August....Where did it go?

There has been so much that has happened since my last post.  I have added a lot of pictures here and the next post will have pics from their birthdays.  My mom came to visit at the beginning of the month, so the kids got some quality time with Grandma.  We visited my Grandma Jeanne and took the kids swimming at her pool again.  That seems like such a long time ago.  This picture is just Gracie being Gracie.  We fill up the water tank at home and the kids think it's great.  I think this picture was when she wanted to go help Nick take care of horses at the neighbors' but didn't want to take her swimsuit off.

 



 

 

 Looking good Gracie!

 

Next we went to Ohio for for five days.  We left on a Wednesday and came back late Sunday night.  Nick's cousin Bethany got married, so we saw all of his family.  It was great to see everyone, and I had never been out there before.  The kids loved playing in the pool at the hotel and we took them to a couple parks on the way out and once we got there.  Gracie was so excited when Ryleigh stayed in our room with us for two nights.  They were pretty inseparable throughout the trip.  Owen has gotten really good at swimming and when he has his life jacket, he can jump in, swim to the stairs, get out and repeat.  He loves it!  The kids both did so well in the car and during the trip.  Owen might have had a little stomach bug, but he is a trooper and it didn't slow him down at all.

 



 

Owen at a rest stop park near Joliet, IL

 

 

Gracie playing at the same park.  On Wednesday night we stopped and had a picnic near Joliet, IL.  We let the kids play for about an hour, then got back in the car, turned on a movie and drove the rest of the way.  We arrived in Mansfield around 2:30am Eastern time.  I'm so glad that our kids sleep in the car!

 

 

Gracie and Ryleigh at the wedding reception.  They had so much fun together!

 

 

Next stop...ISU FAN FEST

I started back to work the day after we got back home from Ohio.  Students came back to school two days after that.  The next Sunday we took Gracie and Owen up to Hilton for ISU Fan Fest.  They had fun, but there were so many people there.  Owen was not a big fan of waiting in line for the inflatables or for anything else.  He also had not had a nap, which was a mistake on my part.  When we got there, Owen immediately went over to the softball team and wanted to throw the softballs.  He also loved playing tennis and walking on the gymnastics balance beam.  Gracie participated in some things, but was not nearly as eager as Owen.



 

 

Owen and Gracie try out the ISU bounce house!

 

 

The weather was so nice after thatm we went home and Nick built a fire to roast smores!  Owen just wanted to eat the marshmallows.

 



 

HIT!

Owen is pretty good at hitting the ball off of the tee.  Much more coordinated than I probably ever was at that age.  He even tries to throw it up and hit it himself.

 

 

First day of preschool!

 Gracie was beyond excited to move to her preschool room.  Her first day was August 20 and she got to bring her own nap mat to school.  She has been talking about being a "Grasshopper" all summer.  At the daycare, the preschool is at the other end of the building and Gracie is finally able to go there!  She was very disappointed when she found out that one of her friends was not going to be in the same class as her and there was almost a meltdown. But she gets to spend the rest of the afternoon with her, so it was ok.  Gracie is already singing new songs she is learning at school.

 

Owen also moved up to a different room, the "Fireflies", but was not as willing to have his picture taken.  His morning was also a struggle.  He did not want to start off in his new room and cried from the time I dragged him out of Gracie's room until I left for work.  I'm sure he was fine a couple minutes after I left and he was happy as can be when I picked him up that afternoon.

Prairiefest!

This past weekend was a busy one!  Friday night we took the kids into Huxley for dinner at Prairiefest and to play on the inflatables before taking them to the first Ballard football game.  They had tons of fun doing both.  It's crazy how much they both love to go to the football games. 

 

Saturday morning I ran the 10k race in Huxley and Nick brought the kids into town on the 4-wheeler to watch the end of the race.  Then he took them to the pancake breakfast and the parade.  Gracie rode in the parade with her daycare friends and Owen road with Nick on the 4-wheeler with a different organization. I came back to town after running to watch them all in the parade.  I have found that I need to have my kids with me if I want people to throw candy in my direction. 

 



 

Gracie riding in the parade

 

 

Nick, Grady, and Owen riding in the parade

 

 

Owen loved the frogs.  Nick has been "frog hunting" for the past week.  A local organization sponsors a frog-jumping contest to raise money for the youth football team.  There wasn't that great of a turnout this year b/c it actually rained all afternoon on Saturday, but it was still fun.  I couldn't believe how big some of the frogs were.

 

So, that is the past four weeks or so in a nutshell.  We are almost back in the full swing of activities.  I start back to choir at church this week and Gracie starts dance on Thursday.  We will probably do something special that day for her actual birthday, too.

This coming weekend is the first ISU football game that I am taking the kids to.  Hopefully that goes well.  They both love to watch football, but I'm a little worried that Owen won't be able to stay in one spot for that long.  We'll see how it goes.  We have friends who are bringing their camper and staying at our house Friday and Saturday.  Then Sunday the plan is to head southeast to Muscatine to see Nick's sister's new house and help with moving in.

 

I am almost done with my current class, but the next couple weeks will be exhausting with a rather large paper due and a lot of stuff going on.  I'll have three weeks off after that though!  Finally!  During the summer I only had one week of completely homework-free time.

 

More to come with birthdays...