The Brittons

My little Cyclone Tiger!    Gracie and Owen after having their faces painted at ISU Fanfest   For his birthday, Owen had a very full day, starting with pancakes, followed by a birthday donut from his DAD!  We took both kids to ISU fanfest at Hilton, where they got their faces painted, played in bounce houses, threw footballs, basketballs, and baseballs, and many other activities.  They were pretty excited to be there even though it was so hot out.  They are both really excited about going to the first football game next weekend, which is also supposed to be a very hot day.  We'll see how that goes!  Gracie is taking a friend with her for her birthday.     Hulk! SMASH! Thanks Grandma Deb!    Gracie had to try on the mask, too    Owen wanted a football cake again this year, so here it is again.    More fanfest pictures...Owen trying to throw the football through the holes. ...

We celebrated another addition to the family on August 17 when Josh and Julie were married.  Then another addition when Mary had her baby boy earlier this week. Both very exciting events.  Here are some pictures from the wedding.  Gracie, Owen, and Nick were all in the wedding, and I got to be Owen's personal attendant to make sure he did what he was supposed to.  It ended up going really well and the kids did great! The rehearsal dinner was at the Arboretum in Newton, which was great for the kids.  They played outside for most of the night.  Owen didn't do so well with the actual rehearsal, but had it down by show time on Saturday.  We got to see all of the McNarys and met a lot of Julie's family.  It was a fun night. Saturday morning the girls had their hair done in Newton and it was a full day of pictures and fun.  As usual, Gracie and Ryleigh loved seeing each other, and Owen always loves playing with Tony and Lucas!  Gracie...

I know people have probably been waiting for a post about the 1st day of kindergarten and 3 year old preschool.  I'm happy to say that there were no tears for either of the kids.  Of course, Owen was just changing rooms at his daycare, but it's still a big deal for him.  Gracie practically sprinted to the bus, so I was lucky to get one picture of her getting on.  She was so excited to finally get to ride the bus to school with her friends who live in our neighborhood.   Gracie waiting for the bus on our porch    Showing off her Hello Kitty back pack    Getting on the bus at the end of our driveway.  I had to yell at her to stop and take a picture for me.    Owen walking in to his first day of being a "Grasshopper" the 3-yr-old preschool program at our daycare.  He about fell over his back pack was so heavy with all of his supplies.   Owen putting his back pack on his hook in the ...