Arkansas vs. Mississippi State

Saturday was my brother's 31st birthday.  It was also Arkansas vs. Mississippi State in Little Rock.  This game has alot of significance for my family because I have my Bachelors degree from MSU and my Masters degree from Arkansas, and Phillip and Holly both have their Bachelors degrees from MSU.  For Phillip's birthday, I got him and Holly and Chris and I tickets to the game.  Arkansas football has been hard to watch this year.  They are pretty bad.  But so is Mississippi State...they had 1 more win than Arkansas.  So this was the Battle for the Bottom of the SEC!  Ha!!  Mom and dad and Chris and I met up in Little Rock Friday night, and Phillip and Holly drove over Saturday morning.  It was an 11:20 kick off so we had breakfast then headed off.

Because I ordered the tickets back in August, I had forgotten where I got seats but they turned out to be pretty sweet.  We were in the end zone but on the 3rd row!  We definitely aren't anywhere near that close in Fayetteville!

I know I post alot of pictures taken by Chris but I think he is so talented and has such a good eye!  He got some great snaps Saturday!

Pregame warm ups

 

As a former college band nerd and as a former college majorette, I love watching pregame.  We had a very different view of it this time.  I especially loved having one of the feature twirlers right in front of us.

 

 

 Game time!  Chris definitely got some awesome pictures during the game!

 

 

 

 

 

We had a great time and watched a great game.  Mississippi State ended up on top and that's fine.  Made for a great birthday for my brother!

While we were at the game, my parents took Sara Kate to the Children's Museum of Discovery.  She had a great time and was fast asleep when we got back to the hotel. After she woke up, we went and had dinner before one last birthday surprise.

Sara Kate waited so patiently all day for the 'party.'  'Happy Birthday Uncle Phil!' she said!

We had the famous Rick's Bakery here in Fayetteville make this cake.  They did a great job, based on the picture we took in.  Wonder if they've ever made a cake like that before?!

It was about 8:00 when we left to head back home and 11:00 when we got home.  Sara Kate fell asleep around 9:30 and I managed to transfer her to her room, change her clothes, and put her back to bed with no problems.  And she slept until 7:00 Sunday morning!  

We had a great time with my family, and we certainly hope Phillip had a very Happy Birthday!

Throwback Thursday - The Bench

Throwback Thursday is a pretty popular thing on Facebook and Instagram so I thought I would participate here on the old blog.  I had a bit of nostalgia on Monday when I saw a picture that Chris took of Sara Kate.  We started taking her to Gulley Park the summer of 2011, when she was about 15 months old, right after she started walking.  In August 2011 he took this picture of her...

Sara Kate - 16 months old

And here she is in November 2013...

Sara Kate - 3 and 1/2 years old

I love seeing comparisons like this, especially comparisons at the same place.  They melt my heart, yet they make me sad at the same time.  She's not my little baby anymore.  She's my little girl.

Farmland Adventures

Last Saturday we made our annual trip to the corn maze/pumpkin patch.  Last year we went to Ozark Corn Maze (see here), but this year we decided to go back to Farmland Adventures in Springdale.  We went there the first time we went when Sara Kate was 18 months.  Here's our first trip to Farmland Adventures...Sara Kate sure has changed!! :-)  Even looking back at last years post, she has changed so much!!

We went after she woke up from her nap.  She was still kind of out of it on the way there, but she was super excited when we got there.  First we headed into the small corn maze.

 

 

She had a blast walking around trying to find the 'right way.'  I love seeing excitement and joy in her eyes!

"Daddy, look!  I found a corn!"

She's such a mama's girl.  Mommy hold my hand.  Mommy hold me.  Mommy this.  Mommy that.  Love her.  I love this picture too. :-)

 

Daddy the photographer managed to get in a picture too!

After we went through the corn maze, Sara Kate's day REALLY got made when Hannah and Hayden got there!  Jenny, Jason, Hannah, Hayden, Bob, and Sharon all came out and we had a great time with the whole family.  The kids had an amazing time together!

The great thing about Farmland Adventures is there are so many activities for kids that are built into the admission price.  Once we payed the admission price we didn't have to pay for anything, and the kids got to go on pony rides, go through the petting zoo, go on a hay ride and feed some cows, play in a hay maze, play in the corn boxes, and go through the corn mazes.  

Sara Kate loved looking at the animals, and after watching Hannah and Meme she got brave.  She actually fed the goats from her hand!  She's never done this before.  She loves animals but is somewhat stand-offish when it comes to touching them or getting too close (outside of dogs and cats).  So this was a big thing and I was so proud of her!

 

Hannah was a pro!

