first day of school

The kids have been in school for three weeks now - so it's about time for me to post their first day of school pictures.

Reggie is in second grade!  I was very happy when I found out he would have the same teacher Lydia had for the last two years.  I know she won't let him slack off and will tell me if he's being a knucklehead (Reggie is never a knucklehead at school)!  He landed in the same class as one of his best friends and also one of our friends from church.  His year is off to a great start!

Can you tell it was a little cold on our first day back to school?  Lydia is in third grade.  I was very happy to find out that she did not get the same teacher Brett had last year!  She also landed in a class with two of her very good friends.  Lydia was officially placed in the SAIL program.  I don't even remember what that stands for, but most of us would call it the gifted program.  We are very proud of her!  I like how she chose a very empowering outfit for her first day.

Brett is in fourth grade this year!  Brett has a cool binder instead of a backpack because we are doing shared-time this year.  He spends a couple hours a day at school and the rest of the day he spends learning at home.  Since I am his primary teacher, I guess I better say I'm very happy with the teacher he got this year!  If you are interested in learning more about our choice to do shared-time education, I am journaling about our experience on another site.  I'm being careful to keep it anonymous, so contact me outside of this blog if you want the web address.

summer bucket list

At the beginning of the summer, the kids and I made a summer (sand)bucket list.  I have already posted many of the highlights of the summer, but here are a few fun days that didn't make the blog yet.

Making stepping stones.

Mini golf

Bowling Tuesday.

Biking the state trail.

Sonic slushes.

Water balloon fight.

Day in Stillwater.

Root beer floats.

Homemade lemonade.

Chutes and Ladders playground.

Tailgating at a Saint's game.

Beach days!

MN Zoo

Throwback photo from April 2012 sitting on the same pig at the zoo.

We did also see real animals...

Indoor playground.

Chef Brett Day

Hudson

Splash pad.

Not on the bucket list - won tickets to the Crayola Factory at MOA through the library summer reading program.

Also not on the bucket list - won state fair tickets through the library summer reading program!

Valley Fair!

It was 68 degrees out, so the waterpark was not much fun.

Country cousins visit the city cousins!

And this is the saddest picture.  I'm so sad summer is over!  We got everything in except 2 things, but I would have been perfectly happy with another three weeks of summer.

roadtrip 2017

This summer we decided we would kill a few birds with one stone and let the kids tag along with us on our quest to attend a game in every major league ballpark.  We roadtripped to Missouri to see the Arch, Busch Stadium, and Kauffman Stadium with a few extra special stops along the way. We left after work on Friday and drove to Des Moines where we spent the night at my cousin's house.  She has lived there with her family for 8 years, and this was our first visit!  She has two boys in 1st and 3rd grade, so the kids had a lot of fun together.  We left early the next morning so we could have breakfast with my aunt and uncle about an hour and a half away.  In our short time there, my kids lost 2 Frisbees. From there, we drove to St. Louis and checked into our hotel, then took the train to Busch Stadium.

Busch Stadium was stadium #10 for us.  It was packed (Saturday night) and the atmosphere around the stadium was lively.  The Cards were behind the whole game.  It had been a long day so we left early.  When we were on the train, we learned the Cards came back and won the game in the bottom of the 9th inning!

 My kids wanted their picture taken in back of this fountain. ;-)

Mock elevator - Brett looks a little nervous!

While there are renovations happening in the Arch, the visitor center is at the old courthouse.  We stumbled into a tour that turned out to be very interesting even for the kids.

Because it was a small group, the park ranger allowed each kid to wear a robe, sit behind the bench, and hit the gavel.

Here my kids sit behind the bench of the courtroom the Dred Scott case was tried in 1846. Wow!

On to the main event!

All smiles in the elevator capsule!

At the top!

There we were...

Probably the highlight of the trip for me was stopping at Culver's in Columbia to meet up with my childhood best friend.  Some things change and somethings never change!

We drove on to Kansas City on Sunday night.  Monday morning, we went to Science City at Union Station and had lunch at Fritz's at Crown Center.

At Fritz's, your food is brought to you by a little train on a track hanging from the ceiling.

 

 It was a big hit - even though none of our kids went through a train phase.

The afternoon was perfect for enjoying the pool. 

Monday night, we went to a Royal's game and to our 11th stadium.  Tampa Bay played both the Cards and the Royals!  The Royals were on quite a losing streak and that didn't change.

There was no atmosphere to speak of, just parking lots and some tailgating around the stadium.  But once we got in the ballpark, it was very nice.  There was a big kids' area with mini golf, batting cages, and a playground. 

The crowd was light on this Monday night with kids in the area back in school.

The people working at the stadium were friendly and overly doting on our kids.  They got certificates and baseball cards for being at their first Royal's game, so now they are Royal's fans!

The next morning, we left for home, but we had one more special stop along the way.  We had lunch with my other aunt and uncle who just moved into their new custom-built home.  This was a really fun trip with a nice mix of seeing friends and family and attractions of interest to everyone.  I do think that the kids are at about the perfect age for family vacations.  Not too much work, and still like to spend time with us!