MN Summer Week 2 (Part 2)

Mon- Max and Meagan were with us for the day.

Max had an idea for a cute picture...

until siblings attacked!

Max and Jace played chess, cards, goofed around outside - I'm not sure Jace has ever laughed that much in one day! :)  Meg came with Rylee to all of her lessons that day.  Luckily, Meg is such a sweetie that she didn't mind.

Rylee had her first horseback riding lesson with my cousin's daughter, Cheyenne.  Ry declared it one of the best three days of her life!  Not sure what ranks as 1 and 2.  Lol!

Riding Cody Boy...

Later, Rylee had her dance/gym. class with Jillian during which she landed several one legged back walkovers and her first ever front walker over!  She did them with ease at the lesson, we think Pat's spirit was there giving her an extra boost.  :)

MN Summer Week 1 (Part 2) & Week 2 (Part 1)

Sun- Father's Day storm

Sunday was the first day we had to sleep in and relax (ahhh).  Then we went to Brd for some fun shopping and lunch at Rafferty's.  Later, we were out sitting on Grandma's hill enjoying the breeze when we heard the tornado warning siren.  We hustled up and got back into the house.  By then, our phones were going off too so we went down into the basement.  We were chillin' in the living room, until our phones went off again.  At about the exact moment, the wind picked up and we watched a tree fall down right in the yard... so we moved to the storage room for the remainder of the storm! We didn't have power, but we had candles and snacks so the kids weren't too worried.

We didn't get hit too bad, just that one tree and a part of another tree... and a crap load of branches. We didn't have power so we drove into town and bought a couple of flashlights.  Luckily, the power came back on in the middle of the night.

Mon- storm cleanup, Rylee's first dance/gymnastics lesson with Jillian

Week 2

Tues - spent the day with Grandpa Chip and Connie

Wed - storyhour at the library (my friend Chelsie and her mom were the readers), dance/gym. for Rylee

Rylee and Jace by Grandma Sandy's memorial plaque (in gold)

Rylee reading while Jace played.  :)

Thurs - Rylee had a very important rite of passage: her first all day garage saling trip with the ladies!

She had a great time even though we didn't find too many treasures. 

*On a sad note, my aunt, Pat, died after a long battle with cancer that afternoon.  She was my dance teacher growing up and I have so many wonderful memories of her and the studio.  I am so thankful that Rylee was able to take lessons from her as well and now continues them with Pat's daughter, Jillian.*

Fri - I can't remember what all we did on Friday, but I know it involved lots of playing outside (almost every day does).  There's so much space to run around, the kids love making obstacle courses, having light saber battles with pool noodles or making up games (our favorite is a combo of field hockey/baseball/dodgeball).  Uncle Howard also came up that night so we had a nice visit over homemade margaritas!

Redneck Rylee is wearing footie pajamas in her cowboy boots 

(both garage sale finds from the day before!)

Sat - last round of planting on Agate Lake, the kids were great helpers again!  We finished right as another round of storms came through so it was a relaxing TV/ game night.

Sun - relaxing morning, quick run to Brd for some errands, the kids spent some time in little cabin 8 (or clubhouse #8 as they usually call it), and a campfire with s'mores  (ahhh!)

Gaga and Papa

We are very blessed to have my parents nearby for part of the year.  They step up and do all the afternoon pickups from school and babysitting (which was a lot since the kids were sick like a gazillion times this year).  It's so nice not to have to leave work early and burn all our vacation on the kid's sick time.  Thank you Mom and Dad!

They also did some overnight babysitting this year so Jon and I could go out late with friends and sleep in.  :)  Here are the cuties with their overnight bags on one such occasion.

Papa also represents the family at all of the little performances at Jace's school.  This one was something multicultural.  All I remember is Jace's class was representing Jamaica.  He's in the middle (with tan shorts).  They sang a Bob Marley song - it was so cute!  Thankfully Papa got it on video for us.

The kids also love going to the park with Gaga and Papa after school.  This was a new one that opened up.  They loved checking out all the new playthings.

As much as the kids see my Mom and Dad, Jon and I rarely get the chance.  Holidays and birthdays are the exception.  We spent a nice day together on Thanksgiving.  I didn't get many photos that day (I'm the worst at taking pictures lately), but I did snap this shot of Jace napping on the couch with his buddy Papa.  

Holiday Shows

This winter, Rylee and I took in several holiday shows.  First up was the Emmy Award winning Christmas Pageant.  (I don't know why this photo won't center).

I used to go to the Christmas Pageant every year, but since I've had the kids, I don't think I've been.  I was really excited to return and to share the experience with Rylee.  You can't take photos during the show, but here is Rylee patiently waiting for it to begin.  It was spectacular as always.  Rylee loved the live animals, the flying angels, and like me, cried during the crucifixion.  

We also went to The Nutcracker Ballet (a smaller high school/college production), but it was still really well done.  

Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year.  It was on a weekend so we went to Miller and Mason's for a party and then trick or treating with a group of kids from their neighborhood.

Snaggletooth (I mean Rylee) was Jasmine.  Jace was Bumblebee.  He's carrying a cool weapon here that he borrowed from Miller (handmade by Ryan if I remember correctly).

Adults were supposed to dress up as well.  

To Jon that meant adding a sombrero to his regular persona (Juan Cinco). 

I didn't try much harder.  I recycled my 

Pink Lady look from a couple of years ago.

Here's a group shot of all? (most of) the kiddos.  

They had a blast!  Jace probably the most - this was the first Halloween where he really got into Trick or Treating.  He LOVED going up to all the houses.  We went all over their neighborhood until it was way dark, way late, and the kids were way exhausted.  Rylee didn't even bother going up to the last several houses.  To Jace's credit, he was still going right up to the last house.  I should have dressed him as the Energizer Bunny!

Snow Day

Jace's school had a snow day the same day of the fun run, so Jon cleaned up and headed over there afterward.  For us Minnesotans it was a pathetic pile of snow, but to these Floridians (my kids are Floridians?!), it was awesome!

King of the hill!

Nothing like wearing snow gear in the 90 degree heat.

Cutie!

Snowball fight!

Cooling down with a different kind of snow.  :)

Rylee jumped in on the action after school.

Fun Run

Rylee ran her first race this fall.  It was a mile run to raise money for her school.  Jon ran with her, but I got to cheer her on with my second graders.  (Like how I made it sound like I couldn't run with her because I had to work, and not because I couldn't run around the block?)

She finished easily and had a fun time, though she expressed some interest 

in running the race by herself next year.  I think she felt that Jon held her back.  Lol!