Marie's First Day of Pre-Kindergarten

 Marie Beth is in Pre-K!

Thursday was her first day at her new school, Holy Cross.

She awoke ready for the new adventure!

 Dad is on nights right now but he stayed awake long enough to see her off to her big first day. 

 We both shed a few tears with the first day departure, but we are happy to say that her 2nd day was much less emotional for us both. 

She has made a few friends already and so far her favorite part was eating lunch in the big lunch room and picking between white milk and chocolate milk for lunch. 

Immediately she said, "Don't worry mom, I will pick white milk sometimes too."

Her room is full of exciting activities and Marie comes home exhausted from all her "hard work" she says she does all day long. 

We are so proud of you Marie! 

Have a great year!

What a summer

We are officially ending our carefree lack of schedule summer tonight. Marie starts her new Pre-K program tomorrow at Holy Cross Catholic School. It is an all day, every day program with music, art, and PE. It will truly be a school experience instead of a daycare. We are so excited about her teacher. She is passionate about early childhood, a dog lover, and her father has been one of Andy's attending doctors at the residency. 

Here she is at her open house last week where we met with teachers, saw her room, and delivered all her supplies.

Our summer has been wonderful!

The kids and I have been at home together much of the time.

We stayed busy with the summer library program every week. We would have story time outside and check out nearly 20 books each week. One week we had some visitors from the PBS station so the kids loved getting tattoos and listening to different stories that day.

We have also had swimming lessons. This year we decided to do a different lesson where the kids were in a one on one sessions or with only 1-2 other kids. We loved the experience and both kids made huge strides in the swimming abilities. Marie used to be very nervous about swimming but now she is jumping in by herself, swimming across the pool unattended, floating on her back, and swimming underwater. Bennett sees her and thinks he can do the same!  

We are doing one more session in September - 2 times a week for one month. 

With their new skills we spent at least 1 time per week at the local pool.  The kids have pretty cute tan lines this summer thanks to our afternoons there.

We also enjoyed many trips to the park with picnics. Both kids love taking picnics with them and eating outside so we did this at least once per week even if it was just outside at our house. 

Our summer also included many trips to a nearby campground where the kids and dogs like to swim, hike, run, and play. 

 

It will be a busy and exciting fall season with a few weekend trips planned and Andy fitting in as much of his extra responsibilities as possible before the baby comes. 

Bennett and I get to have days together while Marie is in school.  I am looking forward to spending one on one time with him before the baby, too.

So, goodbye summer, hello fall!

And so it begins...

With our big move only 9 months away we thought we better spend some time in Spirit Lake and check a few things off our list. 

Friday was spent looking at houses, houses, and more houses. Luckily the kids didn't have to endure this part of our trip - they were taken care of by our realtor's two high school children.  They had a blast!  When we picked them up that evening they were sweaty and exhausted from playing.

   

After they took a little nap in the car we drove over to Papa and Grammy's boat so we could take an evening boat ride to dinner.  We enjoyed dinner outside while watching the many boats go under the bridge.

The kids perked up with their dinner so we decided to spend the rest of our night at Arnold's Park 

The kids were given season passes this year and they are loving them!  

Bennett tried the kiddie coaster this time. Right away Marie put her arm around him and yelled to us " I don't think he likes it!" He stuck it out though...tough guy.

After we closed down Arnold's Park, we ended our evening with ice cream.

This was such a fun night - the kids really enjoyed themselves and they were absolutely exhausted from all their fun.

 We woke up Saturday morning feeling pretty tired. We spent some time fishing at a little lake in Spencer...this didn't last long as we were not catching anything and we were all pretty exhausted. We decided to go back and take naps before continuing with the fun.

Later that afternoon, the kids were very patient while we bought a new van! It will be coming the end of August...we are anxious to have more room for our car trips.

We rounded out our time at the Lakes with a little miniature golf game.

This was a first for the kids. Marie loved it, Bennett decided throwing the ball was much easier. 

 We stopped in Sheldon for dinner with Grandma and then once again took off for home. 

It was a busy 2 days but a lot of fun!

A Little Chicago Getaway

After months of planning and preparing (mostly arranging our children, dogs, and figuring out our work schedules) we were ready for our first real trip without children!

We joined our dear friends Molly & Bryant for a trip to Chicago.

After they picked us up at the airport, we went right to brunch at The Little Goat. 

We proceeded to order some of the best pancakes and waffles we have ever eaten.

 Next we enjoyed a walk down to Millennium Park to enjoy the view and cool breeze of the lake before we got ready for the Cubs game.

 At the game we enjoyed great seats along with plenty of stadium snacks and beverages, and music.

It was a beautiful day and Andy was thrilled to be able to say he visited Wrigley Field.

 The boys were pretty excited about the Chicago Bears playing a pre-season game that evening. Because Molly and I are the best wives in the world & Andy knows how to negotiate with ticket scalpers, we scored 4 seats for a good price at the Bears game that night!

 

It was an amazing experience filled with plenty of adventure, more stadium food and beverages, and souvenirs. FYI if you are ever at Soldier Field, bring a small purse...just trust us.

Saturday started out with a walk downtown around Michigan Avenue and Millennium Park.

We took the signature picture with the Bean, walked through a few stores, and ended the morning with a delicious deep dish pizza.

 

Our afternoon was full of more site seeing with an architectural boat tour as well as Navy Pier.

The boat tour was a great way to see the city's buildings in their entirety. 

Once again we were blessed with amazing weather to enjoy our day!

 

 Saturday evening we enjoyed a delicious mexican meal followed by decadent desserts. 

We spent the night talking and eating- what we do best!

 

 

 We ended Saturday with a late night trip to the Sky Lounge in the Hancock Tower.

The view was beautiful and it was a great way to end our day.

 

After brunch on Sunday we left for the airport and said our good-byes.

This trip was such a memory maker for us and we are so glad we were able to make it work out!

Thanks to Grammy & Papa and Grandma Nel for their help with the kids and dogs. 

 It's not easy to sneak away from work and responsibilities but it is necessary every once and awhile. 

We were exhausted on Monday but definitely worth it!

Now, where to next????