September/October

After the carefree days of summer, the start of school arrived like a kick in the rear!  But Charlie was happy to be back at St. Francis as a "firstie" (apparently a well-known nickname for 1st graders).

We still clung to as many summer days as possible - trying to sneak as much outdoor eating as possible.

Lucy's face upon realizing that our days at the swimming pool were numbered.  I hear you sister!

Lucy's Pre-K visit day- she was thrilled to finally join Charlie at "his" school, even if it's only for a few afternoons a week.

Her first official day of Pre-K!  She's doing well but has two complaints (pretty typical for her): first, the teacher gets to do most of the talking and second, "they" haven't even taught her to read yet.

Four-year old check-up and eye exam - she's still on the petite side but what she lacks in height she more than makes up for in spirit.

Charlie started flag football - he's the one waving in the picture.  Despite the watchful eye of Coach Daddy, Charlie waved or came over to me after almost every play.

We cheered on the Hawks at the beginning of the season but that became too depressing.

Explored some new parks.

Visited an apple orchard with Grandma, Mike, Molly, Emma, Claire and Hannah.

The whole crew taking off in the hay wagon ride.

Apple-picking was a success!

No trip to Coral Ridge could be complete without a ride on the carousel.

Charlie celebrated Grandparent's Day at his school with a visit from Grandma/Grandpa and Nana/Papa - next year we need to figure out how to get Grandma & Nana in the picture!!

Getting some Grandma/Grandpa time.

Lucy and I joined a friend and her daughter for a Disney princess lunch in Des Moines and it was awesome!  Lucy is convinced that we went to Disney!

Anxiously waiting to enter the lunch...

Priceless reaction as the Disney princesses were introduced.

Meanwhile, Charlie continues to work on his Lego creations.  We had one minor incident that involved Charlie swallowing a Lego.  He is/was fine but  I need to rethink some of my warnings because I apparently I previously cautioned that he would die if he swallowed a Lego.  So when he came to me tears streaming down in his face in sheer panic that he was going to die, it took me a few minutes to realize that his concerns were based on the fact that he swallowed a teeny tiny Lego.  It took a good 10 minutes of convincing him that he wouldn't die.  And now, days later, Lucy still asks if the Lego "came out" as Charlie exits the bathroom.

The Raiders team practicing their "dab" poses...oh my!

Flag football season ended with a pizza party in the park.  Win or lose, there isn't much that Gatorade, pizza and some chips can't solve for 1st grade boys!

Somehow my teeny tiny niece Emma turned 17.  I'm in denial at the fact that she is looking at colleges.

Proudly displaying our carved pumpkins - let the record show that they were of little help during the actual carving process.

Finally, our Batman and Blue Owl had a great time trick-or-treating.

And we'd like to think that our Cubs player brought some good karma for the Cubs to win the World Series later that week!

 Full steam ahead to the holidays!

July/August

July and August, you came and went too quickly but you were good to us!

After brunch one morning in downtown Des Moines, the kids wanted to check out the sculpture park. I commented how impressed I was by the number of people roaming the park that morning, but Charlie corrected me that the people were there playing Pokemon Go.  And he was right!  Faith in humanity not restored :(.

Lucy took full advantage of the summer PJ day at daycare.  She is little but she is fierce!

We enjoyed a nearly-empty Science Center one late Sunday afternoon.  Charlie's perfected creating a giant bubble.

And at least on this Sunday, we provided a helpful smile in every aisle in the pretend grocery store.

I was glad to see that Charlie acquired some of my OCD tendencies as he refused to live the mural until all of the animals were organized.  Now if only he felt that way about his Legos...

We took a family vacation with my sister and her family to the beach near Beaufort, South Carolina.  We had a great view and awesome access to the ocean from the house that we rented.

We thought we found a deceased turtle on the shore, only to find out that it was a deceased (giant) crab.  Total confirmation that I'm not a fan of seafood.

The crew after dinner one night - we are really lucky to have such great cousins on both sides of our families.

The majority of our trip was spent in swimming suits but we captured one family photo!

The twins in their gray "golf" shirts, gray shorts and sunglasses.  Apple fell right by the tree for this one.

Lucy held her own most days but being a beach bum can wear on a girl.  She spent this particular dinner sleeping on BJ's shoulder.

A post-dinner stroll in the low-tide...the accompanying mud seemed to be the biggest hit of the vacation.

Cousin love.

We discovered that Beaufort, SC is home to the largest kazoo manufacturer in the US so we felt like a tour was only appropriate.  I'm fairly certain the kids thought that we were joking until we parked in front of the building.

After watching a short video on the history of the kazoo (complete with finger puppets to portray historical figures), and completing a brief walking tour of the manufacturing area, we were able to make our own kazoos.  It's a shame that I haven't been able to find said kazoos since we arrived home...

The rest of the vacation was appropriately spent in the ocean or in a nearby pool

On August 16th, Lucy Jane turned 4.  She picked out a special pink dress for the day and was happy to have a gigantic chocolate chip muffin waiting for her at breakfast.

I've decided that I can handle Chuck E. Cheese 1-2 times a year because the commercials seem to taunt the kids.  The kids had a blast and my antibacterial gel received a workout that night.

Charlie decided that he should get dressed up to present Lucy with her birthday presents.  Never a dull moment with that boy.

Thrilled with her new Batman backpack.

And matching Batman watch.

And really happy with her new dollhouse!

We were back in Cascade the weekend after Lucy's birthday to have a joint birthday celebration with my nieces Hannah and Jacey and we lucked out to learn that it was going to be the first annual Hometown Days in Cascade.  Grandpa Bill entered us in the town parade and, on really short notice, we decided that the theme would be some old school Cascade High School attire.  This is when it pays off for Grandma Kathy to have kept so much "memorabilia" :).  Between the theme of CHS playing up to the parade crowd and the general cuteness of the grandkids, we won 2nd place!

The birthday girls - Jacey, Lucy and Hannah.

Thrilled with the Frozen snow globe that she requested from Grandma Kathy.  Apparently Emma (in the background) was excited too.

Happy to open some dollhouse accessories - gotta love gift coordination.

Grandma and Grandpa with the birthday girls.

The birthday girl with her godfathers.

Then we headed to Nana Jan and Papa Steve's house for round 3 of birthday festivities with the Supple crew.

How many birthday cakes/cupcakes can one girl take?  A lot, and happy to do so.

Enjoying some great gifts, particularly the new books.

We ended the fun weekend by spending some time at the River Museum with the Supple crew.

At the end of the July/August festivities, we were happy, tan and tired.  See below!