School + Activities

Fun at the skating rink before school started. 

 First day of 3rd and 1st grade was on Aug. 14th! They were both ready to get back to school and see their friends again. Both have great teachers this year too!

After school in the cul de sac is never dull. On this day a neighbor came out and awarded all of them a medal for their superior bike riding skills! Our street has tons of kids all of a sudden. This picture is missing 4 more boys and the 3 girls.

 Zane passed his testing for a blue decided belt. Blue belts test with the higher belts - all the way up to black - and it was amazing (and motivating for Zane) to see what the higher levels can do.

 Zane at his buddy's nerf gun birthday party.

 Hannah at the Kids on Track finale. She finished a marathon over the course of the summer (Zane did too, but he was at the birthday party).

 Running the final mile with her friend from school.

 Medals for everyone!

ATA end of summer potluck and water gun fight.

 Hannah learned to pump all by herself!

 Zane and other BBC members protecting the tire base.

 Hannah at her friends' Princess Ballet Tea Party birthday.

 She met Princess Aurora!

End of Summer Iowa Time Pt. 2

On Sunday morning the kids has some fun with Nick's virtual reality headset. They were riding roller coasters and flying around in outer space. It sounded neat, but I'm 99% sure I would get a headache. Sadly, the videos won't upload. 

 The cousins left after lunch to get to Kenz's first soccer practice. The rest of us went out on the boat for another round of tubing. This time it was Zane and I for one loop and then Hannah and I for one loop. It was much more mellow with fewer boats zooming around and everyone was a happy camper. We did some swimming in the cove once back and Zane took the paddle boat out for his first solo run.

 Monday it was just Mom, the kids, and I and after a morning of tackling poison ivy and nasty spiky things in the garden we drove into Mt. Ayr for lunch at a place called Jamie's. It was voted the #1 restaurant in Ringgold County and I have to say we all agree! Great sandwiches! We ordered Hannah the kids ham and cheese without the bread or cheese. She enjoyed making ham and chip sandwiches and wanted more when she polished it off.

Zane had an adult sized BLT.

 Back at the lake, Zane took me on a paddle boat ride out to the buoy. That was as far as he'd ever gone so we marked the occasion by touching the buoy and taking a pic! He's a great driver!!

 While we were doing that Hannah was entertaining mom with skits in the pool.

 Tuesday we went to Des Moines for an Iowa Cubs game. The kids were thrilled about the massive bags of cotton candy that Granmama got them!!

 Cubbie Bear!

 The weather was hot and muggy. Towards the end of the game Hannah moved up to the top row and quickly discovered that that was the place to be because there was actually a breeze coming through. We all joined her immediately.

 We were sprinkled on just a little bit, and honestly it felt great.

 The Cubs lost, but in the bottom of the 9th they had a bit of a comeback and all they needed was a grand slam to be back in the game. Haha! Zane was disappointed when that didn't happen.

 We stopped in to say goodbye to Dad on the way back to the lake.

 A quick boat ride on Wednesday morning before getting in the car to head south. First we went slow...

 ...then we went FAST!

Thanks for the ride and letting us stay for so long, Mom!

End of Summer Iowa Time Pt. 1

Hannah and Kenzie played a game in the pool where one person thinks of a color and if the other guesses incorrectly, they get dunked. There was a lot of dunking...especially with colors like chartreuse and pumpkin spice!

 The boys joined shortly and things got more rowdy.

Saturday morning we started off with some tubing! This was the first time my two rode without an adult...gulp. 

 Hannah started out OK.

But I think the combination of sun and spray in her face (that she couldn't wipe away because she had to hold on) made it a little too scary.

 Back to the big kids!

We played Yardzee. The bucket was too large for Hannah to get a good toss so she adopted a flip method and won us second place!

 Fun in between turns.

 Searching for bugs.

 Large hibiscus!

 Adam and dad made fried chicken for dinner. Yum!

 Shenanigans while waiting for dinner.

 Lighting off the rest of the fireworks that would couldn't do on the 4th due to rain.