A little southern fun

I think of the kids' favorite things to do in Alabama is go catch fire flies every night! We had to miss a couple night while we were in TN and they were so ready to get back at it. Even Carson tries to catch them. They are quite fun to catch but if you stand still for too long, you have nasty brown spiders climbing over your feet. Those freak me out!

I think this picture is funny because it kind of looks like there is snow on the ground.

Reagan's favorite bed time activity so needless to say, the kids were not in bed very early. 

We were finally able to get our Alabama sign picture! Luckily it wasn't far from Grandma Jo and Papa Lars' house. And I believe this was photo attempt #7. Why is it so hard to get 3 kids to look at the camera at the same time?!

If Carson and Grizz were ever missing, we knew exactly there to find them. OUTSIDE! Carson loved trying to get Grizzlies bone from him and throw it and then chase him and start all over. And they are best buds!

The weather wasn't too hot so we decided to head over to Huntsville Botanical Gardens and play for a few hours. Little did we know, this month was their Alice in Wonderland theme so they had several things set up all over for the kids. I think my favorite part was the Butterfly house, the kids' favorite part was the water areas, and it was fun to walk around and see what flowers/plants are grown in AL.

I loved these chairs! I would love to have on at my house. 

Butterfly house

Carson loved to just stare at the turtles in the ponds. 

All 3 of them loved all the water features they had. Good thing the sun came out!

Poor lady. No one wanted to eat with her. 

  

Tennesse

We drove up to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee on Thursday to stay in a cabin for the weekend. The kids did great in the car despite being in the car for so long a couple days before.

Steak n' Shake on our way. Carson loves ketchup!

Grandma, Carson and Aunt Katie at the cabin.

Our cabin for the weekend. 

This air hockey table was always being played when we were home. 

But our main reason to take a trip up there was to go to Dollywood! I've heard good things about it so it was fun to finally go and see what it is all about. We all had a great time! Kids still talk about going back soon. Thanks Grandma Jo and Papa Lars for a great day/weekend!!

Brian and Kaitlyn were the perfect pair for the crazy coasters!

I think this was everyone's favorite ride! And of course we didn't find it until the end of the day. We were soaked from head to toe but we all had a blast! There were other boats out there that you would shoot with your water guns and people standing on the sides shooting you. There was some old guy there creaming everyone that came by. It was hilarious! 

This was our first ride through and Brian sat with all of our stuff. The kids and Brian went together and we soaked them from the side! 

It was a great day and we can't wait to go back again!!

And then on our way back to AL.....

Ugh! Not even 30 min from our cabin and we have to pull over because we can hear something hitting our car. Brian opens the door and we can hear air coming out. Oh Crap! The hole was too big to fix it ourselves so we had to put on our spare and go find a tire shop. The tire shop guy was able to fix it and we were on the road again...well for about an hour! We had to pull off again and get the tire balanced because the car was shaking so bad. But we finally made it back to Mom and Lars' house. 

And we were able to find our Tennessee sign! We are still searching for an Alabama sign where we don't have to get out of the car on the interstate. 

Here we GOOOO!

Let's get our Summer started off right! Alabama here we come! This was one of the longest drives of my life! We left our house about 7pm Saturday May 31st and drove all night long. Reagan and Bryson slept pretty good until about 6am and waking up a couple times when we got gas. Carson on the other hand slept but was awake about every 30 min just whining in his car seat. Who ever wasn't driving got to rub his leg and get him back to sleep. So needless to say, Brian and I didn't sleep much and were looking forward to our night in a hotel!

These glorious things were life savers for this trip!

Reagan was packed and ready before anyone else. She was so excited to go! She had no idea how long the drive was.

Here we gooo!(go ahead, use your peter pan voice)

Best sight ever! :)

It was amazing how green everything turned once we passed Odessa, TX. (This was taken some where in Louisiana)

We drove until about 6pm Sunday night and finally stopped in Bossier City, LA for the night. We ran to walmart for a few things, Denny's for some dinner and then back to the hotel for bed time. And we were all asleep by 8:15pm! Woot Woot!! We had planned to leave about 7am Monday morning but we were all tired and didn't wake up until almost 9am. It was much needed!

My goal was to take pictures at every state sign we could. The kids had no idea how many states they would see this summer! 

Everything just got greener the further East we drove, AMAZING! 

The Mississippi river is huge and Reagan couldn't believe how big it was. 

We made it to Alabama about 7pm and boy were we ready to be done driving! The kids were so excited to see Grandma Jo, Papa Lars and Grizzly. 

Their backyard is awesome! 

If you have an iPad, they will be your best friend.

When Lars moved to AL in February 2013, he met a guy that looked just like Brian's dad, Bryant. Well guess what? It was Brian's Uncle John! We had no idea they lived there and they are in the same Ward with my parents. We went to have a BBQ with them and it was fun to get to know them! The kids loved their boys! 

Miles and Bryson trying to get Brian in the pool.

Reagan and Kaleb

Doing their favorite thing: catching fire flies

The Christensen's

Kindergarten Graduation

How in the world has an entire school year already passed?! Reagan loved Kindergarten and I am so glad we decided to send her early. She learned a ton and is super excited for 1st grade. 

Why is it so hard to get both kids looking at the camera with happy faces? haha Reagan really did enjoy her cupcake. 

For Reagan's last day of Kindergarten, she was able to participate in a water day with the 1st graders. I wasn't able to help but my friend Becky sent me this cute picture of her daughter Addi and Reagan. 

Last day of Kindergarten! :( :)

1st and Last day of Kindergarten. It's amazing how big of a difference there is in just a year. 

Time to go onto 1st Grade!!! :)

Dance Recital #4

I love seeing how improved Reagan is year after year. She is now able to memorize most of the dances and not have to watch her teacher the entire performance. Reagan was lucky enough to have Grandma Jo and Papa Lars in town for the recital. And somehow I didn't get any pictures with them or GG but they were there! :)

When she is on stage, she always looks so serious. She will smile occasionally at us. 

I loved this outfit! Reminded me of a peacock. This outfit was for their grand finale dance with everyone. It was fun to see everyone out there together :)