Weekending

We had a great weekend filled with various activities - most of which were enjoyed at home I might add. This is not something we get to enjoy often, as it seems our schedules are always so full on the weekends. Not that that is a bad thing, but sometimes it's nice to have a low-key weekend around the house (especially since I was nursing a bad cold).
I previously posted about Payton's 1st grade carnival that was held on Friday. Since I was volunteering at the event, my mom was nice enough to come into town to help watch Parker, and stay for a couple days to visit.
While Payton was in school on Friday, we headed to the mall for some fun with the little guy. It was pouring rain all morning, so the mall was the perfect spot for him to burn off some energy. Of course when you go to the mall with a grandparent, they let your child do all the things that you normally don't do because they cost extra money. Like...

Ride the carrousel:

 I was trying to get a good close-up picture of them, but the ride was over and all Parker would do is sign the word "more, more, more." He didn't want the fun to end!

And he got to ride the rides by the play area:

(e.g. Nana really put money into the ride, as opposed to me who usually just lets him sit on them and I make noise like they are really working.)

 Nana also got Parker a great set of Elmo books that he is now obsessed with:

On Saturday, Brian & Payton got to play in the Westchase Dad's Club Mini Golf Tournament. They were teamed up with another one of Payton's buddies and his father. It was such a fun event.

They had this portable course set up under the covered basketball courts at Payton's school. There were 18 holes and the kids really got into it!

 

Here is Payton & his team mate, Grayson.

(How cute are they?!?)

 We stopped by after Parker's nap and of course the little guy couldn't help but "get involved" too:

 Big brother trying so hard to pose for a picture. Parker was having nothing to do with it.

Here's the team:

 After the tournament, there was a food truck rally in front of the school. I was too busy to take any photos of it, but I wish I had. The food was SO good! If you've never eaten from a food truck, I highly recommend it. YUM-O!

After saying our goodbye's to Nana, we all rested for a bit and then headed out on a bike ride up to spray park in our little Village area. Again, no pics from this as my cold had now fully taken over and I was not feeling so hot. I ended up at the urgent care center fearing I had a sinus infection ($134 later, I found out it was just allergies/cold - I HATE MEDICAL INSURANCE!!! Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest.)

Sunday was also a low-key day - probably because when Mom isn't feeling well, the whole family slows down.

Brian was teaching the first service at church, so I was home with both boys. I guess they must have known I wasn't feeling 100% because they were little angels!

They actually sat on the couch together with their blankets and read books for like 20 minutes!!

 Notice Parker is looking at his Elmo books? He loves them!

 Of course the calm didn't last forever. But they did find ways to entertain themselves.

Like rolling up into blanket mummies:

 After church, Parker took a nice long nap and Brian took Payton out to run some errands. So I took advantage of a quiet house, and rested on the couch. I felt much better in the afternoon.

We even busted out the baby pool and Popsicles for a fun afternoon treat:

 This boy loves Popsicles!

Great tip: If you're going to give a 15-month old a popsicle, do it in a baby pool. All you have to do is rinse them off when they're done! No mess!

 It was just what the doctor ordered!

Aside from a bit of a runny nose, I'm finally feeling back to normal.

Thanks boys (all 3) & Mom for taking care of me this weekend. I love you!

1st Grade Carnival

It's finally here.

The last week of 1st grade.

I can hardly believe this school year is over. It FLEW by. I seriously feel like it was only a couple months ago that we first met Miss Adams at orientation. And here we are, kicking off all of the end-of-school festivities.

And when I say "festivities" I am not kidding!

Yesterday (Friday) was the 1st grade carnival, complete with face painting, carnival games, prizes, food and music. And even though it was raining, the kids had a wonderful time.

Our class was in charge of face painting. And just FYI, if you ever host a carnival for kids, face painting will be the most popular booth so be sure to have plenty of supplies.

Our table had at least 20 kids waiting in line the entire 2 hours.

