Last days of summer

Daddy has been spending a lot of time in his classroom these last days of summer. One trip he found these fun hats, glasses, and bow ties, we earned from Mrs. Erdman last year doing healthy, family things! The girls loved them (the hats even blink). Max gets a kick out of watching us have them on. Madison is in between needing naps and not needing naps. So, we make sure she has a "rest time" where she can lay on the couch and read. If she doesn't fall asleep after a certain amount of time, we let her color, or do some other quiet activity. Today I found her sleeping with the gel pen still in hand after I got some laundry from the basement. Apparently she needed a nap today!

Fun pics

Mark and Rachel have a great camera, and love to take pictures. They took about 200 pics of the kids before they left on Sunday, and these were some of our favorties.

McConnell's

Mark, Rachel, and little Bennett also came last Friday to spend the weekend with us. We enjoyed some adult time Friday night, Paul Bunyan's for breakfast Sat. and Kalahari indoor theme park, kabobs on the grill Sat. night, and Tanger shopping, too! Besides most of us picking up something over the weekend, we had such a great time. Bennett is such an awesome boy...so sweet and happy. He loved crawling around and watching all of our kids (they are a sight to see)! I hope we get to see them again before he gets too big!

Temke's

Last weekend, the Temke family stopped by on Friday on their way to MN. My friend, Melissa, from Madtown, and her husband, Brian, daughter Anna, and son Matthew, came to play for a bit and have dinner. The kids enjoyed playing together and the grown-ups enjoyed catching up. They even brought some silly bands for the girls, and a truck for Max...how sweet! Hope to see you all again soon!

Gymnastics video

Gymnastics

Our rec department offers gymnastics over the summer, led by our gymnastics team. The coach allowed Macy, not quite 3, the chance to come this year, and she loved it! Of course, they loved doing everything together! They especially loved their helper Miss Steph, and we will try her to babysit, too! We are thinking of trying gymnastics during the year at TNT here because they loved it so much. On the last day, all the H.S. students perform tricks for the kids, and Max was even cheering...too cute! I will try to post some videos, as well.

Madison/Milwaukee Visit

On Monday we met at Mrs. Farmer's house in Madison for a nice get-together. Molly, Jenny, Julie, and I, along with our Moms, met for some play time and lunch. It was a great time as always, and even more kids this year! We then traveled to Milwaukee for a visit with Bumpa and Nana. We went to the park with Kirk, Katelyn and Lauren. We went shopping and out to eat with Nana on Tuesday and then we all went swimming and out to eat Tuesday night. The girls just LOVE their cousins!!! We left early Weds. morning for the girls to get back for gymnastics, but I stopped and got a picture of them by the Lake...so pretty!

Sleep

Even with bunk beds, they still cannot be close enough together! When I came home from Bunco last night, I couldn't find Macy! I finally realized that she was to Madison's right, both on the bottom bunk! What a great investment, huh?!

Camping/Girls Weekend

If anyone ever has referred to me as SuperMom before, you must take it back and referr to Jesse as SuperDad! When I was with my Mom's side of the family in White Potato Lake for our girls weekend, Jesse took the kids camping for the second year in a row...although there was one more kid than before! Chad brought Ethan, Joe brought Brianna, Kerry, and Grandpa Monte (there for one night), enjoyed some tent camping and food on the firepit. Besides the girls not wanting to go to sleep (past Midnight on Friday and 10:30 on Sat.) and the big rain storm Sat. night into Sunday, they had a blast. They claim that they would do it again...I guess we'll see! Jesse said Max did great. He did take a picture of the distance Max crawled away from him, a good place to test that is the open field, right? Good job, Daddy, they loved camping yet again (and I enjoyed my girls time)!

VBS

Madison had Vacation Bible School for the first time last week. SHE LOVED IT SO MUCH! They sang songs, ate snacks, and made really cute crafts. On Thursday night they had a special performance for the parents. I was gone for the weekend, so Jesse took the other two and he said that it was so cute and Macy loved it, too! They even let her jump in and perform the song! Something to look forward to again next summer!

LAX

No, not the airport, but the city in WI, La Crosse! Last Tuesday I took the kids to LaX to meet my dear friend Rachel, now a Rochester, MN, resident. We met at a fun park and made our way downtown to eat and enjoy some ice cream at the Pearle. It was so wonderful to meet Bennett for the first time and to see Rachel (he is 6 months and started crawling shortly after our visit). We are looking forward to your visit in another week!