Evans Orchard

Ever since we have had kids we have made an annual trip to an orchard or two. This year the first one that we made it to was Evan's Orchard in Georgetown. This is one of our favorites because it is really little kid friendly. The kids are now able to play on everything that they have in the play area.

The kids loved getting in the school bus picture. Brinley keeps asking me if she is big enough to go to school. The bottom left picture didn't turn out well because the kids were telling us that it was too sunny. That is why they have their hands up over their faces.

The kids with a nice fall decorated wagon. The kids were a little bit happier that the sun wasn't in their eyes. 

We decided to take a wheelbarrow out to the pumpkin patch. I pulled my two little pumpkins out to the patch so that they could find their's.

Brinley and Landon both loved walking around in the pumpkin patch looking for their favorite one. They found a couple that they liked and even tried to pick up a few too big for them.

One of the kids favorite playground equipment was the bounce pads. They were both happy as could be jumping all over the place.

We tried to take Landon's picture with the apple ruler and it was harder than pulling teeth. After looking through all the pictures it almost looked like he was taking mug shots. Lets hope he never takes any real ones! 

The big hay castle is one of my favorite parts of the play area. It will be so much more fun when the kids are a little bigger. I had to help them get around and on top of all the hay bales. 

Family picture and some more pictures on the hay bales. Brinley took her apple ruler picture in one take.

We also took a little walk down to the corn maze. We all did it last year and the kids had a lot of fun. However, this year the path was overgrown with weeds and it was still pretty muddy from all the rain we have had recently. The kids did not really enjoy this little adventure very much so we quickly made our way though it and headed back up to the playground.

We didn't get a chance to pick any apples this visit, so we will have to at least take one more trip to the orchard this year. We had a great day and I just love seeing how much they have grown from year to year. I try to enjoy these moments because they are only young once and I don't want to miss a second of it. They are truly two of the greatest blessings that I have ever been given and I thank God every day. Thanks for reading and God bless!

Natural Bridge

One morning I just woke up with the crazy idea to take the kids to Natural Bridge. Jennifer was hesitant about it because she was terrified about one of the kids falling off the bridge. I talked her into it, so we packed up and headed out for an adventure.

Heading up the sky lift with my little buddy. I was terrified the entire time that Landon was going to fall off the bench. 

It was such a beautiful trip up the mountain and scary all at the same time. Jennifer and Brinley were riding on the car in front of us.

The kids at the top of Natural Bridge.

Just sitting on the little rock wall like a couple of big kids.

We packed a lunch and had a nice little picnic on the top of Natural Bridge.

Landon chowing down on his gold fish.

The kids underneath Natural Bridge.

Family photo under Natural Bridge.

Walking through the skinny man pass to get back up to the top of Natural Bridge.

Jennifer and the kids in skinny man's pass.

The Heflin's on top of Natural Bridge.

Our view! It was a perfect day for sightseeing and it wasn't hot at all.

It is hard to get a good picture of everybody and this was the best that we could get from a fellow tourist.

My beautiful wife and I on the top of the mountain before starting our descent down.

The hike down proved to be quite the adventure. I started out at the top of the mountain with Landon on my back in the carrier and holding the backpack in the front. However, I quickly discovered that it was dangerous because the backpack was obstructing my view. Although Brinley had said at the top of the mountain that her legs were tired and we really hadn't even began walking. Brinley did really good walking down the mountain, but she also spent her fair share of time being carried too. We let Landon down to walk for a little while and just a few minutes later Jennifer spotted this snake. I quickly picked the little guy up and carried him the rest of the way down the mountain. After we got home some friends informed us that it was a copperhead snake. Overall the approximate 2 mile hike down the mountain wasn't that bad at all. I am so thankful that we had a successful trip with the kids and got to get them out and enjoy some nature. It might be a few years before we do this hike again, maybe when everyone can hike for themselves. Thanks for reading and God bless.

Exploring Lexington Parks

We have tried to explore some different parks around Lexington lately. A few of our friends have even joined us at these new parks.

A four man see-saw with our buddy Colton.

Climbing up the ladder wall with our buddy Gabe.

Me being a big kid myself I enjoy playing on all the playground equipment too.

Landon swinging with his buddy Maggie.

Our crew that came to explore and play at Masterson Station Park.

 Another day the kids and I loaded up the bike and carrier and decided to go for a little bike ride. We stumbled upon Mapleleaf Park and ended up having the whole place to ourselves. The kids enjoyed all the new playground equipment, especially the bridge.

These guys are best buddies. I just hope they always stay like this.

Landon is such a happy little guy. Here he is going down the spiral slide.

Landon climbing up the petals.

