August was a fun month for us! I titled it a "wild" month because we were busy, and several of our activities seemed to center around wild animals-other than the ones living in our house :) We made THREE trips to the Knoxville Zoo this month. First, we went with our friends, the Whites. Josh, Cassandra, and their boys Henry and Thomas drove over for a day and met us at the zoo! It was fun taking the kids through to see the animals together and fun visiting with our friends too! We always have a great time with them, and it's just like old times. Four days after we went with the Whites, our meetup group went so we went again! The group that went was a lot of fun, and there were two other 3 year old boys then Dawson, of course, a 4 year old girl, and then three-including Carter-boys under 6 months! Then three days later we went back to the zoo for a special event: Touch a Truck! They had brought some heavy equipment, ambulances, fire trucks, etc. to the zoo. We spent a little while seeing the animals, but spent the majority of this trip checking out all the equipment-this was the perfect event for Dawson since he loves this stuff!
Also, to add to the wild animal theme :) this month we went to a drive thru safari. We did one in Alabama and loved it so we wanted to try one here! We visited Circle C Ranch (there's another one here too we plan to check out soon!). It was great! We drove through a 3 mile safari, fed the animals, and even were allowed to pet them at this safari! The zebras were all at the beginning of the safari and wouldn't leave us alone because they wanted more and more food. In addition to the zebras, Dawson also liked the alpacas, antelope, and rheas the best! There were numerous times when the animals would just not leave us alone and we had to roll all our windows up to make them back off and stay out of our car for a minute. Dawson got to ride on my lap in the front while John drove (and Carter slept in the backseat). Dawson LOVED the drive thru safari, and he is still talking about it. After driving through, we went to the petting zoo there where we touched lots of llamas, camels, goats, sheep, donkeys, and, Dawson's favorite-a rooster! Carter woke up for the petting zoo, so I took him in the petting zoo in his Moby wrap. He loved hearing all the animal noises and looked around the whole time flailing his arms and legs he was so excited!
Also in August, Dawson and Carter have had several playdate at our house and going to some friends houses which are always fun! We also went to Tumblebears Gym to play one morning and get some energy out. Dawson has now mastered holding on to the rope and swinging, and he spent most of his time doing this and walking across the balance beams very easily-he seems to have great balance on there. Carter loved being held and looking all around Tumblebears-it was loud in there with other kids and this kept him entertained!
To keep us entertained on days we are home most of the day, we have continued doing "activities." Dawson loves these little things I plan for us to do, and sometimes they are so simple, but he is happy! Some of his favorites this month have been dripping colored vinegar into baking soda, making the solid/liquid cornstarch experiment, and making our own bathtub crayons. We usually do these when Carter is napping, so that Dawson has my undivided attention-and I think this makes the little activities even more special to Dawson this way.
Dawson has been one lucky boy this month in getting to go play golf with his Daddy two times! John has been using his golf lessons that we gave him for Father's Day, and he is supposed to practice between lessons so he has been playing a lot of golf! Dawson has gotten to go along a couple times, and LOVES it! He thinks it's such a special treat and that he is such a big boy.
A couple of weeks ago we drove up to Townsend and had a picnic dinner. The treat of this outing for Dawson was getting to swim in the river and go across the swinging bridge. We stuck Carter's toes in the water, but it was a little cool and he wasn't thrilled. So we took turns holding him while the other got in the water with Dawson.
My big sis, Lauren, came in town a couple of weeks ago, and I was so glad that we got to have dinner together! I took Carter with me, and he got to meet Lauren! It was great catching up with her!
Dawson has gotten to spend a couple nights with his Lolly and Pop this month, and he loves this. It is also nice for me to catch up on sleep for one morning since Carter usually sleeps later than Dawson I get to sleep until Carter wakes up!! Dawson always loves going to their house and always comes home with stories!
August was also a month for baby girls! Our friends the LuAllens had their baby girl a couple weeks ago, and we got to visit them and meet her last weekend! She is an adorable little Sigma Kappa legacy! :) Then our friends the Gibsons had their baby girl this week, and John and I got to go meet her at the hospital this week! She is precious too! It's hard for me to look at both of these sweet newborns and realize how much Carter has already grown and changed in just four short months! Its hard to believe how much happens and how much they grow in those first 4 months! I'm excited for Carter though because this means there are going to be kids around his age to play with...for when they will actually start interacting a little more.
In addition to keeping up with Dawson and Carter, I have stayed busy this month with a few craft projects, canvases for Dawson's wall, and making homemade laundry detergent for the first time! John has now had three golf lessons, gotten to play golf several times, and completed the second course toward receiving his masters!! John and I enjoyed a date in the middle of the month where we went to see a movie together, leaving both boys with my parents! It was nice to have a date and talk uninterrupted (what's that?!) even if the main thing we talk about are our sweet boys!!
