July Outings

A few smaller outings in July:

We got more comfortable riding our bikes around the neighborhoods and finding the trails nearby.

We went to the library.

We rode our bikes to Barfield Park as a family...4 miles.  The littles were so hot and tired.  So Nels and Isak rode back to the house, got the car and picked us up. :)

And sadly, this is the last picture of my helmet.  Somehow, somewhere I lost it!  :(  Now I'm wearing a boring black one.

Pictures while we waited for our ride.  :)

Nels took us to Sonic for slushes after the hot, long bike ride.  That helped everyone's moods.

Yay!

Lots of time this month was spent in this pool.  

So glad we had it.

Yep, I'm counting Target as an outing.  What did we buy?  Socks and underwear.  

I signed Kira and Isak up for Science day camp that was for two hours.  While they did that, I got some special time with Sofie and Noah.  We read a the story walk...Super Bat.

We played at a new park - Oaklands Park.

Just in case you wanted to know the Tennessee official symbols...

It was a pretty area.

This was different...closed in swamp area.  Fascinating to six year olds though.  Is there an alligator in there?  A monster?  Oh, the stories.

There was a lovely trail through the arboretum.   We enjoyed reading the sign and seeing the different leaves, nuts, blossoms.

Spiky things...

Cute girl!

Noah liked to lead the way. 

Then we went back to the Technology Center and played while we waited for Isak and Kira.

We played Jenga.

And built with duplos.

Isak and Kira learned about biology.  They tested pH levels in water and learned about humming birds.  They made a bird feeder.  They said they didn't like it and "It was kind of dumb." But they were smiling and happy...

Since we all survived the outing, we ended it by getting donuts at Dunkin' Donuts.  

All of my kids like donuts.  Yes!!

July 22 - 

I took the kids bowling!  We went to Strikes and Spares.  A nice bowling alley that I would go to again.  Wow.  The kids loved it!!

Isak was pumped and tried so hard.

Kira enjoyed it.  The ball was kind of heavy for her.  But she still liked it, although she did not like the shoes...they are not cute shoes.  :)

Noah loved to push the ball off the ramp.  He got pretty good at aiming it just right and adjusting for how the ball naturally went to the right.  

Of course, Sofie is just happy to be with everyone and do everything.  

The shoes...

Yay for bowling and trying new things together. 

They didn't spell Isak and Sofie's names correctly...but here's the scores for the first game.  Noah got a spare on his last frame and almost beat Isak!

The second game, everyone improved except Noah was a little lower than the first game.  

The kids watched each other and cheered each other on.  It was very sweet and fun.

Backyard treats...

We went to a friends' house for dinner and they had a fun porch swing.  You can see Molly behind the kids.  She was pushing them.  

And it's a great day when you get to go on a bike ride just with Dad. 😁

And that's it for July's outings.  It's always nice to get out!

Adventure to Nashville

July 30 - Saturday

We finally had a free Saturday to do something fun as a family.  Yay!  We explored some of Nashville by going to the Parthenon.  

It's huge!

Our kids look so tiny...

We all love to explore new places.

So glad that Nels could join us.  :)

Inside is a small art museum.  The art depicts The Odyssey story.  It was weird.  

The Athena statue is pretty amazing though.  

We enjoyed reading about Athena and the artwork pertaining to this statue.

Funny Isak...

There was a small kid area...

We did the Kidsville program.  It included free admission to the Parthenon, a story and an activity.  I'm grateful we got into the museum for free.  I don't think it was worth the money for the museum exhibits if we had paid...But it was fun to do for free.  :)

The story and activity were great.  

The story was called "Petra." A story about a rock.  It was a good book and went perfectly with learning about the man who invented the pet rock.  In the 1970's he bought rocks for a penny, put them in a box with grass newspaper and instructions on how to take care of your pet rock.  He sold it for $3.95.   

I remember my sister Mandi made a pet rock family for me.  She had painted the rocks and even glued yarn on for hair.  It was a fancy pet rock family.  She even made a box for it.  I really enjoyed that gift and I still remember it!   

Then the kids got to color a rock for their own pet rock...

A few more pictures and then we left. 

There was a playground nearby.  The kids played for a little while.

Cool swing!

Then we went to Jack's BBQ.  

We got 1 pound of pork, side of mac and cheese, potato salad, corn bread and some amazing banana pudding pie.  Yum!

Watch out for the flying pigs.  

Afterwards, we napped and then went to a friend's neighborhood pool.

I helped Kira and Sofie with their doggy paddle.  Then we went to our friends house.  They made us snow cones and we ate some cake too.  

I'm grateful that we're making some friends.  :)

It was a fun packed Saturday!