End of Summer/Beginning of School!

 We have begun our end of summer and beginning of school time here in KY.  Ryan started school on the 15th of August.  Early, I know, but he gets out early this year, so we are happy about that. So far he is enjoying his class and teacher.  Although getting back into the homework phase isn't going so well yet, we are progressing.  Thankfully, doing his workbook all summer has helped him not lose too much information and understand that once he has his homework done he can play on the computer.

Before school started, we had an Emma free weekend.  She was up at my parents house for her Nanny camp weekend.  The boys and I spent the Friday at a kid zone.  The kids hadn't been there since before Nick, so it was essentially all new to them.  They really loved the ball pit and train tables as well as the post office area.  I loved that I only had to keep track of 2 kids!

We also took them to the party in the lot at church.  Fun music and bouncy houses as well as good food.  It made a wonderful night.

As a last ditch craft project the day before school started, Ryan and Emma made bag masks.  They enjoyed cutting out of magazines and gluing.  They have 'scared' me a lot since then.

 I took Nick and Emma to Michigan last weekend for the Woodward Dream Cruise.  It is one of my favorite events in Michigan.  Everyone brings out their old cars and cruises Woodward.  Nick asked if everyone was going to race and I had to explain that a cruise was the complete opposite of racing.  Of course, there were a ton of people who didn't have classic cars that felt the need to cruise, which really detracts from the event.  But we did a mile long walk from 12 mile to 13 mile, resting and looking at cars along the way.  At 13, there were 2 parks and the food.  The adults had some Polish food, while the kids enjoyed their hot dogs.  The kids enjoyed the park and some extremely expensive ice cream before we be headed back.  The weather was a beautiful 75 degrees, which was just perfect for the event.  We had a wonderful day and really enjoyed our time together!

Nick and Emma began our season of extracurricular activities this past week.  Nick had his first ever swim class.  For the first 15 minutes of it, he kept exclaiming 'I'm at swim class!'.  For the second, he kept asking to get out!  Of course, we got to go to the outside waterpark afterwards.  It was a beautiful day and we had the run of the park.

Emma started gymnastics this week.  She really enjoyed the challenges and paid attention a lot better than the last time she took lessons (about 6 months ago).  She is in a harder class now and I think preferred it.  She begins dance class in a few weeks.

Both Nick and Emma have preschool open house this week and begin school on the 5th.  They are both very excited - as am I!!

Emma got her pre-school hair cut this week.  We decided to get some bangs cut because even though we have waited for the fine little hairs to stop growing, she keeps getting more and they are always in her face.  I think she looks adorable.

Shade Gap Picnic 2012

 We spent a lovely weekend at Kris's Dad's farm celebrating the Shade Gap Picnic.  Of course, we had a wonderful time.  This year, we came in late Thursday to be able to enjoy the music at the picnic on Friday night.

 Ryan especially enjoyed this after he won a microphone and pretended to be Dave from Imagination Movers, running through out the audience.  They all danced and enjoyed the music.

Saturday, we got to enjoy time with our family, playing games and visiting before the rides opened.  This was the first time I ever got sick on a ride, but I made it!  The kids all enjoyed THAT ride!

 Ryan enjoyed playing bingo with Grammie, but Emma wasn't fast enough to keep up yet!  Then the fireworks came - and Nick became a little turtle.  He couldn't crawl anymore into himself.  He was so scared and didn't see any of them.

The rest of our weekend was spent visiting Kris's grandmother, who is recovering a broken foot, picking and freezing corn (13 dozen - that Ryan helped pick) and playing at the farm - including chasing the baby pigs back into the pen several times.

This trip officially concludes our 'summer' tour - even though we have 2 more trips planned for the next few weekends - they won't involve all 5 of us due to SCHOOL STARTING TOMORROW!!!!

Saugatuck, MI

 We had a beautiful vacation in Saugatuck Michigan a few weeks ago.  We rented a 'vacation house' with my parents.  It really is a house, but my kids call it the 'vacation house'.  We spent several days at the beach, took a Duck ride, shopped and spent time downtown.  We went to the Children's Museum and went bowling on rainy days.  And for the adults, we went to a local winery.  Overall, such a wonderful vacation - my favorite Lake Michigan town by far.

The kids really enjoyed the beach the best.  All three loved having arm floaties and a middle float.  They would go out and float all day in the waves.

Nick was apprehensive at first but once he was out there, he just wanted you to let him float away!
Ryan and Emma continued to be more comfortable in the water which will hopefully lead to more swim lessons for both.  They loved digging in the sand and chasing the birds.

 What a wonderful vacation!!