Knoxville Trip June 2012

Road Trip!!! Boy was it a long one, but totally worth it to get to see family. 



 We left Tuesday morning, headed for St. Louis to see my college roomie, eat lunch, and then drive to Metropolis, Illinois, for a pit stop and some SUPER fun. The kids did well staying in the hotel, mainly because I INSISTED on getting two adjoining rooms. Won't ever do it any other way. Nice to be able to put them down and not have to go to bed at 8:00.  (And enjoy a beer. Or two.)

 Obviously, we HAD to go see the giant Superman statue in the town square. I do believe this is what Preston's Heaven looks like. He loved every second there.

 This seems about right, doesn't it???

 Super kids!

Look! Up in the sky! It's Superman's crotch! 

 Stopped at DQ for dinner. Does he look happy or what??

 This meal was one of my favorite parts of the trip- just a nice dinner together as a family.

 We left Metropolis Wednesday morning to head to Knoxville. I had commented about how you can tell how clean a hotel is by the color of your kids' feet after walking on the carpet. Needless to say, the place we stayed was FILTHY. So imagine my horror when I looked into the backseat and saw this.

 I can promise you that they didn't look like this for much of the trip, but it was nice while it lasted!

 We made it! Went to the pool for some fun before the rest of the crew arrived.

 Everyone else came on Thursday, and the cousins had a great time together.

 Awwwwwwwwwww

 Callie's first time swinging all by herself! She may or may not have landed on her head a few times, but hopefully she'll get the hang of it soon.

 Water table = the greatest invention EVER. Sara brought hers, and I bought one the second we got home. A great entertainer for kids!! (And Mommy can sit down. Yes, SIT DOWN!)

 Some beautiful trees I saw on my walks there.

 Friday night we went to Mary Nell's parents' lake house for some swimming, tubing, and dinner. Callie wanted to go have a snack and watch everyone through the windows.

 Who has two thumbs and is pumped for their first tube ride?

 Swinging with Mimi.

 Saturday night their neighborhood had a pool party/potluck dinner. The kids had a great time! (Minus Callie, who was a mess and had to go home less than 10 minutes in.)

 They even had someone making balloon animals- Preston is holding Marjorie's hand because she was scared of him...sweet.

 A sword! (Yes, it IS a sword. Nothing else.)

 The best pic I got of all the cousins. Pretty typical that my kids are the only ones not cooperating!

It was wonderful to be able to see everyone, and we really appreciate The Pruitts letting us invade their home. They were wonderful hosts, and a fabulous time was had by all.

Unfortunately, I did a terrible job getting video footage, but here is the small bit I managed to take.

 We left Sunday and decided to drive all the way home. Over 14 hours in the car isn't exactly a picnic, but we stopped in St. Louis again for a little breather. Thanks, Andrea, for letting us stretch our legs, eat, and destroy your house!

Yes, I'm tired, too. (Out of the 28 hours total we spent in the car, the two of them slept for maybe a combined 4 hours. I do believe we deserve a medal!)

SUPER Party!

We celebrated Preston's fourth birthday in style this weekend. What could be more perfect for him than a superhero training party?? I did a little research online, stole some ideas, tweaked a few, and came up with this. First, I sent out the invitations below about a month ago, complete with Super Hero pictures. (Sorry, I can't get the spacing right on this part.)

Calling All Superheroes!!

Mark this date on your Super Calendars:

June 8th from 6:30-8:00 PM

Preston needs your help! We must unite to defeat the forces of evil! Please meet at headquarters (The Main Shelter at Antioch Park by the playground equipment) to prepare for the invasion. We must defend our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of cake. If you can join us to defeat our enemy — and eat cake — please respond as soon as possible with the following top secret information.

No special equipment will be needed, just wear clothing that is appropriate for outdoor superhero training. Your participation is vital to the success of this mission!

RSVP to SuperMom at marie_hooker@yahoo.com or put the info below in Preston’s cubby.

**Do not feel obligated to bring a gift for Preston, but you can bring a small toy for us to donate to Children’s Mercy Hospital — Superheroes love to do nice things for others!

___________________________________________________________________________________

Yes, you can count on me! ___ Maybe-I'll see if my cape is back from the cleaners ___ No, I have to help others that day! ___

My secret identity:

My superhero name:

Total number of superheroes and superparents coming:

The day of the party, the kids arrived at the park to see these banners, and I had some super music playing on the Ipod to set the mood.  

Clint helped me create these signs for the training stations.

 There were 6 stations they had to complete in order to receive their training completion certificate at the end. The Little Supers received a sticker on their shirt/costume/cape as they completed each task. 1)Fast as Flash-run as fas as Flash does- duh. 2) Web Master- climb across a big web on the playground equipment. 3) Capture the Kryptonite- as the kids were getting their instructions from me, a Bad Guy appeared, dropped some Kryptonite, yelled something about ruining the party, and then disappeared. (I missed this part on the video, but did manage to capture the kids' reaction- priceless.) Kids had to put the Kryptonite into the "Hazardous Waste" container using a teaspoon (you can't touch it with your bare hands!) 4) Magnificent Minds- guess how many pieces of candy are in the jar. The closest guess gets to take the jar home. 5) Leap Buildings in a Single Bound- use teamwork to create a building out of blocks and then take turns jumping over it. 6) Mighty Muscles- lift a VERY heavy weight over your head (pictures from this are going to be our thank you cards).

Super Friends ready for action.

Little Supers awaiting instructions for the training stations.



Too small for training, but still a cute little hero!



Fierce and ready to train.



Mighty Muscles



More Mighty Muscles



Mighty Muscles again.

Leaping buildings in a single bound.

Getting stickers after proving they are as Fast as Flash.

Capturing the Kryptonite.

Training complete! The Little Supers got their certificate (signed by Supernom) and super bubbles...just in case the Bad Guy returned.



Attacking the Bad Guy- he returned just as we were preparing to go eat cake. He said he wanted to steal the cake and spoil all of the birthday fun! Luckily he was ONLY afraid of bubbles. Good thing we had some! 

Best part of the party- Clint came to help haul the Bad Guy to jail, and the kids squeaked, "OFF TO JAIL! OFF TO JAIL!" while following behind them. This is my favorite part in the video. Seriously cute.

Bravo, Little Supers. Bravo.

They deserved this cake after all of that hard work defending it!



What a SUPER day for this little guy!

 

The Little Supers agreed to allow the Bad Guy to come to the party...as long as he didn't try to steal the cake again. Thank you, Jason, for being the perfect Bad Guy! I'm sure the random people at the park were a little leery of the creepy man wearing a costume hiding in the parking lot awaiting his signal to crash the party.

Video footage...we never could have pulled this off without the help of friends and family!

Saturday morning we took the toys to Children's Mercy Hospital. Preston really got a kick out of it. He received a toy there during his stay last summer, so it was only fitting to pay it forward.



Phew! Next year we will be having a small party at home with only a few friends and family. I swear.