Labor Day at the Cabin

As soon as Norah and Kyler were done with school on the Tuesday before Labor Day weekend, we picked them up and headed up to my parent's cabin in Minnesota!  We had originally planned to leave the previous Sunday and be gone the whole week, but some plans changed, and we decided to leave Tuesday right after the kids got out of school instead.  It's a good thing too, because the Friday morning before, Erik woke up so sick, he couldn't even get off the couch!  He spent, Friday, Saturday, and most of Sunday just laying in the basement.  Thankfully by Monday, he was a bit better and we could leave on Tuesday!  We were able to just stop once again on the way up for dinner, and arrived at the cabin a little after 9:00.  We unloaded, and got everyone in bed.

Wednesday was pretty nice, and the kids were able to put their suits on and play at the beach.  We had a fun time just hanging out and playing at the cabin that day.

Fun in the water

Kyler had been waiting to use this squirt gun :)

Miss Norah ;)

Grace enjoying the sand

This view never gets old...

Enjoying the sunset!

Baby in the sink!

Erik's Twins birthday cake :)

All clean!

Thursday was another nice day, and the kids again had a fun time digging in the sand and playing down at the beach.  It was fun to watch Grace explore the sand too, as she wasn't able to sit up the last time we were there in July.  She had a great time sitting and digging in the sand with her hands, and even army crawling across the beach. :)  Also, late Thursday night after we were in bed, my parents and brother arrived.  Here are some pictures from Thursday.

Checking out the sand

Enjoying some digging time

More squirting

Having fun exploring :)

Friday was another relaxing day, and of course more "exciting" since Grandma, Grandpa, and Ben were now there. :)  The weather wasn't awesome, it was fine to play on the beach, but cloudy and overcast.  Nonetheless, we still were able to have fun!  My parents had recently purchased a stand-up paddle board, and we were all excited to try it out.  Even though it wasn't warm, the water was very calm and it was perfect to try the paddle board.  We all decided it was well worth their investment. :)  Norah and I also rode the tube.  We wore long sleeve t-shirts so we wouldn't freeze, but the lake was so calm, it was perfect for a tube ride. :)  Friday night we also enjoyed dinner in town at a favorite restaurant to celebrate Erik's birthday.  Here are some pictures from Friday. :)

Me trying out the paddle board :)

Ben and Norah

Apparently while I was out paddle boarding, Ben and Norah had a dance party on the dock :)  I have a whole sequence of pictures of them together, it's hilarious. :)

Enjoying the paddle board!

Relaxing

Norah wanted a ride :)

  

Kyler showing me the hole he dug in the sand

Beach baby!

Miss Grace

Tubing!

Erik opening his birthday presents

Saturday was pretty much like Friday, cloudy, cool, but calm water.  Since it wasn't windy, we were still able to enjoy the paddle board some more, tube, play on the beach, and go fishing.  Kyler had been asking to go fishing, so he finally got his chance! :)  

Norah crafting while Kyler fished :)

Grace made her way under the table exploring

Ben's catch :)

More tubing!

Kyler took a ride

Kyler's big catch!  He is so proud of this walleye that he caught.  He still talks about it all the time and can't wait to catch more next summer!  (Yes, we kept it and ate it for dinner!)

Story time with Ben :)

Sunday was about the same, cloudy, 60s, and a bit more windy than the previous days.  We hung out for most of the morning, and went down to visit the neighbors too.  Then after lunch, my parents, brother, and Erik, started to put some things away for the winter.  The fishing boat came out of the lake, the kayaks were covered, we started raking, and reorganizing things so they could be put away.  The sun came out for a bit in the afternoon, but it was still too windy to ski. :(  (We had only gotten to ski once over the 4th of July, so I really wanted to ski again, but it didn't happen.) :(  Kyler enjoyed a little fishing off the dock after dinner one more time.  A great way to enjoy our last evening at the cabin!

More craft time!

Enjoying the sunset

Last time fishing for the summer

Love this picture….Kyler doing something he loves to do, "pitching" rocks into the lake

Mr. Kyler :)

Monday morning we enjoyed our annual "breakfast at the pot" at the neighbor's cabin.  It was extremely windy, which made it sooo cold!  We all ate quickly and then were ready to go warm up!  As soon as breakfast was over, we said "good-bye" to the neighbors, and then headed back to mom and dad's cabin.  We then finished packing up the van to head home.  It was a nice and relaxing few days at the lake.  It's sad to think that summer is now officially over and we won't have any more "beach time" until next year.  

