Our summer

This summer is already half over and I simply can't believe it!  It's flown by so fast!  It feels like it should still be Easter and we should still be looking forward to spring concerts and the last day of school.

With that being said we've accomplished a lot this summer and had a lot of fun. We started out the summer with VBS at our church. I volunteered to be one of the preschool leaders. Both Drew and Kate were supposed to be in my class but since we had an abundance of kids and the kindergarten had so few, he joined the kindergarten and did a great job and had a wonderful time.  

After VBS we traveled to the Wisconsin Dells for Brendan's business meeting.  The kids were so excited for the big, huge, enormous waterpark we were going to. We stayed at Kalahari and it was a great place for families.  It has both an indoor and outdoor waterpark, an indoor theme park and tons of activities around the area for families.  

We went to the Tommy Bartlett water ski show and the kids loved the skiers.  The one place I would highly recommend eating if you have any train enthusiasts in your house is Buffalo Phil's.  The train brings you your food and drinks and keeps the kids entertain for your entire stay.   It was a hit with our kids. 

We took the Duck Boat Tour while in the Dells and it was a fun tour.  The tour guide was pretty funny and Drew rode shotgun.  The whole tour lasts about an hour and was well worth the admission fee.

After we got back from the Dells, Drew and I turned around and left for Disney the very next evening.  Once we got back   from our little trip it was time to relax and enjoy our backyard and nice weather. We've been enjoying our big blow up pool this year.  The kids have insisted on taking their floats in the 2 feet of water.

The kids started swim lessons with Drew's teacher from last summer.  I say kids as in Drew has a lesson, Kate wears her suit and eats a snack on the edge of the pool and claims to want a lesson.  When it's her turn she cries like I'm the worst mother in the world.  So she has the fashion part down, swimming, not so much.  

Drew went fishing at a local fishing Derby in June and caught his first fish!  He was so proud!  Geez, he looks way too grown up!

We headed to Brendan's hometown for the 4th of July and spent some time with his family. Drew and Kate love playing with their cousins and this year was no different.  They loved the parade, Drew danced the whole time and got a ton a goodies handed to him for his slick dance moves. 

Brendan met up with some friends to watch the World Cup and I took the kids to the carnival in downtown Clear Lake. The kids decided they wanted to ride the train.  I tried my best to bribe them with cookies not to but I couldn't talk them out of it.  I'm not a fan of rides that are taken down and set up week after week but this one was a tiny little thing so I wasn't sick to my stomach. No roller coasters at fairs for my kids.  Their mom is crazy and thinks the ride will fall apart.

Lastly, Brendan took me on a day date to celebrate me turning 32 years old on July 8th.  

We had a great day shopping, having lunch and and just enjoying each other's company.  That evening we got together with my mom, stepdad, my older sister and her brood. We had ice cream sundaes and played our favorite family pastime, SPUD. I had a wonderful birthday and felt very loved and celebrated.

This summer is half way over and we've accomplished quite a lot.  We've had a great time enjoying our travels and time here at home.  We are looking forward to the rest of the summer and the memories that it has to offer. 

Random spring musings

This past Friday Drew had his last day of preschool and his spring concert.  He has loved preschool and can not wait to go back next year.  His teachers are simply amazing and we are so thankful they have been put in Drew's life to help shape and love him.  The spring concert was adorable!  They danced and sang, we laughed and cried.  Drew is so animated when he gets up on stage, it's so enjoyable to watch.  

This spring was also Drew's first year playing soccer.  He was so excited and we spent the winter playing"ball" in the basement.  He was part of the Raptors team and had a blast practicing and playing with his team on Saturday mornings.  It was an added bonus that his cousin was also on his team.  It was a trip watching these little guys play each week.  He is looking forward to playing again in the fall.  I have officially taken of the title of soccer mom.  

We also had our 4th ER visit in four years for Drew.  We were rearranging our living room furniture and he was messing around when he launched himself off the couch and right in to the end table.  He hit his eye and opened up a nice size cut right on his eyebrow.  Thankfully he avoided his eye by centimeters.  We thought he was going to have his first set of stitches but the doctor was able to glue it back together. This visit was one year and two days after he split his chin open at the park with a babysitter.  I think he may spend the remainder of his childhood wrapped in bubble wrap.

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He's smiling because he got a new tractor out of the whole deal.  His cut has healed very well and it looks like there should be minimal scarring. 

Kate's been around this spring too.  She isn't the forgotten child.  She's such a sweetheart but has a sassy streak in her too.  She has a little buddy at daycare that she loves going to see each day and loves talking about him each night.  She had a blast at Sesame Street Live, she danced in our row and pointed at each of the characters she knew. 

This past weekend we took the kids out to my parents lake house to enjoy the water, sand and boat.  Although the weather wasn't the best, we still had a great time getting away for a bit.  

Both kids love driving the boat with Pobo (my stepdad)

Drew might be a fisherman, he could have fished for hours.

Ruby loved swimming and chasing sticks in the water.  Drew asked if we could just live at the lake.  I wish, buddy. 

Kate refused to touch the sand, but has beach fashion down.

This past week the weather finally started to get nice and we were able to blow up our new pool and have our first nighttime swim.  

I have one day of work left before I'm done for two months.  Although our summer is super busy I'm so excited to spend time with the kids visting local parks and playing in our backyard. This spring has flown by as I'm sure this summer will, but I can't wait. 

Life lately

We've had quite a few celebrations at our house over the past few weeks and the kids now think balloons and streamers are permanent decor in the living room.  We arrived home from Mexico and we hosted the kids joint Mexican Fiesta, and then the next week Drew celebrated his 4th birthday at preschool.  I didn't realize how big of a deal this was.  Drew informed me that this was HIS day at school, he was the line leader. So we took snacks, Brendan and I went in for the little celebration and Drew introduced us to his class and they sang him his favorite song "Happy Birthday".

Up next was Kate's 2nd birthday on Good Friday.  Kate woke up to balloons in her room that she was not at all impressed with.  She then opened her presents with help from Drew of course.  The weather wasn't all that great so we took the kids to a local wildlife refuge to see the buffalo and then to the best little diner to eat tenderloins and ice cream.  

We explored all the habitats of the local animals here in Iowa. 

Kate kept calling all of the buffalo, elephants. 

The tenderloins and ice cream were delicious.  Kate of course put on a show for everyone in the diner. 

After the diner we took the kids to the park to blow bubbles and fly a kite.  This was Kate's request, she had been asking to blow bubbles all day. We stopped by our house and picked up Ruby on the way to the park.  

We headed home and celebrated our birthday girl one last time.  

That weekend we celebrated Easter.  The kids loved their Easter baskets and tore through them like crazy circus monkeys.  We then headed to church with my parents before enjoying Easter dinner.

Thankfully this past week things have slowed down a bit.  This weekend we are working on our landscaping and planting.  Hopefully it's going to be warm enough we can finally put away our winter coats and get out our gardening gloves.