After the kids fed the animals, we went on a hay ride.

The funny thing is the hay ride took us into a field where we fed cows tortillas!  I can't say that's something I've ever seen cows eat and I see cows all the time with work!  Hayden wore his as a hat!  He *might* have taken a little taste out of the middle too...haha!

I was mean and teased my cow.  Don't worry, I gave it to her!

After the hay ride, Sara Kate experienced another big first.  She went on a pony ride!!  Shortly after she turned 2 we were somewhere where there were pony rides and she wanted to go on one.  But it was a total disaster.  As soon as she got on and the ponies started moving she started screaming and wanted off.  I quickly took her out of there.  So this was take two and mama was nervous about how she would do!

But I put her on the pony behind Hannah and she did so great.  I know I need to loosen up and not be so uptight about her experiencing new things.  For me, it's exciting and nerve wracking at the same time.  Exciting because I love seeing her excited and happy about experiencing new things and nerve wracking just because I know how she is (and anyone who knows my child knows what I mean by that!)!  But I loved that she had such a good time.

 

 

The kids played some more and we went through the corn maze again before it got too dark.

 

 

We ended up spending a little over 3 hours at Farmland Adventures and it was well worth our time and money.  I was so happy we ended up there with family too.  It was a great 'fall experience' for the cousins to have together.  I get so much joy out of seeing them together because they love each other SO much.  I didn't have cousins when I was a kid so I didn't have that kind of bond.  I love that Sara Kate has Hannah and Hayden so close and that they are the best of friends.  I think the corn mazes in our area close today for the season, but if you're in Northwest Arkansas, check out Farmland Adventures next fall!

Halloween 2013

We had a great Halloween yesterday with our precious little princess!

 

A couple of months ago we started asking Sara Kate what she wanted to be for Halloween but she didn't get what we were asking, she didn't remember last year, and she would just say random words, which was kind of funny.  But about a month ago we were in Sam's and she saw the costumes so we thought we'd let her choose.  They had several Disney princesses, Minnie Mouse, a doctor, and several others.  It was no surprise to us...she very very excitedly chose Cinderella.  It's her favorite Disney movie at this point, even though she keeps asking me to tell her the story of 'Sleeping Mueny.'  Yes, that is supposed to be Sleeping Beauty, haha!  I managed to hide her costume in the back of her closet while she was very preoccupied with the Veggie Straws she had asked for for two weeks.  The month passed and she never asked for her costume but when someone asked what she was going to be she would say, Cinderella!  Until 2 weeks ago when she started saying she was going to be a witch.  Then it was a Cinderella witch.  She's so silly.  Anyway, Wednesday night I got her costume out to let her try it on for the first time and she was beyond excited.  I got her to go to bed fairly easy by reminding her she had a Halloween party at school, she got to wear her costume, and she got to go Trick or Treating.  Halloween morning she was so excited when she carried her costume into her class and showed her friends, who then showed her all their princess costumes.  When I picked her up that afternoon her teacher told me they had a great party, and she was still excitedly wearing her costume.  We came home and quickly ate dinner before heading out in the neighborhood.  She practiced saying 'trick or treat' and she was ready to go!

 

As soon as she was headed to the first door she wanted me to go with her.  So I did.  And I prompted her with her words, but she proudly said 'Trick or Treat!'  And then she said, 'Thank you!  Happy Halloween!'

We didn't go around our whole neighborhood but just went around a couple of streets.  She was so excited to 'go to another house' and 'get more cany.'  Yes, she leaves out the 'd' in 'candy.'  It funny.

  

She got the hang of ringing the bell and waiting, even though she had me standing close by.

 

Chris and I both LOVE this picture.  She and this dog had quite the stand off as she knocked on the door.  It was so cute.

There was only one time she get freaked out and it was more funny than anything else.  A man opened the door in a Freddy Kruger mask and Sara Kate's mouth dropped open.  And she just stood there with her mouth open.  The man put candy into her bucket and she continued to stand there with her mouth open.  I was laughing so hard.  And I wish I had the camera to capture her expression because it was priceless!!  Overall, she did great and we had so much fun.

When we finished walking around our neighborhood we headed over to Chris' mom and dads to see them.  Last year she helped Meme hand out candy and she did the same thing this year with Meme and Poppa!  She loved Meme's witch hat!  And she was excited to look her her bucket and pick a piece of candy to eat.  She picked a sucker.  Her favorite.

 Overall, our Halloween 2013 was a great success.  There is so much wander and excitement in this 3 year old age, and it's just precious to see!!  And as I suspected, tonight as soon as dinner was over she asked for a sucker and her Halloween costume. :-)