All ready to head home!

Norah's First Day of Preschool

Norah had her first day of preschool on August 26th!  She has been so excited to go to preschool and be "just like Kyler". :)  She also has the same teachers that Kyler had, so that has made her even more excited to go.  We took her school supplies to her room the week before school started and she got to check everything out and talk to her teachers.  Then, she was all ready to go on the first day!  Erik took her to school and he said the whole way there she kept saying, "I don't want to go to preschool, I want to go back home!"  But then once she got there, she hung up her backpack, and then walked into the room.  Her teacher then asked her if she wanted to play with the corn in the activity table and she slowly walked over there and started playing.  Erik just left then without even telling her good-bye for fear that she would start crying or something. :)  She has never looked back since!  Such a different experience than when Kyler started preschool, but it doesn't surprise me at all!  Her personality is so different than Kyler's in that regard. :)  We are so excited for Norah to be at preschool and we know she will have a great year and learn lots of wonderful things!!  Here are some pictures from her first day. :)

All ready to go!

:)

Grace is 10 Months

Grace turned 10 months old on August 17th!  My these months are flying by!  Grace's big "first" this past month was that she mastered the army crawl!!  All of my kids have done some sort of army crawl before they actually crawl on all fours, and Grace was no different!  The funny thing is though, they all have had a different army crawl. :)  Grace's army crawl is so funny to watch, she will reach out with both hands and "grab" at the floor, and then pull herself forward while pushing herself with just her left foot/toe.  When she is on the carpet, she literally grips the carpet to help pull her, and you would think that she wouldn't be able to move on the hard floor then, but this isn't true, she does the same thing. :)  Although Grace was fairly mobile before this month, the army crawling has brought a whole new diminution to her mobility as she is now all over the house, guess that means we really need to baby proof things now! :)  Grace also got her 2nd tooth this past month on August 15th.  Her bottom front left tooth popped through, so she now has her bottom two teeth.  Grace has been making many new noises and sounds "talking" this past month too.  It's so funny to hear some of the new things she tries to "say". :)  Here are some pictures from the past month!

10 Months!

Check out those teeth!

Hanging out with Geneva :)

Hi Mom!

Loving the swing! She gets mad when we take her out :)

Under the chairs….this is a favorite spot :)

Loving her mobility!

:)

They don't look related at all….. :)

Loving being outside!

Out sweet girl

Kyler's First Day of School

Kyler had his first day of kindergarten on Thursday, August 14th.  He had been at preschool for two years, and we knew he was ready to head on to kindergarten; however, we knew this was going to be a somewhat difficult transition.  We thought for quite a while about what kindergarten would look like for Kyler, and in the end, decided to send him to half days, so I pick him up around noon.  Although his transition was still a challenge, going half days has helped tremendously.  Tuesday before school started, we did the "back to school" backpack night where we took all of his supplies to his classroom.  I think it was a bit overwhelming for him, but he left seeming somewhat ready to go.  On Thursday he did a great job, and got all lined up with his class to head into his room and said good bye to me with a smile, however things went downhill from there.  From then on, Kyler did not want to go to school in the morning.  He was fine once he got there, and when he came home would say how much fun he had and all the things he did, but going was still a struggle.  Towards the middle of September, his teacher suggested we do a sticker chart.  Every morning that he could go to school without crying he got to put a sticker on his chart.  When he got to 5, he could have lunch with his principal. :)  This helped us get over the "hump" and Kyler now does great going to school!  He loves to show me all of the things he made and tell me about his day when he comes home.  Here are a few pictures from his first day!

Kindergarten already!?

Ready to go!

Waiting to head inside

All lined up!

Iowa State Fair 2014

We took our annual trip down to the Iowa State Fair this summer.  This year we went on opening day, Thursday, because that's what worked out best with Erik's work schedule.  We got up and left right away in the morning, about 9:30ish, and got to the fair about 11:30.  It was cloudy the whole way down, and started to rain lightly as we got closer to the fair. :(  But, that wasn't going to stop us!!  As soon as we got there, we headed for the birthing center to use the bathroom and check out all the baby animals!  Since it was the first day, we got to see some of the chickens coming out of their eggs, the kids thought this was sooooo cool!  We also got to see some baby pigs that had just been born within the last 24 hours, the other momma pigs hadn't even had their babies yet. :)

Kyler with the baby ducks

Baby cows

Baby pigs

Checking out the baby pigs :)

After the birthing building, we headed over to the Iowa Pork Producer's tent for lunch, this is definitely one of our favorite things about the fair!! :)

Kyler and Daddy at lunch

Norah and Mommy at lunch :)

After lunch we went over to do the "Little Hands On The Farm".  Kyler was looking forward to this, and had been talking about it for days. :)  It's fun to have our kids getting to the age where they remember doing things from the previous year and want to do them again this year. :)  Our time at the Little Hands On The Farm, was, well, a bit wet……as soon as we got our aprons, the rain picked up a bit, it wasn't pouring, but definitely was raining a bit harder than the "drizzle" that had been coming down.  Thankfully we did get to walk "inside" for most of the things here.

