Peyton had his first soccer game this week. We did not start Patrick until he was 4 with soccer, so we were definitely taking a little chance that Peyton would get out there without any meltdowns. He had watched Patrick play, so I was pretty confident he would know what to do on the soccer field. Michael was out of town for the weekend, so I was on my own with the three boys. Peyton's game was at 8:30am and it was definitely tough to get them all out of the door on time for an early soccer game.
Sweet Peyton has extremely large and very wide feet for a 3 year old. I had tried an extra pair of Patrick's shin guards on him earlier in the week and surprisingly they did not even come close to fitting Peyton. I was pretty surprised considering they were big on Patrick and they were a youth medium. We went to Dick's Sporting Goods and with the help of a really nice associate, we tried on every single youth shin guard in the entire store. Not one of them fit Peyton. We ended up having to get a youth large (for a 3 year old!!). It was the only size that would fit around his calf and foot, however, the shin guards came up almost above his knee caps so they did not fit correctly at all. I knew it would be a struggle to get them on him. It took me an eternity to get the little boy dressed the morning before the soccer game. The soccer socks they had given us for the uniform were too small, so I struggled to pull them on him and we couldn't find extra wide cleats for the poor boy, so his shoes barely tied. It was a huge struggle.
By the time we finally got to the field he was crying because his feet and legs hurt and he refused to play. After a few minutes of him crying on the side of the field, Patrick louding asking why we were there if Peyton wasn't going to play, and Conor trying to run on the field to participate in the game, I was about ready to give up. Peyton saw all of his friends playing and said he wanted to play if I would take off his shin guards. DONE!
Once this precious boy got out there he pretty much dominated the field! I was so surprised! Only one other boy on Peyton's team wanted to play. So there were only 2 of Peyton's teammates on the field against 4 players on the other team. Somehow they still managed to score a bunch of goals and have a blast.
Peyton scored his first goal (and a good assist to his teammate for a goal as well). He was waving and high fiving everyone and ran over to tell Patrick about his goal. It was precious!
Can you tell how excited they are about Peyton's first goal?
And Conor....oh Conor. That child is pretty much a nightmare at the soccer field. He is READY to get out there and play. He was persistent about trying to run out to the field and kick the ball, even though I had brought 2 other balls for him to practice with on the sidelines! He also screamed very loudly when he was not allowed on the field :/. Only a couple more years buddy!
Successful first soccer game!
I didn't capture his goal on video, but here is his first play of the game
After Peyton's soccer game we headed home for a couple hours until Patrick's soccer game. I have no pictures from Patrick's game because it was raining pretty hard and it was during nap time for the two young boys. It was tough keeping the two little boys entertained and happy in the rain during nap time. Patrick played great and he really has improved a lot since last year. Unfortunately, his team didn't score any goals, but he got close a bunch of times to scoring. He was great on defense!
We were so busy this summer, we kind of forgot that Conor was a year and a half! I didn't blog about it this summer, but I went back to find the pictures of his 18 months so I could post about this precious boy!
Splash park fun
Learning about the library
Love a sleeping baby!
This baby has a temper! Can you tell?!?
More splash pad fun!
We made it to the top of adventure science center! It was a climb!
Cute boy!
Feeding the ducks
Centennial Park
Conor's first Irish Picnic
Conor's first time bowling
Magic Schoolbus
Brother time
We spent many days at the adventure science center this summer
The zoo
Family vacation time
Water parks are exhausting!
Conor's first trip to a water park
Whew! It was a fun filled month Conor! We love you!
After our first day at Holiday World, we all piled in the car and headed the 30 minutes to downtown Owensboro, Kentucky. By the time we decided to go on vacation the hotel in Santa Claus, Indiana was already booked up. The boys immediately fell asleep and took a quick nap. The hotel in Owensboro was right on the water and was really nice. We were able to eat dinner outside next to the water and it was great. We wished that we had more time to explore the huge park in downtown Owensboro, but it was 8:00pm by the time we finished dinner. We walked around for about an hour and didn't even scratch the surface of the park. They have a huge playground and water play area, but we didn't even venture into those areas.
