Gentry's Farm

Gray's pre-K class went on a field trip to Gentry's Farm back on October 4th.  This was my second time there.  I went with Rylan's class when he was in first grade.  Carter also went on a field trip there in first grade but I didn't go (I'm guessing I couldn't find someone to watch Gray as well as get Rylan to/from preschool).

The kids ate their lunch at some picnic tables when we all arrived and then we got to go on a hayride.

Gray with one of his favorite girls, Elyse.

While on the hayride, we toured the farm, saw lots of cows, and visited the pumpkin patch.  It's been since we lived in Knoxville that we've been to a true pumpkin patch where we get to pick pumpkins off the vine!

Gray's two favorite kids in his class are Elyse and Cheney.  Both girls are also the youngest of three and have two older brothers.  No wonder they get along so well!!!

After the hayride, the kids got to visit several other play areas and see some other farm animals.  It was a really great field trip for this age group and they all seemed to have a lot of fun!

L to R: Jackson, Ben, Elyse, Gray, Zane, Hudson L., Rylan, Mack, Hudson S., Alister, Luna, Cheney, Hayes

Random Fall Pictures

This random bear appeared at the Nashville Zoo this fall.

Carter and Rylan did running team at school this fall.  Since Rylan is in third grade this year, it was his first time he was able to be on running team.  He liked it but one of his best friends is insanely fast which I think put a damper on it for him.  He's just so competitive.  I'm not sure but I felt like he purposely didn't give it 100%.  But he still seemed to have fun and I'm sure he'll want to do it again in the spring.  Coach Clark added a new element this season - a weekly triple jump competition.  It took a few weeks but Rylan finally won for third grade (I think he ended up winning three times!).

My mom visited and we did some fun things with Gray while the big boys were at school.  We went to the Adventure Science Center.

And the zoo.

Gray's school had parent's night and we all got to visit his classroom one evening.  Ms. Melissa had this very cool camping unit in a corner of the classroom.  The kids could make a fake campfire with s'mores.  It was really sweet.

Rylan's class went on a field trip to a little farm called Green Door Gourmet at the beginning of the school year.  They brought home a baggie with a little bit of soil and a green bean seed in it.  We watered the soil and put it on a windowsill.  And we actually grew green beans!!!

Gray's Soccer Team Photo

Gray played on his first soccer team this past fall (past post).

The company the Y hired this year for the photos was SO BAD.  They did composite photos which is the new trend (individual photos of the kids are combined into a team picture).  The company the baseball league uses actually does a great job with posing the kids differently and making a cool photo.  We watched as the photographers had to ask how to use the cameras, weren't worried about how the kids were standing, and generally really didn't care.

Here is Gray's team photo.  Notice how the kids are all the exact same height, come up to Brian's chest, and don't even have matching jerseys.

And Gray's individual.

Luckily I took a team picture at the last game.

L to R: Abi, Ben, Wyatt, Gray, & Jack

Gray's 5th Birthday

Gray turned 5 on November 3rd.  We talked a lot about doing a party with his friends from school but Gray changed his mind right before I booked a party.  We decided to have a date with Lofton instead.  Which meant a lot less work for me, and I'm great with that!

The only day near Gray's birthday that we were all free happened to be Halloween.  After Lofton was done with school, we met her and Jen at the mall for lunch at Chick-fil-A.  But first Gray opened his gift from Lofton, which included this blue unicorn.  It is extra sweet that Jen found the unicorn because a few weeks earlier, Jen was watching Gray for me.  She took both kids to Lofton's PT appointment and they got to pick something from the toy box.  I'm not sure the exact details of what happened but Lofton got the white unicorn which Gray really wanted.  He was quite upset.  Now they both have unicorns :)

After lunch we went to Build a Bear.  Since we weren't having a party, I let the kids get whatever they wanted (granted, I had a coupon and got the Build a Bear gift cards at Sam's that were 20% off).

This was Gray's first time at Build a Bear.

Both kids got Paw Patrol pups and Gray also got a birthday bear since we were there for his birthday.

Afterwards we went to the Great American Cookies for birthday cookies!

And because we still had a little time, the kids played on the indoor playground at the mall.  Gray seemed to really enjoy his "party" and I think it meant more to him to be with one friend.

The next day (November 1st), they celebrated Gray's birthday at school.  I had lunch with him and brought in sugar cookies in the shape of 5's for everyone.

Ms. Melissa let's the kids break a rule and stand on their chair while everyone sings Happy Birthday - the kids love it!

Sunday was Gray's actual birthday.  This year I did a Paw Patrol themed banner for him.

Carter's baseball team had their second day of a tournament that morning (Rylan helped out because they were short a player).  Unfortunately Carter's team lost their first game that morning so Gray got to do something other than watch baseball all day.

Gray got a golf bag from GG and Papa Art for his birthday so we decided to try it out and went to Lightning Bug after a quick lunch at McDonald's.

After dinner (I can't remember what we did!), we had brownies at home.  Gray doesn't really like any type of cake right now so he chose brownies since he knows the other boys like them

I found some cute Paw Patrol candles to add to the brownies.

Gray got mostly Paw Patrol toys for his birthday, along with a couple of Playmobil toys.

Cheeks Bend Bluff View Trail

I took the boys hiking on my own a couple of months ago on a weekend when Brian had to work.  We did the Cheeks Bend Bluff View Trail, one we've done a couple of times before.  It's a relatively flat trail above the Duck River that includes a little cave that takes you down closer to the river.

There are also several geocaches along the trail which made the hike more fun.

The entrance to the cave is unmarked and a 100 feet off the trail.  Luckily I remembered where it was and found it easily.

I remembered to bring headlamps and the boys weren't scared to lead the way.  The cave is short though and you can barely make out light from the other end just after entering.

After finding a geocache outside the cave, we headed back in and up.

There are a couple of cool formations in the cave if you search.

We probably only did two miles but Gray walked the whole time without asking to be carried.  I'll take that as a win!

Pumpkins

We did string art on our pumpkins again this year.  We also ended up carving pumpkins a few days before Halloween but these last a lot longer so we can do them earlier.

Carter did a spider.

Rylan did a cat.

Gray did a bat.

Bingo & Baskets

Our school had a new fundraiser this year called Bingo & Baskets.  Each classroom put together a basket that was bid on during a silent auction that night.  Some parents have great connections and were able to put together some impressive Titans and Predators baskets that raised a lot of money.  I'm the lead room parent for Carter's class and we did a road trip basket since the event was a week before Thanksgiving break.

In addition to the silent action, there were two rounds of bingo that evening.  Each family paid $20 for a set of 4 bingo cards and we played 4 rounds.  And guess who won the third round of our session!?!?!

Rylan w/ Luc

Rylan got to choose his prize and he picked the $50 gift card to Dick's.  We had to go to Dick's that weekend so Rylan could spend it.  He ended up using the money wisely and got some new running shoes.