Stopping to pick up grain for the pigs

Gathering their veggies from the garden

Getting their beans from their harvest

Waiting for a tractor to take their goods to market (they actually shut it down after we went because it was so wet, so I'm glad we got there when we did!)

"Milking" the cow 

Norah's turn

After the Little Hands On The Farm, we needed to head inside somewhere to dry off, so we went over to the Ag Building to see the butter cow.  This year's theme for the cow was the Field of Dreams, so there was a Kevin Costner made out of butter :).  Kyler thought this was cool because of the baseball connection. :)

Butter "corn"

The butter cow

After the Ag building, the rain was pretty much done, it was just a bit cloudy, so we went to check out all of the animal buildings.  Kyler really wanted to see the horses, and it was cool because some people were bringing their horse back from showing it, and offered to let Kyler come and pet their horse, he thought that was pretty neat!  Both Kyler and Norah really loved all the animals and kept saying they wanted to go see more, even after we had seen them all!!  Of course, Grace was just more along for the ride, and just checked everything out, can't wait to see what she thinks next year! :)

A statue that's new this year at the fair

Kyler and Norah by a cow

Kyler petting the horse, his name was "Harley"

Kyler riding and Grace trying to figure out what's going on :)

The big Boar

Sheep :)

How we roll with 3 kids in a double stroller :)

After the animals, we headed over to the Varied Industries building to see if the girls would close their eyes for a bit…..not so much. :)  We decided against walking up and down all the rows of booths this year and just went to the college booths so that Kyler could get his tattoos. :)  Then we headed over to the DNR building to cheek out all the fish that they have over there.  As soon as we left the DNR building, Grace finally fell asleep for a bit, so we hiked the hill to see the pictures, however, they had rearranged the set-up, so the pictures were now upstairs and we decided not to head up there. :(  So, we headed back down to an outdoor arena where they were showing cows, and watched that for a bit.  

After we watched the cows, we went to the 4H building to see all the cool projects that kids had made. Then, we headed over to the pavilion to watch some barrel racing and see the Reisetter family.  It was fun to see and chat with the Reisetters down at the fair, since Erik and I's first time at the fair was 10 years ago, when Mason was an infant. :)  We hung out with them for a while and watched the barrel racing, and then headed to find some dinner.  We of course had to eat dinner at the Catttleman's Beef Quarters, our other favorite place to eat down there!  After dinner, we loaded up in the car and headed for home!  It was a wet but fun day at the state fair!  Definitely one of the coolest days at the fair we've ever had, but the kids still had a great time.  Norah just informed me the other day she wanted to go back to the State Fair….only 10 months to go! :)

Swimming Lessons

Kyler and Norah took swimming lessons again at The Falls this summer.  We did the third session at the end of July/beginning of August.  Norah had a great experience with swimming lessons.  She did the class where I got in with her, and she had a great time.  She did everything the teacher asked her to do, including going under the water one day!  This was her first time doing swimming lessons, and she really enjoyed it.  Kyler had an okay experience this year.  This was Kyler's second year doing lessons, and last year he did the class where I got in with him, and this year he did the next level up, so I did not get in with him.  He went the first day and did great, then we were going in Minneapolis for two days, and when we came back he had a substitute teacher, and that didn't go over very well.  Then on Friday of that week lessons were cancelled.  The next week was better, and he did a good job the rest of the time, but just needs to work on putting his face in the water and going under.  I think part of it is just that he needs to be around the pool and being in the water more.  The only pictures I have from swimming lessons are Kyler going off the diving board. :)

Walking out...

In the water!  He wasn't so sure about this, but I'm glad he did it. :)

Grace's 9 Month Pictures

About a week after Grace turned 9 months, we were able to snap a few 9 months pictures of her!  I think they turned out pretty good. :)

And because you can't take pictures of just one kid….. :)