The sunset was gorgeous
Goofballs
Enjoying the view
The boys really loved watching the fountain show. It was very pretty and the sound of the water was really soothing.
Patrick and Michael also caught a few Pokemon. Almost everyone there was hunting pokemon.
The swings right on the water were a really nice touch.
It's really a gorgeous park and it was a great way to end our day
The next day, we had originally planned to play some more in Smothers Park and then head to the science center. But, the boys voted to go back to Holiday World. The water park opens 1 hour after the rest of the park opens, so we rode Eagle's Flight one more time and then headed straight for the water park. We decided to go to the back of the water park first to Kima Bay to try and beat the crowds. About 10 minutes after arriving, they shut down that portion of the water park and we had to go all the way back which was a big bummer.
He is too cute
We played a few hours in Safari Sam's Splashland. Michael also attempted the Jungle Racer. I didn't get a photo of him, but just to show the height of this ride, here is a picture from their website. There is no way I would do this ride, but he seemed to love it! He went really fast and definitely got some air! Patrick had no interest in this ride (and I wouldn't have allowed it) but I was surprised he was tall enough. I thought the height requirement should have been much higher.
Next we headed to Monsoon Lagoon and spent the rest of the afternoon playing. It was very crowded since it was at the front of the park.
We left the water park around 2:30pm and tried the blue ice cream on the way out. They normally have a whole host of colored ice creams, but they only had the blue that day and it was not my favorite.
We had a blast at Holiday World and didn't even scratch the surface of things you can do. We didn't even ride anything in the Christmas, Halloween or Thanksgiving sections. They had a couple of the kids water park areas closed, but there was so many other things to do that we honestly didn't even notice!
Since we hadn't taken an immediate family vacation this summer, Michael and I talked about making a short little trip with the boys. The boys pretty much beg to go back to Disney World every other day, so I thought we would try out a theme park closer to home. Michael and I both have such fond memories of going multiple times to Opryland every summer and so I thought it would be fun to give our boys a little taste of some local (or close to it) theme park fun. Since we were going in August, I knew it would be crazy hot. So I also looked for somewhere that had a good water park as well. Since Holiday World is only 2 and a half hours away, we thought it would be the perfect spot.
We headed for Holiday World shortly after breakfast and made it a few minutes after the 10am opening. Michael and I were both shocked at how many people were there. When we talked about going a few weeks ago, we specifically chose to go on a weekday when most of the schools had already started. Kindergarten starts a week after the regular school at St. Henry and it looked like public schools in Indiana would be back in session, so we thought it was be the perfect time. I guess a lot of other people had the same idea.
The parking was free and really close to the theme park entrance which was really nice. I was also really glad that we purchased our tickets in advance, because the line to purchase tickets was ridiculous! It was HOT when we arrived and we were pretty much all already sweating before even entering the park. I really wanted a picture with the Santa Claus statue but there was such a long line that we planned to do it on the way back. There ended up being a long line all day, so we chose to skip it all together.
We headed straight for the 4th of July section of the park to the Holidog section, which is where the majority of the kiddie rides are. We stopped at Eagles Flight on the way and the boys had a blast riding it. We didn't ride many of the rides, but it ended up being their favorite. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of them riding the ride.
Next was Holidog Section. When we walked up their was a dance party going on. Unfortunately, they didn't stop to take pictures with anyone, which Patrick was pretty bummed about.
We instead decided to take a picture with the Holidog statue instead
The boys ran to the playground to play for a few minutes. The slides were already really really hot, so they only played for a few minutes.
We jumped on the Holidog Express train next, then the Doggone Trail. Peyton and I rode the Howler and it was a terrible ride. It was so rough and Peyton hit his head. He decided he did not want to ride any other rides after that.
None of the boys were tall enough to ride any of their famous wooden roller coasters, so we decided it was time to head to the water park portion of the park. We changed the boys in the family bathroom and then rented a locker for the rest of our stuff. The bathrooms were fine, but it took a long time to change everyone, so I would definitely change the kids into their swimsuits under their clothes before entering the waterpark.
