Pre-school and 3rd Grade

Well, I officially have 2 out of 3 kids in school.  Molly started 3rd grade this year.  Her teacher is Mrs. Robertson, and she seems very nice.  Molly is really excited to start school.  It was a rough transition last year when we moved and she switched schools, so we're hoping this year goes a little better. 

And then we have Emma.  She has been asking to go to school for a really long time.  They have a good preschool here that is just a couple of hours a day.  Emma could use some practice learning to follow directions and sitting still before she has to go to all day kindergarten, so we decided to go for it.  It's been really great for her.  She loves it.

Camp Abe Lincoln

At the end of the summer we had a little YMCA employee appreciation dinner at Camp Abe Lincoln, a summer camp spot for kids about 1/2 hour away.  It was fun for the kids to get out and do some stuff.  It was a little rainy the whole time, and we all got filthy, but we still had fun.

This little guy was so filthy.  But he was happy.

This little girl makes the funniest faces sometimes when I'm trying to take her picture.

Trying out the archery.  

Molly and I got to go zip-lining.  So fun.  I was proud of her for trying it out.

Brayden's new bed

So, Brayden has always been a climber.  He climbs tables, and chairs, and bookcases, and everything else.  I was surprised that for the longest time, he never climbed out of his crib.  So, I wasn't really shocked when it started.  It was first just every now and then, and we could go in there, put him back, and he would stay.  But after a week or so, he did it every nap time and every bed time, pretty much as soon as we shut the door.  He would end up just taking his naps on the floor behind the door.  So I finally changed his bed from a crib to a toddler bed, thinking and hoping that maybe if he could climb back IN, he would stop sleeping on the floor.  Nope.  He still sleeps on the floor.  I don't dare interrupt him during naps, but after he falls asleep at night, I'll open his door, which usually involves shoving him out of the way, and put him in is bed.  I know that he climbs back to the floor if he ever wakes up during the night though.  Silly kid.  I'm hoping this is just a phase.

Loving his new toddler bed.

A couple days later..."see Mom, I know this is where I'm SUPPOSED to sleep..."

"...but this is just so much more comfortable."

Family Fun Day

This summer a local park has been having a free family fun day once a month.  We finally got out there to check it out today.  It was a good couple hours of fun for the kids, definitely worth going back again, hopefully on a day that is not quite so hot.

They started out in the bouncy house.

Then we checking out some horses that they use for therapy purposes. 

Then we did some exploring.

Probably the most exciting part was the little traveling petting zoo.  The kids had a blast chasing and petting the animals, and I think the animals had just as much fun chasing down the kids, especially Molly and Emma when they were carrying the food for them.  The first picture is after Emma got spooked by the animals and dropped her food, then couldn't get to it because they were hovering over it.

Man, this girl sometimes just kills me with those gorgeous eyes and cute face. 

Lastly we ended up at the sand pit and they got to dig for dinosaur bones and fossils.

Yay for summer family time!  We're excited for school to start soon, but we will also be sad to see less of these fun lazy summer days.

Glasses

I've always had the feeling that our kids would be cursed with poor eye sight.  My eyes got pretty bad early on, and they worsened so quickly that in 6th grade I started wearing hard contacts.  They hoped the pressure would slow down the progression.  Molly is pretty much heading that way already.  It seems like it doesn't take very long after an eye appointment that she starts complaining about not being able to see.  And as a swimmer on the swim team, it makes practices and especially swim meets tough.  We might be heading to at least some occasional contacts for her soon.  This summer both Emma and Molly got some new glasses and frames.  It's always an exciting time. 

Dubuque

David and I were fortunate enough to have Grandma and Grandpa come watch the kids while we went on an overnight stay in Dubuque.  It was a late Father's Day gift for David.  I found a Bed and Breakfast, something we've never done before, and decided to surprise him.  It was a fun little trip!  We were able to fits quite a few things into a short amount of time.  We definitely need to make sure to do this more often.

The Bed and Breakfast was in an old house in the heart of downtown.  We were up on the 2nd floor, and it was hot.  The air didn't work very well.  But it was quaint little room.

 The next morning we hit the town.  We went first on the little Elevator that goes up the side of the hill in town. 

Our view from the top.

Then we went to the Botanical Gardens.  We didn't spend too much time there, it was such a hot day, but we enjoyed walking around a little bit.

Then we went back to Dubuque and tried a sandwich shop for lunch, then a local ice cream place for desert.

While we were gone, the kids were having fun with Grandpa and Grandma.  They went to the John Deere Pavilion for their annual kid's day and out to lunch at McDonald's.

Apparently our kids like ice cream.