkansas-Wal-Mart put out of business. I am just speculating.
And there are scenes like this that are sad. A home destroyed and left there. It makes me want to go and help clean it up and restore it.
Now we are on my Grandpa's road. Notice the lack of pavement. I am telling you... a totally different world! Very relaxing and quiet.
How beautiful is the farming community? I love all of the barns and fields. It is a shame that we are losing this laid back way of life.
We made it to my Papaw's! He has lived here as long as I can remember and it is a great place to visit. The weather was absolutely perfect this day!
His neighbor has a pet deer. It is a 10 point buck and so sweet. He ate flowers from us for the longest time!
Even Tripp got in on the feeding.
He is getting old but he is so gentle and sweet.
Of course we all had to get in on the photo opt with the deer.
Mamaw, A. Christy and Tripp enjoying the beautiful afternoon.
Okay, this is always my favorite activity at my Papaw's. I borrowed some knock around clothes from Mamaw so I didn't get too dusty and took the kids for a ride.

Tripp and Kaylen both just went around the house with us and then back off to play in the yard. Sydney (my cousin) and I had a lot of fun riding all over the place on that thing. All of the fields are in a checkerboard pattern and you can go around there for days. It really is a blast! Mom, Papaw (her dad), A. Christy, Kaylen and Sydney
A. Christy, Mamaw, Mom, Kaylen
Okay, these shots get a little silly... Amber I put these on here for you, my dear. Remember that picture of me that you stole? :)
Amber, get in that tree and smile like you are having your senior pictures made!
Amber and I.
Hey, I know, hang in that tree and smile like you are just standing around acting normal. What? It actually hurts your legs to hang like that? Well, you never showed the pain on you sweet smiling face!
Now you fit in the inner city Memphis area we drove through earlier! Way to throw those gang signs, Whitey McWhite.
Wait, what'd ya say? I am sorry, I couldn't quite hear ya. Nevermind... lookin' good!
Now we are in Forrest City. This time it is an entire downtown that time forgot. So strange to see.
But then again, these are the cars you might see driving through this area. And yes, I was afraid of being shot for taking the picture. I tried to be sly but was told that I so wasn't.
God Bless America.
This is my Mawmaw's house. She past away many year ago and my Aunt bought it. She then past away and the house left the family for a while. My uncle has recently purchased it and is slowly trying to update things. It was nice to all be there again. Odd how different places evoke such memory for you.
After dinner there we decided to go ahead and go back home on Saturday night. This was due to Amber not feeling great and us not having a pack-n-play for Tripp. This is how we all felt at this point:
But Kaylen was acting more like this:
It was a quick trip but was really nice to race down memory lane. We ended the weekend with a game of hide-n-seek on the golf course, a cookout with Allen's high school guys and some family hang time. All in all, it was a great Labor Day!