 The last park that we went and discovered was Woodland Park. Our friend Sydney was there to play with us while her daddy played in a softball game.

All the kids swinging on the big kid swings.

Brinley climbed up this big ladder multiple times. The little lady has no fear at all.

Sydney and Landon just relaxing on some playground equipment.

Landon climbing up a little rope bridge. People are amazed all the time at how good of a climber he is when I tell them that he is only 2 years old.

There are so many parks in Lexington that have yet to be discovered and maybe in the next few years we can make it to all of them. I enjoy seeing the kids find a new piece of playground equipment and then seeing them figure out how it works. They are constantly learning new things and it amazes me how quickly they pick up on things. Thanks for reading and God bless!

Chicago Half Marathon

Back in 2010 Andrea talked McKinley and I into running a half marathon with her. This was going to be the 1st marathon for all of us and I am not quite sure all of us knew what we were getting into. It was pretty cool that the race was going to be taking place in a pretty cool city, Chicago. Everyone arrived a few days before the race and we got in a little sightseeing. The race packet pick-up was down on Navy Pier and it was there that we found out just how big this event really was going to be. We found out that there was about 20,000 people who were going to be embarking on this journey with us. We even went to Giordano's for our last meal the night before the race.

Picking up our race gear down at Navy Pier.  

We made a little trip down to see the big bean mirror. 

Jennifer and I with the big bean. 

All smiles before starting the race. I had actually pulled a muscle in my leg a few weeks prior and was unsure if I was going to actually run in the race. However, when race day came I felt alright and I decided to give it a go.

We all found a spot near the middle of the pack to begin the race. Andrea wanted us to all stay together and complete the race together, but as soon as the gun was fired McKinley darted ahead of us. I stayed with Andrea for a little while, but I decided to run ahead while my leg was feeling good in case I had to slow back down later on in the race.

Jennifer and my parents kept moving around to different stations in order to catch different shots of us. This was about a mile into the race and it was about the same time I realized that my iPhone was not going to be working properly for me. I had saved a lot of music to listen to during the race, but somehow during a update I did before leaving for Chicago I lost all of my music. So, I ended up listening to a few John Mayer songs that didn't happen to get deleted.

Around mile 4 I started to settle down and get into a groove.

On mile 13 right before the finish line. I had stopped once for about a hundred yards after mile 10, but otherwise everything went great. My leg felt fine throughout the whole race.

Still smiling after finishing our 1st half marathon. McKinley and I gave up running that far of distances, while Andrea has actually gone on to finish lots of half marathons and even the NYC Marathon.

We had a lot of fun at the game and we were actually at a game in which a controversial call was made that directly effected the final outcome of the game. The play was when Calvin Johnson caught what looked like the go ahead touchdown. Minutes later after video reviews that ruled that it was actually an incomplete pass and of course the crowd was excited because it wasn't long before the Bears were awarded the win.

The weekend proved to be quite an experience and I actually thought about running more half marathons on the drive back to Kentucky. I have run in many races since this, but never longer that a 5K. Maybe someday I will get back into running longer distances, but it will probably be after I no longer have to push both kids in a jogging stroller. Thanks for reading and God bless!

Ringling Bros Circus

A couple months ago I saw that the circus was coming to town. We had taken the kids two years ago and it was pretty neat, but Landon was just an infant and Brinley was just over a year old. It was almost more fun for us then than it was for the two of them. So, now I thought that they would both really enjoy all the theatrics and animals that the circus could provide. We got there early because they had a pre-show where you could go down on the floor and meet some of the performers.

The kids meeting one of the clowns at the pre-show.

Up close and personal with an elephant. This elephant can paint and here he was making a picture. 

Both kids were mesmerized with the show, that was until about an hour into the show. Then both kids got really restless and were tired of sitting in their seats. We took turns taking one of the kids out to walk around. We also got some popcorn to try and distract them. 

I was amazed with the lion and tiger trainer. I can't believe that someone would get in a cage with so many wild animals. No matter how much training the animals have they are still wild! 

I have always been a huge fan of elephants. They are such intelligent animals and they can do some amazing things. I thought it was pretty cool how easily these animals were able to lay down and then get back up. 

Some more pictures of the amazing elephants. They were really one of the other reasons that I wanted to go to the circus. Apparently, elephants are going to be phased out of the show in the next few years. I am not for animal cruelty, but I do think it is pretty neat to see what animals can be taught to do. They are truly smart animals.

The kids were so crazy during the second half of the show that at times we thought about just packing up and calling it a night. However, every time we were about to leave the kids settled down for the next act. I am not sure that we will make this a yearly activity, but we did get to see some pretty amazing acts, both human and animals. Thanks for reading and God bless!