Monday, August 31, 2015

Back to School

The kids have completed two weeks of school now, and here's their first day of school pictures.


Laine and Mead go to school every morning - all-day school for both of them.


Mead is in first grade.


Laine is in third grade.


Cole goes every afternoon to Junior Kindergarten.  He was unburdened by a backpack this first morning when I took everyone's pictures!


There was a fun welcome sign at the front entrance to the school this year.



Laine has a new teacher this year, Miss Ballard, whom she is absolutely loving.


She's got her own cubby to put all her stuff in.


Mead has Mrs. Nichols, and she is so excited about the new reading loft in her room.  I'll try and get a picture of it for another post.


We've had both Mrs. Nichols and Mrs. Byars (below) before for our girls, and they are probably our favorite teachers at the school.  So excited for a good school year for all our kids!


After waiting all morning at home, Cole finally got to come to school.  He's loved going every day - and he doesn't seem to mind missing his nap too much either!


Random, but on the way home from dropping Cole off that first day, Penny, a couple teachers, and I helped catch this injured baby hawk, which was sitting in our front yard.  The teachers took it to the local bird sanctuary, and the people at the bird sanctuary were able to help it recover from a broken "collar" bone (not sure of the official name).  Always something interesting going on around the school!

Friday, August 28, 2015

Aqua Lily Pad

In addition to sailing, playing and swimming at the beach, and fishing, we also used the Aqua Lily Pad while we were at Innsbrook.


There was this giant yellow rolled up mat on the dock at the house we borrowed, so the second day we decided to unroll it and see what it could do.


All of us quickly realized how much fun it was to basically have a huge floating mat to play on in the middle of the lake.


We jumped off it, tried to sink it (unsuccessfully), pushed it around, and tackled each other on it.


What a fun, simple water toy to play with!


Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Sailing at Innsbrook

The last week of the summer Penny took off from work, and our family spent a couple days at a house in Innsbrook that someone from the church let us borrow.


Almost as soon as we arrived I saw this little boat sitting on the shore, and I decided that I MUST try my hand at sailing again.  It had been at least 20 years since my last sailing adventure.


I had to look online to remember how to rig the boat, but once it was set up, I went out and had a great time.  Mead joined me the first day.





Laine and Mead went with me (on 2 separate trips) the next day.


We had a great time, and it was so fun for me, personally, to be back on the water.


Here's hoping it won't be another 20 years before I get to go sailing again!


Friday, August 21, 2015

Magic House Camp

Our kids love going to the Magic House, and during the summer they love going to Magic House Camp.  This year Cole was old enough to go, too, and he had a great time.


The girls did a demonstration of science experiments at the end of the week.  Mead shook a marble to the top of some rice, showing that the smaller pieces go to the bottom when shaking something.


And Laine and her friend blew up balloons and showed how the air pressure in the balloon will push water out of a bottle, if there is a place for the water to exit.


So thankful for great camp opportunities for my kids.  They have a good time, and I get a nice break during the summer!


Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Around the House This Summer

School started back today, but I still have lots of summer pictures to post.  So here goes...


The kids love creating colorful chalk drawings on our newly paved driveway.


Mead lost her second tooth up top, making for an adorable smile!


Cole loves helping Daddy do anything physical outside.  And he's such a hard worker, too!


Penny brought home a hammock from Mexico, and he found a good place to set it up in the shade and relax a bit.

Friday, August 14, 2015

Purina Farms

As part of our bucket list of summer activities, we went out to Purina Farms, along with some friends.


The kids had fun playing on various toys,



swinging on the rope swing,


and petting the animals.



We also watched the dog show,


and went on a tractor ride.  Glad for a fun morning out enjoying St. Louis activities.


Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Laine's Birthday Party

Having a summer birthday means having birthday parties outside at the park or the pool.


Laine invited a few friends to the pool, and we had a great time.


Cookie cake first, then presents and swimming.


So thankful for Laine's sweet friends.