Boat Ride

I had some work to take care of last weekend, so Kent decided to take the girls on a picnic and boat ride. I was bummed to miss out on the fun, but some uninterrupted work time was greatly appreciated.

Eddy's Fifth Birthday

For Eddy's fifth birthday, she invited us to spend the day at the Reston Zoo. We had never been there before, and it was really, really a hands-on experience. After the kids donned their safari hats and sunglasses, we headed over to our private wagon ride.

While on the wagon ride, the kids were able to pet many different animals including deer, buffalo, and many others.

Isn't he neat?

After the private wagon ride, the kids went on pony rides.

During lunch, the zoo keepers brought over animals to pet including a baby alligator.

And we weren't done. The kids were given bottles of milk and cups of feed for the animals in the barn.

We had a great time!

Homework

Sophie had her first homework assignment last weekend; it was a family project. We had to make a life-size paper Sophie. I have to admit I wasn't looking forward to it, but it really did turn out to be a fun family project. Kent traced Sophie and drew most of her face, I made the clothes and hair after Sophie chose the fabric and colors. Madeline helped Sophie color, and Sophie chose and added the jewelry accessories.

September!!

September has brought so many changes to our lives, it is hard to believe we are only a week in!! Last weekend, we said good-bye to our pool. We had so much fun there this year.

And, we noticed the leaves were starting to turn.  The changing of the leaves is one of my all time favorite things to see. I love when you get ready to go back to school, and it actually looks and feels like fall. I am still waiting for that "feel" part as we have had some pretty warm days this week.  I have already seen bags of leaves (whole bags of fallen leaves) set out by the curb. The novelty of the changing seasons hasn't worn off for me yet.

And, of course, September brings the first day of school. This year is going to be great; I can feel it. Both girls love, and I mean LOVE, their teachers this year. I have to admit, they lucked out!  Another reason it is going to be great is all three of us girls are under the same roof. Sophie, our little kindergartner, is on the other side of the building, but that doesn't stop me from spying on her throughout the day. I have watched her in music and at recess. Madeline, our fourth grader, is on the upper grade side with me, so our paths cross all the time, all. the. time.  She is one happy kid this year.

A few more noteworthy changes . . . Sophie has a loose tooth, bottom front. It makes Kent and I sad with its obvious proof that our baby is getting big.  Kindergarten still seems small, but loosing teeth seems quite big. Sigh. Madeline started working out with her level 5 class, and she loves it. She is learning many new skills and says she likes the challenge.  Madeline has also signed up to play the viola in the school orchestra.  I don't even know really what that is, something with strings, I guess. I am curious to see how she feels about the "practice" part of playing an instrument.

With fall upon us, I noticed a new neighbor. I saw him in the backyard last week, but Leah chased him away before I could snap a picture. Yesterday morning, on the way to school, he was just hanging out a  few doors down. I pulled over and took several pictures this time. We were able to watch him for quite awhile before finishing our drive, our ten minute drive :), to school.

Happy fall everyone! Hope everyone had great back to school experiences this year!

Look Who's Nine!

Can you believe our little Maddie is nine years old?  She has turned out to be such a creative, kind, and energetic girl!

We have had a busy few days around here celebrating the big event. On Thursday evening, we headed to the pool with Grandma Connie for swimming and a birthday dinner delivered. Friday evening, we took a trip to Toys R Us to spend some birthday money, and later Kent took Maddie out to see a movie, The Avengers.  The two of them had a great time! And Saturday, was the big event . . . her party which included a gathering of family and a few friends.  Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate her special day, those who were near and those who were far.

In keeping with her new tradition, Madeline opted to decorate her own birthday cake, and she wanted a snake cake. We were able to make one using two bundt cakes.

Just about half way . . .

Wow!! Still can't believe my baby is nine!!

It is hard to believe that in nine more years this little one will be officially grown up. Luckily, she wants to live at home forever and attend college just around the corner. Such a relief to know she will always be under my roof.   ;)   Happy Birthday, Madeline!

Here is a little sample of our little fish in action.  She is very excited to be a "Little Shark" at our pool next summer. "Little Sharks" is for the kids who want to do swim team but can't yet make the 25 across the pool. They just have to be able to put their heads underwater, and our little one can do that!

Trampoline Skills

 Madeline uses her trampoline multiple times every single day. She loves working on her gymnastics skills. The three hundred dollars spent on this contraption was well worth it!

Trip West!

The girls and I spent last week in the midwest! Our flight started at Dulles. The girls and I were not seated together, and I was thinking this might not be so bad . . .  But, some nice fellow offered to switch with me, and we ended up together anyway.

We landed in Minneapolis where Grandpa picked us up and drove us to South Dakota for a lovely visit with him and Grandma. We loved their garden; Grandpa has a green thumb! We picked and canned more vegetables than you can imagine!

Picking beets and brussel sprouts! Madeline loves to eat brussel sprouts if you can believe it!

 Look at these cucumbers!

Helping to train their new dog, Dani D.

There were some kid activities in downtown Milbank. This one was a ping pong ball drop. The firefighters dropped balls labeled with store names, and the kids scrambled to collect them. You could take the balls to the different stores and redeem them for prizes.

The ping pong ball drop was followed by a coin dig. A couple hundred dollars in coins was buried in this sand pile. Both girls collected about five dollars each after digging around for about twenty minutes.

No trip west is complete without a trip to Adrian, Minnesota. We saw aunts and uncles, cousins and second cousins. As always, it was a blast! We had two days filled with tractor rides, four wheeler rides, a bon fire, and great food! Thank you to all of our midwest family and their hospitality!

Catch up Post

This will be another somewhat random post as I try to catch up before summer comes to an end, and we go into uber busy mode again.  Above, I finished Maddie's chair. The fabric is a black and white print with bright pink accents.

We went to Divisionals. The swim team reps made all of the kids individual posters the night before, drove around, and taped them to the swimmers' front doors as a surprise the morning of the competition. Now it's taped to Maddie's bedroom door.

Feeling nervous before her swim. The two "eight and unders" almost ready to "fly."

Our New Jersey cousins came for a visit!! It was great to comfortably fit an extra family of five under our roof. The girls had a great time playing together and camping out in their sleeping bags in the basement.

In other (very exciting!) news, our little Sophie learned to swim both above and below the water!!! Go Sophie!! We are all so proud!! And for Maddie, she was asked to move up a level in gymnastics!  I have videos of course, but I am having difficulty getting them to load. Of course. I'll keep working on it . . . We are proud of our girls!