Here is Payton getting a stenciled face painting:

 

 The finished product! It was called "Rock Out" and it is picture of a person with headphones on.

 Of course there were tons of games too, like the parachute ball toss:

And potato sack races:

And best friends:

 Did I mention face painting? How about tattoos? Yes, these boys were covered by the end of the carnival!

 Next week Payton has all sorts of fun things lined up at school including movie day, book picnic in the courtyard, ice cream sundae party, game day and an awards breakfast. 

I don't think there's going to be much learning going on the last week.

Summer... here we come!

Memorial Day

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend full of family, beaches and BBQ's.

We started off on Saturday by going sailing with our neighbors. None of us Heckmans had ever been on this kind of a sailboat before, so we were all very excited about it. It did not disappoint, let me tell ya!

We drove to the causeway by our house and then sailed over to an island that is only accessible by boat. It was amazing! The water was so clear, the beach was soft white sand and the weather was perfect. God was really smiling down on us that day!

Here is a picture of the sailboat:

 Here are my two pumpkins in their matching swimsuits. I could just eat em up!

I had to include a picture of this solar oven that our neighbor's son made in school. They actually cooked hot dogs on the beach with it! Pretty amazing!

 It was so nice to just kick back and enjoy God's amazing creation.

 The island was perfect for shell hunting! Payton found an amazing conch that was fully in-tact (and "nothing was living in it!" he kept saying!) Plus lots of sand dollar pieces!

Great time had by all!

 Don't let him fool ya... Parker is not sleeping in this picture even though our neighbor's son was. He rolled around in that tent for an hour and never napped. What a stinker!

On Sunday we headed to Bradenton to visit Brian's family.

His two aunts, two cousins and their 3 kids were in town from IL & WI.

There was lots of time spent at the pool:

 How cute are Brian's cousin's kids?!? Precious!

 Even the adults enjoyed some poolside relaxation:

 Payton had so much fun being "thrown" by Uncle Todd (over and over and over):

 Brian's cousin's son is almost 6 and he and Payton hit it off instantly! They were "Best Cousins" as they kept saying.

 Can't you just hear Payton laughing???

 And fortunately for me, Brian's other cousin's daughter was more than willing to keep an eye on Parker, and he adored her too.

 All of us girl's at breakfast Monday morning:

Along with the rest of the family:

 It was so wonderful to spend such an important holiday with so many family members. Just reminds me that above all, it's family first! No matter what happens in life, your family will always be there for you. I feel so incredibly blessed to have married into such a warm, loving family.

After our whirlwind trip to Bradenton, we headed back Monday evening just in time to get the kids to bed and ready for school on Tuesday. All in all, fantastic weekend.

Hope you all had a nice Memorial Day too! Don't forget to thank a Veteran this week!

Quick Check-In

I have a TON of fun pictures to share from our eventful Memorial Day weekend, but tonight I'm just checking in real quick to share some photos from Payton's "Poetry & Pastries" class party.

All of the parents were invited to come to class on Friday morning and enjoy breakfast while our children read us some of their own poetry along with performing some classics (like Shel Silverstein). 

First, Payton shared his poetry book with us:

 It was an adorable book that included all different types of poetry. You could really see his creativity shine through in some of them.

He was so proud to have us there and share all of his hard work with us.

 After enjoying some yummy breakfast treats, the kids all went to the front of the classroom to perform 3 poems. The first was about Mother's, the second was about Father's and the third was Shel Silverstein's "Boa Constrictor." A total classic!

They were all so good! They had every line perfectly memorized.

 Then they presented us with a poem about how small they are and how they won't be this little forever (insert crying here) with their hand print on it.

(By the way, can you see Parker standing on the chair behind me acting all crazy? That kid is a ham, I tell ya! I'm so glad my friend Kristen was able to watch him for almost the whole program so we were really able to focus on Payton.)

It was a wonderful program and it made me realize once again how much we are going to miss Miss Adams next year. She is so wonderful! 

Okay, stay tuned for Memorial Day pics!