Ritchie Crew

Ritchie Crew

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

August Fun

 Here a few of our August highlights:

1) Caroline and Wyatt at church
2) Caroline and Wyatt before church on a different Sunday.
 3) Papaw Waylon had a knee replacement
 4) Sweet boy always smiling
 5) Morning snuggles are the best
 6) Caroline wanted a picture with Wyatt in their Mickey/Minnie shirts while brushing their teeth.
 7) Guess who can climb the steps...
 8) We had Parent's Night at gymnastics and Caroline got to show me how to do a round-off.
 9) I got a stamp at the end of gymnastics for doing so good:)
 10) Backpack Blessings before the new school year at church.
 11) Love that grin!

Kindergarten Diva

 Kindergarten Diva...yes, my child did choose to wear her Kindergarten Diva shirt to school on the first day.  We asked her if she even knew what diva meant. Ha! Caroline had a wonderful first week of school.  We were so excited each day to pick her up and ask her about her exciting day.

We had a Mommy/Daughter Day a few weeks before school started. They do assessments before school starts now, so we started our Mommy/Daughter day off at school, then a trip to Children's Place, and finished up at Panera Bread.  We are so much alike sometimes it is crazy!
Sharing a sweet tea from McDonalds

My Panera loving child
 Monday morning my stomach was in knots!  You would have thought I was the one starting Kindergarten.  I did not let me internal feelings show though.  Caroline was so excited to see her teacher, Mrs.Williamson.  It was a quick drop-off.  We now go through school rules, supplies, etc. at Open House.  We took a few pics and then off went Caroline to play with her new friends.  She has told stories that are hilarious, enjoyed trying new foods in the cafeteria, branched out and tried new extracurricular activities, and already made a few new best friends.  We are so excited to see her each afternoon and hear all her fun stories about her day!  Mrs. Williamson has already shown us that she is a wonderful teacher, and she is instilling in Caroline a love for learning.
Caroline and Mrs. Williamson

Walking down the Kindergarten Hall

Family pic on the first day
There are a few funny moments of her first week that I do not want to forget:

-she had to test out the water fountain first thing the night of open house
-she told her teacher she was going to be awesome because she lets them eat snacks
-she has new "best friends" and if you do not talk to her she cannot be your friend because she does not know your name
- she fell off the swing the second day of school and had to go to the nurse's office
-she told on a little boy because he was taking his scissors and trying to cut his tongue...I told her not to tattle on people and she told me the next time she would just let him continue to cut his nose or tongue
-she likes to walk other kids to the nurse's room, office, cafeteria, etc.   (she is mother hen and I think her teacher already knows it)
-she wants to ride the school bus so badly
- you can tell she is already enjoying music and library
-the sprinklers went off on the first week of school while she was waiting to be picked up from school
- her teacher commented on her daily she that she was such a sweet child

She is hilarious when she comes home to tell us her daily stories!  We can tell she is having a wonderful time, being challenged, making friends, and enjoying school.  We are so proud of her and love her dearly!

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Happy 8 Years-Hot Springs

 We celebrated our eight year anniversary this past weekend in Hot Springs.  We celebrate every year by doing something, even if it is dinner just the two of us, but this year was a nice weekend getaway.  We decided on Hot Springs, and we are so glad we did!  Thank you Karen and Hannah for loving on our babies while we were gone!  Pictured above is the Hot Springs Lookout Tower, which is the same location Matt asked me to be his girlfriend many moons ago.

At first we found a hotel in the newer part of Hot Springs, and then at the last minute decided to switch to the Arlington Hotel.  We are so glad we did!  We were able to walk everywhere we wanted to go, experience the history of Hot Springs, and the history of the hotel. I recommended to stay at the Arlington if you visit Hot Springs, but you must remember the history of the hotel.  Below you will see a few pictures of our stay.  It is rich in heritage and culture and not much has changed.  They run specials on Groupon quite often.  The bathrooms and bedrooms have not changed and are untouched, the room key is a true key and lock, the pool and lobby will make you feel like you have stepped back in time, and the rooms have a feeling of their own.
 our hotel
Kilman's Chocolates

our room 
our overlook
lobby
lobby
lobby

Matt just had to check to make sure the spring water was hot:)

Evening stroll

Bath house row

Trail behind bath house row

public spring water 

overview of Hot Springs


 We rode a 4D simulator, which is not like me at all!  I am the person that does not step foot on a roller coaster, but we had a blast!
The next morning we did a couple of trail hikes and then went back to complete a little Christmas shopping and stopped to see Fordyce Bath House. It is hard to think that bath houses were luxuries.  I understand the healing of warm spring water, but these people went through it all.  


and just for grins and giggles, can you image sitting in this contraption with your head peaking out for air?  and if you have every wondered about which knob to twist for cold/hot water, check out the options below...
Happy Anniversary Matt!  Thank you for being a wonderful husband, father, and best friend!  So thankful that God chose us to be a couple.  I love you.