The first water park as you walk in is Monsoon Lagoon. It is a little overwhelming at first with how much is going on, so they were all a little timid at the beginning. We played for a little while and Michael was ready to try one of the big water rides. While Peyton, Conor and I stayed at Monsoon Lagoon, Michael and Patrick decided to try one of the bigger water slides. Patrick was tall enough to ride any ride in the water park. He looked at how big the water rides were and was a little intimidated, but decided to go on it anyway. Michael said he was terrified the whole time. Sweet Peyton fussed the whole time about not being able to go with daddy and Patrick. So if you have younger ones, I wouldn't even attempt the bigger slides. There is plenty to do without going on the really large rides.
Monsoon Lagoon gets crowded since it is the first one in the park and it is for little kids as well as bigger kids. So after a while, we decided it was time for lunch and we headed to the back of the park for a little lunch. Most of the places serve the typical hot dogs, pizza, chicken nuggets and french fries. It was so hot that Michael and I decided to try out Wildbeestro, which was the only place in the waterpark that had a few wraps and sandwiches. It was a hike to the back of the park, but I am glad we decided to try that place out. Hard to eat greasy hot food when it is 100 degrees outside and you are in a bathing suit :) Michael and I both put our phones in the locker, so I don't have any pictures from the first part of the day.
After lunch we headed to Safari Sam's SplashLand, which was definitely the kids favorite part of the waterpark. It had 8 different kids slides in 1 foot of water, so it was absolutely perfect for their age group. The only way to take pictures is to take your phone and wade out into the water with a bunch of other people splashing, so I only have a few pictures of the boys. They literally played for 2 hours running up and down and sliding constantly.
Their favorite slide
Sweet little Conor napped the entire time
Then came every parents nightmare....we lost Peyton. Yes, he ran away and we lost him for 20 minutes. 20 minutes is an absolute eternity for a scared parent. It was easily the most scared I have ever been.
So let me back up and explain what happened. Conor was napping in the stroller, so Michael was sitting at the entrance while Conor napped. He was sitting at the only entrance and exit. The boys could not leave without passing within a foot of Michael. His cell phone was in the locker, so he was actively watching the two older boys from a little farther away, while I was wading in the pool watching them.
For a little background, we rely heavily on the buddy system in this house. Since the boys and I try and do a lot of activities in the day, it is difficult for me to keep up with the two big boys (who are both still very small themselves) while I am helping Conor as well. Patrick and Peyton know to stay close to each other and look out for one another and to not be far in front of me. I have to put a good bit of trust in Patrick and he does a really good job of helping me keep Peyton in check. Because let's be honest, three year old boys are runners and have trouble keeping up with the rules. If they don't follow this rule of the buddy system, we go home. They know this and do very well with it.
The entire day the two boys stayed together and went down the slides together. Well Patrick was getting tired and hungry, so after he slid down a slide he made his way over to me. I was standing in the water watching them. Peyton didn't notice that he made his way over to me and went up the stairs to go down the slide again. I glanced at Peyton, saw that there was a long line for the slide and figured I had enough time to take Patrick the 15 feet back to the stroller while still keeping an eye on Peyton. I turned for maybe 30 seconds to walk back to the stroller and glanced back and couldn't see Peyton. I thought he was just in line and someone was blocking him, and that I just couldn't spot him. So I quickly made my way back to the slide and went up the stairs to look for him. I looked everywhere and could not see him anywhere. I started to panic and I went back to the stroller and told Michael he needed to look for Peyton and maybe I was just missing him. Again, Michael was sitting by the only entrance and exit.
Michael couldn't see him either and immediately alerted one of the lifeguards who are all actively walking in the water. There are no lifeguard stands at this place, they are actively in the water with you. He immediately alerted every lifeguard in the entire place over his walky talky. They came over to get a description of Peyton, which was very easy since I dressed all of the children exactly alike. It was easy for him to give a very thorough description to everyone else in the water park by what Patrick and Conor were wearing.
