stolen from Jen's blog

Lindsay's Wedding

I took two handsome dates to my cousin's wedding last night. Drew and Katelynn were the Ring Bearer and Flower Girl. They were so cute! Drew changed his clothes before the reception, and I bribed him with a dollar to put his tux back on for the dance.
At one point I was dancing with Eli and lost sight of Noah. When I saw him a few minutes later, his face was covered with chocolate. He had been under the head table eating hershey's kisses.

waiting to dance

I'm not sure who had more fun dancing...the kids or Grandpa Steve!
The next family wedding is in May. That means I have all winter to teach the boys The Electric Slide!

first day of preschool

The big map at preschool is a hit! We had to stop and look at it every day last year!
Ella told me all about their first day today. I'm sure these two won't cause any trouble!
After Kindergarten and Preschool, we had a picnic at the park. What a great day!

First Day of Kindergarten

I thought it would be fun to walk, so Ella and Noah rode in the wagon, and Eli and Jack tried to avoid puddles. I was really second guessing myself by the time we got to school. However, a teacher walked in behind us and said "I wish the school kids walked this good", so that made me feel better!
Eli was VERY excited for school. He was not excited about my camera!
I was greeted with this sad little face after school. Someone REALLY wanted to ride the bus home.
Later he told us that school was great: they sat at circle time for a LONG TIME, Mrs. Henning showed them around the room, they got to drink milk from a carton without a straw, and the boy named Owen who has glasses like Noah actually has black circle glasses, not oval like Noah.
Then, he was telling me the names of the kids, and he said there is an Allison which kinda sounds like Allosaurus. I said, "Don't tell her that". He said, "I tried to tell Mrs. Henning, but she didn't hear me".
How's that for day one?

And so it begins....

We needed to be in two places at one time today.

The boys both had orientation this morning. Joel took Eli to Kindergarten while I took Noah to Preschool. The day was a crazy one at our house, but it went much better than I anticipated it would!
Eli said Kindergarten was "great", and Noah did not want to leave Preschool!!! They both insisted on wearing "pocket shirts".

Too much fun!

Krista and I spent Saturday night out with our cousin Lindsay for her bachelorette party. We were thinking that we're a little too old to participate, but I'm glad we decided to go!

Labor Day Weekend

It was our last lake weekend of the summer, and thankfully, we had great weather!

Highlights included:
spending time with cousins
fishing
watching the sun set
exploring the woods
enjoying a campfire in the woods
turning the slide into a water slide
having a water fight with Grandma

and playing with the puppies next door.

The Pond

I took the kids for a walk to the pond today. This will probably be the last morning we'll be able to do this for a while! Next week the craziness starts. Ella and Noah have preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Jack has preschool on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Eli will have morning kindergarten. Unfortunately Eli's school starts and ends a half hour before preschool does, and since the schools are less than a mile apart, I'm not really sure how this is going to work....but it will. (Wow. Mrs. Strubble is frowning upon me after that run on sentance!)

dilemma

So, do I buy him thin socks that he has no prayer of ever being able to put on by himself, or do I go with the thicker socks he can manage but don't fit as well in his brand new size 10 extra wide stride rite shoes?

CUTE

Noah picked out his own clothes today.

Schwantz Bash

Joel was gone over the weekend, so the boys and I spent a couple of days with Krista & family. Saturday was the annual family get together at my Aunt and Uncle's which is always a good time.

Hay Ride

Yard Games

Followed by an evening campfire

Surprise

The big boys (and Brady) got to go to Como Zoo and Como Town on Tuesday. We met one of Krista's friends and her 6 year old boy there. Of course it had to be the hottest day of the summer so far, but we had a lot of fun (and the boys couldn't wait to tell the others all about it!).
Eli's favorite animal was the corn snake, and Zach liked the Zebra. They both loved all of the rides but were VERY disappointed to find out that they needed to be 7 to drive the bumper cars.

Camp Connie

I think we've been teasing my mom about "Camp Connie" since Krista was pregnant with Zach. Maybe we'll have to change the name to "Cousin Camp" so Dad can get a little credit. Since Grandma and Grandpa were pretty sure that they didn't want all of the grandkids at one time, we sent them in shifts. After Austin's party on Saturday, Eli and Zach went home with them. They went to the Prairie Wetlands Center in Fergus for a little while and weren't home 5 minutes before Zach fell and hit his head on the coffee table which required 4 stitches above his left eye.
Krista and I met at Mom and Dad's on Monday to deliver Noah, Drew, and Katelynn (Children must be potty trained prior to going to Cousin Camp, so Austin and Brady got left out). We spent the afternoon at the lake before taking Zach and Eli to Krista's with the promise of a big surprise in the morning. Craig and Jen spent Tuesday night at Camp, and the rest of us joined in for one more day of fabulous lake weather yesterday.

Highlights from Cousin Camp
- swimming under the pontoon at the swimming hole
-fishing
-eating fish
-making a "cherry pie" with Grandpa (playdough crust, berries from a tree, and napkins as whipped cream)
-campfires with smores
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!

Happy Birthday Austin!

Could he be any cuter?

Having fun with Jake and Chase

I had some more Iowa pictures on my other camera, so I'll share. We spent an afternoon playing with water at Jake and Chase's house. My "baby" Luke came over too. I can't believe these little boys who I started watching when they were 6 months old are now FIVE...and the babies are THREE.

The night before we left, Erica and I met at Hawkeye park so the boys could see each other one last time. They had fun feeding ducks, climbing trees, playing on the climbers, and watching Matt play in his tennis tournament. Next time we see these guys there will be another little blonde baby. Chase insists that he will not play with the baby if it's a boy.

The Cities

We left Iowa on Saturday and stayed at my Aunt Cindy's for a couple of days so we could meet up with Joel's Mom's family. We were able to catch up with some friends over the weekend before everyone arrived on Monday. All of the kids had a great time together! Joel and I are still nursing sore muscles from the family tennis tournament.

Iowa

Lemonade Stand

Adventureland

Eli's favorite rides were the Underground and Sawmill Splash. Noah's favorites were the Froghopper and Sawmill Splash (thank you cousin Tyler!!).

Noah had a Batman birthday party at Cathy's. We were glad that Jake and Chase were able to come (Chad and Erica too!)

Noah spent most of the week with the dogs. Cathy and Jennifer both have two.

Aunt Jennifer made the adorable Batman cake(s).

The boys had their first bowling experience at Matt's b-day party.

Birthday Girl

We got home at 11:30 last night from 10 days of parties and vacation (lots of pictures soon) Today, the boys and I got to spend the afternoon helping Little Miss Ella celebrate her 3rd b-day. We love you sweet girl! Thanks for the fun party.