Back to Reality!

Summer vacation is over and we are starting to adjust to our new routine. The bigs started school last week (sorry it's taken me so long to post.:)), and have been enjoying their classes so far. Luke is in 2nd grade this year. He's already started in on big projects and has a planner to keep track of his assignments. Yikes! Reagan is loving Kindergarten. She was very excited for the first day of school and I don't think she was at all nervous. When I asked her what she was most excited about, she said "eating lunch at school." That's probably because mom isn't there to make her eat everything.:) She's already had one little incident with talking when she should have been listening, but we've been working on that at home. I knew that would probably be her biggest issue, because it was brought up frequently in preschool for her too. I told Ryan that having a girl in school is going to bring me quite a few more gray hairs than a boy. We've already had drama with another little girl calling her names. She also came home from the first day of school so excited and proclaiming that she had a new very best friend! By Friday (2 days later), that same very best friend no longer wanted to play with her or talk to her. I can't believe all this happens in Kindergarten. Seriously? I feel bad for her, too, but we've been praying about these relationships and I've been trying to give her some tips without getting too involved. Otherwise, they have great teachers and I think it will be a great year. I'm loving naptimes in the afternoon. The quiet is quite enjoyable!

She got this lunchbox last year with her backpack, so she was excited she can actually use it now.

Drew and Lauren needed to get in on the photos, too. I'm not sure what that tree is in Drew's hand. They always insist on bringing the oddest things along to school.

4 children at 7:30 in the morning does not a good picture make.

They all wanted a chance to sit on the lion.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to get a normal picture from him again.:)

Reagan was ready to get right to work. We were able to drop their supplies off the day before so we didn't have to mess with any of that.

I had 6 kids with me that morning and we all went into school (along with 100's of other parents and kids), so Drew & Lauren waited to take a picture after we dropped off Luke and Reagan.

It's a little blurry, but here's a quick snap of Luke at his desk. He wasn't super thrilled about me taking pictures of him in his classroom.:)

Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks...

or maybe just a big 'ol bag of popcorn. The kids earned free tickets to the Iowa Cubs game through the summer reading program at the library, so we headed to the ball park this past Sunday afternoon. It was a hot one at 3:00 in the afternoon, so the kids weren't super interested in the game, but we stayed until the bottom of the 7th and it was a fun experience for them at least. The Cubs were up when we left, but I never checked to see if they ended up winning or not.:) Luke's been to a bunch of games this summer with his Knothole Gang membership, so he was an old pro at it! School starts next week, so we're trying to quick get in in some last minutes activities while we can. The kids and I went to Cars 2 yesterday morning and tomorrow we're going to use some free passes to the zoo. We're also going to hit the Iowa State Fair sometime this week. Hard to believe it's that time of year again, but I am loving the cooler weather that's coming with the end of summer!

Drewie got woken up from his nap a little early, so he wasn't super thrilled about being there. About 5 minutes in he asked if we could go home.:) After we fed him and got him something to drink though, he was ready to go!

Posing is a requirement even sitting atop a giant baseball!

They wanted to take a picture in this sculpture outside the stadium, but it ended up leading to quite a bit of arguing.

Cabin 2011

There were lots of smiles, fun and sun at the cabin this year. Every year it gets more fun for us because as the kids get older, they like to do more and more things. Last year, Drew & Lauren were quite timid about the water and were terrified of the boat. This year they were in the water a ton and were begging to go on boat rides! Drew loved the wave runner, but we couldn't convince Lauren to try it out. They all had a great time playing on the neighbor's beach area and digging in the sand. The mini-trail was a big hit with them all (I think they all spotted deer on one ride or another), the swing got a ton of use and there were countless cannon balls off the dock. It was a great weekend and we're bummed that we can't make it up there one more time before school starts. Where do all the summer weekends go?

Sand castle fun

Grandpa and Luke on the wave runner. Grandpa even taught Luke how to drive it. He felt quite big after that.:)

Our blonde haired cutie hanging out on the dock.

These two loved the tube. They wanted to keep going...and the faster the better! Drew & Lauren went on a short ride with Ryan and I, but they were not big fans.

Reagan warming up in the sun.

Luke in motion

Typical, goofy 7-year old boy behavior.:)

Reagan's turn for a ride on the mini-trail.

Digging

Lauren was so excited to go for a ride and then when Ryan got the bike out she ran away. We finally convinced her to at least sit on it for a picture. After Ryan started it she freaked out a little from the noise, but she ended up loving the ride.

Casting her line.

Trying to hook a big one. No fish were caught this year though.

Drew is excited for his turn.

This picture would have been good if it wasn't so blurry.:( I think the smoke from the campfire was causing some problems.

Love them.:)

4 chairs for 4 sweet kids.

Time for smores

On the boat

Luke in his given spot in the boat. Reagan did question that this year and hopped in the front before him. It did not go over well!

All smiles on the boat this year.

A little campfire before bed.

They loved to hang out on the floaties and pull each other around.

Lauren tracing Grandpa

Grandpa tracing Lauren

Those swimming lessons paid off!

Lauren and mommy on the boat.