Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center

Another favorite thing to do while in Lawrence! Rain, Snow... bring it on! It doesn't matter to us, we always take our swimsuits to Kansas because of their indoor pool!

Here is Avery on one of the lily pads. Her favorite thing to do was walk across another line of lily pads while hanging on to a rope. She stayed on that almost the whole time.

Austin is sitting in the middle of a snake! But his favorite thing was sliding down the dragon slide. We left Addie with her Aunt Sara this time!

Fall Break in Lawrence

I took the kids up to my sister Sara's house for their fall break. We just wanted to get out of town and she only leaves 3 hours away, so it's a convenient cheap vacation. The first day we were there the town almost flooded! But the kids found ways to entertain themselves!

One of their favorite things to do when we go up there is "paint pots". That's what they call it, the actual name is Sunfire Ceramics. Avery picked out a pumpkin to paint.

At first we thought Austin had chosen a horse, but the more we looked at it we realized it was a giraffe. We tried to get some spots on the poor thing. It turned out really cute!

Poor Addie had to sit and watch. I kept trying to hand her paint brushes to hold so she would feel included! My job was to entertain her while the kids painted!

United Way Volleyball Tournament

Randy put a ConocoPhillips team together to play in the United Way Volleyball tournament. I don't think he had a hard time getting anyone to take some time off in the middle of a work day to come play!

His team came in 3rd place. I kept asking him to dive so I could get some good pictures! I guess he dove a lot in the game after I left... so he says!

Just a side note, Randy has been in charge of the United Way golf tournament for the past couple years. He raised $40,000 more than he raised last year, and last year he raised $20,000 more than they did the year before. Needless to say, I'm very proud of him!

Go Flames!

Austin just started his very first season of soccer. The first week we just laughed and laughed! He would run behind everyone no matter direction they were going! One time he told me, "they won't let me have the ball!".

I think he has gotten the concept down a little bit more now. He has improved week to week and it's fun to watch him grow and develop his talents.

We have bribed him with a dollar for each goal he scores... that has given him some incentive! Austin's team name is the Flames.

And then, of course, there's little Miss Addie John! Between practices and games, she has really found a love for soccer. She already kicks the ball all around... and we spend all of our time trying to keep her off the field. Obviously we didn't do a good job this time! It was too cute- I couldn't resist taking a picture before pulling her out of the net!

The Queen Bees

This is Avery's 3rd season playing soccer, and she has really picked up the game! Randy was her coach the first two seasons and agreed to coach again this fall, but I had him back out because he had so many prior commitments on Saturdays and would miss so many games.

It's really fun to watch her... she is so aggressive and wants to play just as hard as I did (she says). She has been told that I had a really good kick and was nicknamed "Big Foot" so she is trying very hard to get the same nickname!

Avery has scored most of the goals for her team... one game she scored 6 and another game she had 5 goals. Her team is called the Queen Bees.

Labor Day in Branson, MO

So this year we went to Branson, Missouri for Labor Day weekend. This was a John family trip celebrating Randys' parents 40th anniversary. We were able to go to Silver Dollar City, which Randy and I hadn't been to since we were little kids.

And boy were we surprised with how much it had changed! It has really turned in to a full-on amusement park!

That is Randys dad waving with Randy behind him. Bubba (Randys brother) is two seats over from Randy in the green shirt and our friend Russ is next to dad in the red shirt. They all came out okay!

Of course the park still had Fire in the Hole...

and the log ride...

Classics!! There was something for everyone! It did get a little tiring for the kids to walk... but they found ways to get around it.

We all had a good time...

Here I am with my sisters-in-law (is that how you say it?!) Julie and Anne.

Austin with his cousins Drew and Tanner.

And here is Avery on the train ride with Grandma John, Tanner and Rachel.
But to be honest with you... I think the kids had the most fun pushing eachother up and down the walkway on this luggage cart!!

Atlanta... here we come!!!

This trip to Atlanta was a long time coming!!! I've been an Atlanta Braves fan since junior high and Randy has been a fan basically his whole life. We have seen the braves play many places, but always dreamed of watching them on their home turf. We finally got the chance!!

Randy had to go to Atlanta for business so I went for pleasure... but we both had a good time. We stayed at the Omni at CNN. It's right next to the Centennial Olympic Park. In fact, this was the view from our room.

We had a lot of fun. We visited the World of Coke Museum...

the Georgia Aquarium...

and toured the Atlanta Braves stadium (Turner Field).

But most importantly, we were able to go see them play twice! Believe it or not, but they won both games. We must be good luck... maybe we should travel with the team!?!