Summer's End Part II

I was supposed to post this many, many days ago but again life took over.  Thank you to my sister Bekah who has persistently called me each day for the past 15 days to remind me that yet another day has past and I have not kept my promise of the next "Summer's End" blog update.  Thank you sister for keeping me on my toes (and quite aware of my blogging failures.)

We have had a busy couple of weeks trying to get back in to the swing of school and Mother's Day Out.  Hannah has started her 3 day a week 4K program and Lily goes to Mother's Day Out twice a week.  Fridays are now my day with just Lily and it has been quite an adjustment for my little one.  Lily is used to having Hannah by her side all day when she is home and has been a bit thrown off by her solo time with Mommy.  She asks quite often where "Hannie" is and does not like having to drop Hannah off at school.  I am working hard to show her though that solo time with Mommy = lots and lots of fun!!!  Here are my girls on their first day of school last week...

Ok so now as promised I want to finish up my posts on our August adventures...

A few weeks ago my friend Melissa and I packed up our kids and left Birmingham for a quick overnight trip to Huntsville. Our sweet friend Rachel and her family just moved to Huntsville from Columbus, MS at the end of July and she was nice enough to invite us up to see her new home and let all of our kids have some play time.  Rachel, Melissa, and I are friends from high school and we, along with a few others, always make it a point to get ourselves and our children together a few times a year. 

This is Rachel's beautiful almost 3 year old daughter, Campbell...

and this is her sweet son Davis...

They live in a very cute neighborhood built around several ponds. The ponds are stocked with fish so we were able to take the kids fishing after supper.  This was Hannah's first time to ever fish and can I just say that after catching 3 fish she is now hooked :)

Her first priority when we arrived back in Birmingham was to figure out exactly how she was going to get her very own fishing pole.

The Franklin boys, Thomas and Hudson, were both great fishermen...

I am pretty sure that the worms were not big fans of Campbell's but she sure liked them...

The fish were actually tiny but I don't think the kids would have been any happier catching a giant snapper...

Rachel was such a sport putting on all the worms and taking off any fish that were caught...

All the kids were worn out after our evening of playing and fishing and so thankfully everyone, including Lily, slept soundly all night long.

The next morning we headed to Earlyworks Children's History Museum.  It is a beautiful children's museum full of really fun stuff like a talking tree, an old general store, a keel-boat, and a great children's play area.  I wish I had better pictures but the talking tree greeted us when we walked in and terrified Lily so she was on my hip the rest of our time at the museum.  Oh and my poor Hannah was having a massive allergy attack so I was handing out tissues right and left.  The camera took a back seat to my kids and so I don't feel like I did Earlyworks justice with my pictures...it really was so interesting and pretty.

This colorful tree was in the atrium and was a great place to sit and have a little snack...

The kids could climb on a wagon (that is the huge boat in the background)...

and explore the process of making cotton...

They had a giant building area with huge tinker toys and legos...

The kids learned about the history of music in Alabama with larger than life instruments...

and had a great time in the play area for the little ones...

This is a great little museum and definitely worth a visit if you have children and are ever in Huntsville.  We left the museum, had a yummy lunch at a little restaurant in downtown Huntsville and then after a super quick visit to our favorite store Dirt Cheap...yes Dirt Cheap...we headed home.  (If you ever come across a Dirt Cheap store make sure to stop in.  Rachel introduced us all to the store when she lived in Columbus and they just opened one in Huntsville.  They get the overstocks, etc. from stores like Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond.  We have found some of the biggest bargains EVER at this little hole in the wall store.)

Our trip was over way too quickly but it was lots of fun for the kids and the adults.  Thanks Rachel for a great time and we hope to see you again soon!!!

I will be back soon with our final post Summer's End Part III.