Back to School Dinner!

Now that both kids officially started their school years and we managed to get Pat home at a decent time, we were able to have our Back to School Feast! We had our crunchy oven-fried ravioli and some veggies and followed it up with cupcakes. Then we presented the kids with their cards telling them how proud and excited we are for the upcoming school year. Their favorite part (besides the cupcakes of course) was getting to blow out the candles and make a wish for the coming year. Owen said his wish for the school year had already come true-homework on the computer:)

Everyone was hungry but they indulged me and stopped to take this picture:)

Cards! The sticker in the middle says "Ready for School"

Cupcakes! (These were cupcakes that had been frozen so I thawed them in the fridge and then stuck them in the oven with a marshmallow on top. They were a little messy/sticky to eat but tasted great!

Getting ready to make a wish!

Pre-K!

Paige started preschool on Monday! She has the same teacher in the same room as last year so there wasn't much apprehension to start the year (not that there was any last year either...). One big change is that she's now going 4 days a week so we'll see if that starts wearing her out anytime soon. She has a few good friends in her class and has already colored 5 or 6 pictures:)  I can tell it's going to be a good year!

We were able to visit the classroom before the actual first day and check out Paige's locker!

Paige and her friend Reed looking snazzy in their first day outfits.

Feast!

We go to the Feast every year...or so I thought! No photographic evidence exists from last year so I'm extra glad we ended up going this year. After all, that Italia shirt probably isn't going to fit next August. After we went to the Botanical Gardens (see previous post), Paige did a quick costume change and we walked over to Little Italy for a bite to eat. We split some stromboli and cavatelli with meatballs and each got our own gelato (vanilla, chocolate, tiramisu and raspberry). The kids got to go on some rides and I'd say the highlight of the visit was when we all rode the Scrambler. I'm pretty sure it's impossible to ride the scrambler without laughing like crazy (unless you're one of those people that throw up instead). We needed some motivation for the walk back to the car so we picked up some kettle corn on the way out too!

Botanical Gardens

The last time we went to the Botanical Gardens Owen was very sick so I kept my expectations for this visit pretty low. Luckily, no one got sick this time! The special exhibit was Lego sculptures which, sadly, failed to really impress us. I think seeing the Legos at the Science Center ruined us because they were extra amazing.  It was fine though, because the day was beautiful and we spent a lot of time wandering the gardens (especially the children's garden). Paige spent a significant amount of time climbing a wall of rocks and Owen spent some time trying to catch frogs in the pond. 

Group picture inside!

Lego Lawnmower or, alternately titled Pat Mows the Smallest Lawn Ever

Paige conquers the rock wall

Second Grade!

Today was Owen's first day of second grade! He's been telling everyone who asked that he IS NOT excited about going back but I know for sure that he had a great day today. He has some friends in his class and was able to meet up with people at recess. And good news-second graders still get a snack! Yay!

Recipes!

There are no clear winners in this recent round of recipes. I liked all of them but I couldn't get anyone to enjoy the zucchini/tomato concoction. The baked cabbage and cheese sauce was a much bigger hit than I imagined it would be though! The pulled pork was a crockpot recipe and it was really good but as with most crockpot recipes, it just made too much and I was sick of eating it long before it was finished.

Baked Cabbage with Cheese Sauce- It's a struggle to find cabbage recipes my family will eat so I'm willing to try anything. This ended up being good and everyone was ok with it the first night but didn't want any leftovers. Good thing I had cut the recipe in half!

Pasta with Zucchini and Tomatoes-This was a good alternative to the pasta sauce we normally use but I couldn't convince anyone to eat it because they think they don't like zucchini and are totally against tomato chunks (...even though Paige and Owen happily eat tomato sandwiches. This makes no sense.) I ate the leftovers with scrambled eggs, yum! I don't remember this recipe calling for corn as it so clearly states in the link but I didn't use any and I substituted oregano for the tarragon.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork- we got this hunk of meat from the CSA and I had no idea what to do with it. I needed something easy and that's how I came across this recipe. I had to mess with the seasoning a bit because I had garlic salt and not garlic powder but I just used it and eliminated the extra salt in the recipe. I also threw some plain cabbage on top to add some crunch!

Just Beachy!

It's been a long time since we visited the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center so I was excited to take the kids again and visit the new planetarium show. The show kept the kids attention but it dealt with some pretty heavy topics (e.g. bullying, death). We had a picnic lunch afterwards with some friends we were meeting there and took the kids on a walk along the river where they spent a very long time throwing rocks into the river and stirring up the dirt. The kids spotted a map and realized we were super close to the beach so we took them over even though we were ill-prepared for water activities. They had a blast getting their clothes soaked and we even ran into some more friends while we were there.

Family

I didn't point this out in the post about the family reunion but Pat's brother and sister were home on leave from the Navy and Army. Jeff came all the way from Spain and Lauren just graduated from her training in Texas. We had fun spending time with them at the reunion and then we were able to meet up for dinner one more time before they had to leave again. We tried to get our waitress to take a picture of all of us but she was having technical difficulties so I took one outside that ended up turning out pretty good.

Dance Camp

Paige's dance class has been on hiatus since summer started but she did go to a couple mini dance camps. I let Paige choose which two she wanted to attend and she picked the Frozen and Tangled weeks. They would sing and dance to the songs from the movies and make a craft. There were probably more activities but Paige wasn't very forthcoming with the information. I do know that she had a wonderful time and she's looking forward to dance class starting up again!

Olaf craft from the Frozen camp

Ready for Tangled dance camp!

Paige and Reed 

Reunion!

We traveled to Indiana over the weekend for a reunion with Pat's Dad's side of the family. There were around 34 of us gathered together and I didn't quite know what to expect but all of the time was easily filled and it even felt a little too short! We traveled up late Friday night, had a family breakfast at a park, followed by a friendly game of kickball. Then we stopped at the cemetery to visit Pat's grandparents and had about a half hour back at the hotel before everyone met back up at a different park. The kids went on about a million carousel rides (Pat and I did maybe 5 or 6), a mini train ride, played a lot of Tag and we all had a friendly putt-putt tournament. We stopped to get some frozen custard at a spot that is special to the family before we crashed back at the hotel late that night. 

The winning kickball team!

We had to stop at Walmart to get some water and this subway guy asked the kids if they wanted a picture. Of course! Paige was a little miffed that he didn't give her a coupon though.

Carousel Ride!

This carousel is extra fun because as you go around you reach out for rings that are ready in a chute. If you get the brass ring you earn a free ride. 

Also, train rides were outside.

Chocola was apparently the drink at past reunions but had disappeared for awhile. It was found in time for this year and there were a lot of excited people!

Cousins!

A couple more pictures before we got in the car.

This, of course.

Banana Pops!

We very often end up with extra bananas that won't get eaten before they get too ripe. I usually freeze them but we don't actually make smoothies very often so I needed something else to do with them (besides banana bread). I had the kids peel them, cut them in half and put the popsicle sticks in. We froze them and then I covered them in chocolate the next day. After the chocolate hardened I wrapped them individually in foil. Good to remember-I took the whole tray out and as the bananas started defrosting the water would get into the chocolate and make it harder to spread the chocolate. Next time I'll take them out one at a time!