In a desperate attempt to get caught up on this blog, all of September is getting lumped into one post. On the drive home from our anniversary trip we were able to visit John's nephew Coleman who is serving a mission outside of Detroit. We got to take him and his companions out to lunch and then we went to a park to let the kids play. It was good to get to see how he is doing. A mission is not easy and we are really proud of how hard he is working.
We got home the night before school started, which was less than ideal, but we made it to school on time and I even managed to take pictures before we left. I was pretty proud of myself. EZ started 3rd grade and Netta started 1st. I know they are still little but they look so much older to me in these pictures, especially Netta. Sniff Sniff
Kingston started preschool at the YMCA. I am excited that now it will be much easier to make sure I get to the gym since I am already going there 3 days a week to drop him off. I was worried about how he would do and he did freak out a bit about this new school, but the teacher said he calmed down quickly even after having to be pried off my legs.
With school back up and running, Conrad and I get to spend some quality time just the two of us. We discovered that the Children's Museum has an awesome story/craft time every Wednesday. One week the theme was bubbles and after drinking tons of bubbles and not seeming to be bothered, Conrad finally figured out how to blow them all by himself.
This is "foaminator"one of the seriously sweet crafts they had.
Owing to the lack of stores here, I have discovered a love of garage sale shopping. I would venture to say it is becoming somewhat of an addiction and King is more then happy to go along for the ride if he gets to watch movies in the car and buy toys like this sweet stuffed pineapple. I have no idea why it appealed to him so much, but obviously he loves it.
The summer was way too short, but I was excited about the start of fall and the leaves changing and all the beauty that comes with it that we never really got to experience in Texas. Apples are huge here and so is apple picking, so my friend Liz and I took our kids to an orchard that also had a sweet kids play area. Of course none of the cool toys were nearly as appealing as the cat that was running around. Here is Conrad being so sweet and gentle . . .
and then pulling the poor things tail. Conrad really harassed the crap out of that cat and the silly things just kept coming back for more.
King on the other hand was nothing but gentle with the kitty, which is impressive since he likes to play pretty rough with everyone at home. The kids spent so much time playing that by the time we wanted to pick apples they were all hungry and melting down, so we ended just buying some from the orchard store. Oh well. They were still delicious.
This summer EZ and Netta participated in a golf program called "First Tee." It is a really great deal on golf lessons and the kids loved them. EZ really got into it and I have a feeling an individual sport like golf is more his speed. We will definitely be pursuing it further with him. In addition to teaching golf, the program really emphasizes healthy living and so they had a special family walking event around the golf course. It was one of those days where we were late and I felt like a crazy person trying to get there, but we made it and the grounds were gorgeous and we all had fun even though Netta is not exactly making the happiest face in this picture.
There is a farmer's market in town every Saturday and we have been trying to go as often as possible. We have bought some produce but admittedly we have spent most of our money on amazing baked goods. At the end of the September there was a special festival in conjunction with the market and they had an amazing petting zoo. All of the kids were in heaven and definitely everyone's favorite part was all of the baby chicks. This picture of EZ is also the only one we have of him in his soccer uniform. Soccer has been a bit painful this year. The poor kid just doesn't know how to run and the way the league is set up it is basically all games and no practice, which just doesn't work well for him. I think that kind of system only works for the kids who are naturally really talented. That and the field is right by the highway and the coach isn't allowed on the field so he can try and yell directions, but no one can hear him. EZ even admitted that he is not having as much fun as he did in Texas. I grew up playing soccer and I assumed my kids would too, so it is weird to say this, but our soccer days could be over.