September is already looking to be a busy month with lots of fun things planned!
Enjoy the August pictures below...
(I could not get them in the correct order, so please excuse the sequence.)
Dawson and his new friend Jay standing
on the "elephants feet" at the zoo.
Dawson riding a lion.
One of our activities was dropping
colored vinegar into baking soda
with a dropper and watching it fizz.
Dawson loved this experiment, and said he
was being a scientist.
Dawson climbing out of an ambulance
at the Touch a Truck event.
The Gibbons at the zoo are now
some of our favorites! This little
guy was hilarious! He came right up
to the glass and watched Dawson's
every move.
Dawson leaned closer, and the
Gibbon put his forehead against
the glass too! Dawson thought this
was great!
Dawson in the children's hospital
pediatric ambulance at Touch a Truck.
Daddy and Dawson at Touch a Truck.
Carter was a happy boy at the zoo!
Dawson in front of the scoop!
Construction workin' Daddy!
Driving the army vehicle.
Carter with his construction hat
I brought for him to wear to
Touch a Truck.
This was Dawson's favorite piece of equipment!
It was HUGE!
Practicing golf with Daddy!
The last day of August was the first
Tennessee game of the season.
Go Vols!
I love how Carter looks like he has football
pads on or something in this picture!
Haha!
When trying to take pictures of them in the
jerseys I got some funny expressions, so
I had to include a couple different pictures
of them!
And this is classic...
Dawson's "cheese" face he is
currently doing for almost every
picture! haha, and Carter looks
slightly concerned!
Love these sweet boys!
One day early in the month
it rained A TON in a short amount
of time. Dawson begged to put
on his rain boots and go stomp puddles.
I gave in, and he had fun playing!
(really out of order, sorry!)
Dawson the owl and Henry
at the Zoo!
Action shot! Dawson is mid-air
about to land in this puddle!
Kicking puddles, another action shot!
Dawson was thrilled that the rain
storm blew this football out of the
tree that someone got it stuck
in at the beginning of summer!
He had so much fun running around
in the rain with this football, it was
sweet to see how something so little
is such a big deal to him!
Dawson driving Henry in the safari
jeep at the zoo!
Daddy and Dawson at the zoo!
The babies sleeping at the zoo!
(Don't worry, I just took the sun shades
down for the picture!)
John and Josh at the zoo.
(disappointed that I didn't get a single picture
of me and Cassandra together!)
As we were leaving the zoo this lion
gave Dawson a hug. He still LOVES
characters dressed up, and he had to
pry him away from this lion!
The solid/liquid cornstarch experiment
was one of his favorites this month!
If you mix water and cornstarch it is
a liquid, but if you hit it it is a solid under
the pressure. Dawson had fun testing this
out. We added color just to make it fun!
(that dino canvas in the background
was one thing I was working on-and have now
finished for Dawson's room, and it obviously
normally doesn't stay in the kitchen, hah)
Making bathtub crayons!
(doesn't really like to get his hands
dirty!)
(again, out of order!)
Daddy and Dawson on the swinging bridge
in Townsend.
Dawson and Mommy in the river.
The finished product-bathtub crayons!
(It may look like I make him do
all the activities without a shirt,
but we had a couple this month I was worried
might stain, so we were just careful!) :)
Love his face here!!
Me and Carter on the picnic in Townsend.
He is trying to grab the camera!
Dawson in the river.
He loved it!
Lauren meeting Carter!
Zebra in our Jeep!
Zebra harassing our driver! :)
Drive thru safari!
Another favorite this month
has been playing with his easel from
Lolly and Pop. One side is a magnet board,
and they made this side a felt board! I've made
some felt board pieces to go along with some
of his favorite books, and he LOVES this!!
Drive thru safari!
Drive thru safari.
Drive thru safari.
Drive thru safari.
Drive thru safari.
About to visit some animals in the
petting zoo at the drive thru safari!
Carter enjoying the petting zoo
from his Moby!
Petting a bunny!
Another activity. We were growing a
stalactite rock on the string between
the glasses! This was the beginning stage,
however, due to someone doing a lot of jumping
(ahem, Dawson) the rock that was forming
fell a couple of days later and broke. We are planning
to do it again and place it somewhere that it will be safe
for the amount of time it takes for the rock to form.
Dawson was really interested in this one too!
Carter loves playing with his zebra
especially in his carseat!
Dawson and Daddy about to touch the
rooster at the petting zoo!
Dawson touching a bears claw
at the zoo!
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