Monday, May 27, 2019

Dancing the night away

Mother's Day weekend is always a blur - it doubles as dance recital weekend too.  

Marie is a dancer and she loves it!  She has no stress about it, she loves watching her friends succeed at it, she tries her best, she even added 2 classes this past year just so she could be on stage longer. 
I love watching her. 

So, our weekend is full of 2 shows with hair, makeup, costume changes, 
hair changes for each song (a new request this year).  




 Brooks saw some of the show but the poor guy was so tired Friday night.

Sunday was Mother's day - the kids and Andy made the day special like always complete with breakfast in bed, a hike in one of my favorite places, and a boat ride.  Life is good!

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Birthday fun begins!

 When Andy's birthday arrives it means our crazy month of celebrations begin!  
This year, we made a homemade raspberry cream cheese frozen pie and at some yummy BBQ. 

 
 We really are blessed with this guy.  The kids thought of 36 things that made him so special and wrote them down on their card for him.  
Happy Birthday Andy - here's to many more!

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Trips are fun

 We surprised Grandma Nel with a girls trip to Chicago for Christmas.  
Mom and Dad used to live there and that is where Keri was born.   A trip back down memory lane, plus new adventures, plus a tour around Dad's old college were on our to-do list.  
Our first stop after a night in Waterloo was National College of Chiropractic.  We had fun just walking around and listening to Mom talk about their time here. She recalled where dad had classes, where their friends lived on campus, and looking at portraits of Dad's professors.  We also spent time in the library looking through old yearbooks.

 After finding our hotel and getting settled, we took off to the Sky Deck in the Willis Tower. 
We waited in line for quite awhile but we were having fun people watching and perfecting out poses for the big glass box above the city.


After a quick pretzel we were off to Navy Pier.  
There we rode the Ferris Wheel and walked around the water.  
Grabbed popcorn, and of course ate some deep dish pizza.


The next morning we walked around memorial park, saw the bean, walked along the water, and enjoyed the beautiful early spring day. 



 After a shower and quick lunch we got ready for the main event: HAMILTON!!!!
 Everyone LOVED the show and we will for sure try to see it again. After the show we had dinner and watched a movie in bed with snacks.  The next day we drove all the way back home, but man was it a great trip.  Marie is now a lover of Chicago and wants to go back soon!


While we were away, the boys had some fun of their own. 
They took a trip to Minneapolis where the final four was happening. 
They spent their time testing their athletic abilities, watching bball practice and games, and also hit up the zoo!




 At the zoo they ran into Eddie and Jess of all people!  small world - they had fun rubbing it in that they were seeing each other without Marie and me and sent us this picture!

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

There's always something going on...

 We may live in a small community but we are always hopping from one thing to the next. 
Bennett is loving his kindergarten year - especially the art class and making murals. 

 Brooks riding his new bike on the first warm day of spring. Our neighborhood is always hopping with kids.
 Our dogs are just the sweetest....and naughtiest.  recently they took off for a little run and Rex wound up inside the Y! good grief....
 Brooks and Bennett designing the perfect leprechaun trap for preschool.
 Nature Center space corner was recently revamped-our future NASA employee was impressed.

 Family Fun night at the Elementary School.


 STEM fair at school.  Marie conducted her own experiment testing dogs she knows and loves to see who was the smartest! She worked so hard on this and loved sharing her results.

Sunday, March 31, 2019

Omaha Fun


 We finally got to hang out longer than a few hours with the VanMeeteren family.  We joined them in Omaha for a quick getaway.  We were at the zoo, enjoyed swimming at the pool, and hanging at the hotel. 

 It was a cold day at the zoo but we saw a lot of animals in their indoor enclosures.
The kids did great with a lot of walking and of course a few snacks.




 Seeing these kids together is so heartwarming for me.  Molly and Bryant are in some of my first memories of childhood so seeing our kids play and be silly together is so dang fun.  
The best part of the trip was having a few hours of uninterrupted time with Molly. 
Wine, talking till your throat hurts, and your best friend is about the most perfect thing ever. 

 ...this crew is pretty darn special too. 
The next week was career week at Brooks' school. Andy and I both talked about our jobs and then Brooks got to dress as his future career: Zoologist!

Saturday, March 16, 2019

winter of basketball


 
Bennett and Marie both played Y basketball again this winter.  Each one did well and they worked so hard and improved so much through the season.  We love watching them enjoy activities and learn how to be a good teammate to their friends and follow the coach's advice (dad).
 

 Following their last game, we packed up the kids and headed to a USD womens and mens basketball game in Vermillion. 
We love going back as much as we can and our kids are really enjoying every trip too. 
This time we got to take along our new niece, Delaney. She and her mom are joining Chris' family with his girls and we are so happy to have them.