Michael confirmed that there was only one entry and exit to this water park. However, we discovered later that there was one other very difficult place to get out. There was a gate around the entire water park except for about one foot. However, there were prickly bushes there and you would have to crawl through the prickly bushes and then jump over a wall. You would have to pretty motivated to get out there. It was, however, right next to the stairs that Peyton had gone up to go down the slide. Peyton can swim, but he isn't that strong of a swimmer and he did not have on his water wings. I stood at the entrance, and searched from farther away with Patrick and Conor (in case Peyton came back) and Michael ran out to the rest of the park. The concrete was hot and Peyton didn't have on his water shoes, so I was surprised that he would jump out. Michael mentioned that every person he ran past in the entire place was on their walky talky saying over and over three year old boy, blonde hair, blue eyes, turquoise blue whale shirt missing. There were also a bunch of other parents that heard and were helping us search.
Michael did not have his cell phone, so he decided to run to search for Peyton on the way to the front of the waterpark to grab it so we could communicate with each other about looking for him. He also wanted to be towards the front of the park in case anyone was to grab him and try and take him out with them. I heard another mother mention that a little boy had been yelling mommy really loudly and it fit his description. It's how we figured out how he got out of that portion of the water park in the first place.
I finally had a lifeguard run up to me saying that someone brought a little boy to the front of the water park but that he wouldn't tell them his name. I grabbed Conor and Patrick and started running towards the front of the park. Both boys did not have on their shoes, and I didn't want to take the time from searching or finding Peyton to put them on. So I ran holding both Patrick and Conor (who are both 30 pounds) on my hips the half mile to the front of the park. I heard the lifeguards walky talky say that the boy finally said his name was "Paxton." Peyton is so shy and I was assuming they just misunderstood him. I cannot explain the moment I saw that sweet little boy. I was pretty much sobbing when I saw that precious child. I immediately texted Michael who thought I meant that we had found him at the front of the entire park, instead of the front of the waterpark and he ran almost the whole way there.
It was an experience I wouldn't wish on either other parent ever. I was beyond thankful we found him. I was also thankful for how helpful the employees were. You could tell they had been trained on what to do. Employees came out of the woodworks to search for him. You couldn't walk a couple feet without hearing his description and the employees searching. The people there were also so helpful. When I heard they found him, I ran without my stuff. Some people yelled to me if I wanted my stuff and I pretty much said no (I was actually thinking... fuck the stuff I can buy new stuff but not a child). When Michael went back to get our stuff, some of the families were guarding it and still looking for Peyton. It was amazing how helpful everyone was.
I would also highly recommend dressing your children alike. It was very easy for them to know exactly what he looked like. And you could see a lot of employees glance back a few times at us to remember what he looked like since they were all dressed the same.
I was ready to leave after the whole experience, but Patrick was pretty much in tears the entire time Peyton was gone. He was so worried someone took him and he kept saying over and over again that he really wanted his brother back to play with. After we found Peyton he gave him the biggest hug and told him he was so worried and to never do that to us again. It was precious. So when Patrick asked to go to a different part of the water park because he had searched so hard for Peyton, I just couldn't tell him no. We went back to the very back of the park to a new area called Kima Bay.
There weren't many people at this part of the park, so it was easy to be able to watch the children like a hawk. I pretty much didn't take my eyes off of Peyton the entire time.
Can you spy Peyton on the bottom slide? He loved that orange slide.
Peyton is still so excited to be there. I think his excitement was what got him lost in the first place!
The water park closes an hour before the rest of the park, so we decided to grab some ice cream on the way back at Kringle's Ice Cream. It was PACKED and I think everyone else in the park had the exact same idea! That smile was definitely worth it though.
We stayed from open until close and the children still begged to come back to the water park the next day. We had planned to do other activities the next day, but they were too excited about the water park so we bought a next day ticket before leaving for a discounted price.
Angry bird suckers on the way home
Off to the hotel for dinner and some much needed rest!
My two precious little boys have a big announcement! My first little minion... and my second little minion... and t...
About Me
I am a wife, a mother and an accountant by trade. I am married to my best friend, Michael, and we share in the joy of raising our three little boys and one precious girl. We were blessed with our first son, Patrick, who was born in April 2011, our second son, Peyton, who was born in March 2013 our third son, Conor, who was born in February 2015 and our first daughter, Caitlin, who was born in February 2018. We also have two crazy adopted hound dogs, Turk and Bailey. This is the story of our family of eight!
