Retirement Party

My Uncle had a retirement party last weekend so we all joined him to celebrate. Paige and Owen were the only kids there and we weren't sure how long they would last thrust into a situation where they were with family but also surrounded by strangers. They were a little shy at first but Owen especially was extremely personable and probably talked to more people than Pat and I did. It was awesome to see! We took a bunch of pictures probably within a 5 minute time-span, but didn't even get any of the man of honor!

Paige's First Day!

Paige started kindergarten!!! After two years of preschool she was totally ready for full-day school. She handled the whole process like a pro and I felt totally confident and comfortable leaving her with her teacher. Well, I panicked a little when Pat and I went somewhere an hour after dropping her off and I didn't have my phone, but it was unnecessary:) She's going to have an awesome year!

Soccer!

It's outdoor soccer season again! Yay!! Owen does some amazing things on the field but I'm terrible at getting action shots. They played really well and won their first game! Great start to the season!

Gathering before the game

Game time!

Half-time

Paige kept eyeing the snacks for the players so we made a deal that if she ran five laps around the field she could have hers early. She did it!

My Birthday

Ah, my birthday. I'm always running into conflicts for my birthday because of school. This year it was on the second day of school and also coincided with Curriculum Night. I spent my day with Paige doing errands and then had a quick dinner with the kids. A friend surprised me with a giant cupcake (see below) so I stuck a candle in it, told Owen to take a picture and had the kids sing me happy birthday:) Then we shared it with some ice cream, so yummy!! We got to spend about 15 minutes with Pat before we had to leave for Curriculum Night at Owen's school. Pat gifted me some nice colored pencils and a coloring book that I've been enjoying too!

Owen's First Day!

Owen wasn't super excited to go back to school this year, probably because we had such an awesome summer, so I had know idea how he would feel after the first day. I kept hearing his teacher was fantastic but we didn't have any personal experience with her and Owen's class was missing a few of his key friends. Well, he walked out at the end of the day bubbling over with excitement about all of the things his teacher has planned for the year! We got a chance to meet her the next day and I can see why Owen likes her so much, he's going to have a great year!

Back to School Feast!

Paige starts school a week after Owen but we decided to have our Back to School Feast the night before Owen started. We kept the dinner menu the same (Oven-fried Ravioli) but had a new dessert, Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Swirl Brownies, and they were delicious!

Ready to eat!

Owen reading his card about starting 3rd grade

Paige needed a little help reading her kindergarten card! I wonder if she'll still need help next year?!

Making a wish for the school year! 

School Visit

I'm super behind on my posts! Owen has already been in school for a week but these are pictures of the day we got to drop off supplies and visit the kid's classrooms!

At the Fair!

We almost didn't make it to the fair this year but then some friends gave us some free tickets so we figured we might as well go even if we only ended up staying for a little bit. I'm so glad we went, there's always more to do there than the rides and junk food, which is what I still think of when I think of the fair. We ended up staying two hours before we decided to go cool off at the pool before it closed for the summer.

First stop-watching people carve amazing things with chainsaws!

Over to the prize-winning zinnias and dahlias! I'm not usually too impressed with flowers  but these were awesome!

Then we went to the bee-keeping barn...it smelled like honey!

Let's pet a snake!

Paige was super excited about all the animals!

Then she milked the fake cow. 

Ha ha! There were a ton of cutouts like this to pose with.

Paige ran into one of her close friends who happened to be showing her bunny! Washington even won some awards!

Meet the Author!

We've known all summer that one of our favorite authors, Kate DiCamillo, would be coming to town at the end of the summer but it seemed so far away for so long. It kept inching closer and closer and finally the day arrived and in my preparations I found out that 700 people had RSVPed for the event. 700! That was almost enough to scare me away but luckily I persevered because the number of attendees was closer to 450 and the actual situation was much less daunting than it originally seemed. I knew the day would involve lots of fun but also lots of waiting around and had to just cross my fingers that the kids were up for it. They were awesome!
Our night started with a quick picnic outside the library followed by the unveiling of an outdoor mural. Kate DiCamillo did a quick speech, amongst other important library people, and then everyone was invited to have some ice cream! We had a very brief personal interaction with Kate DiCamillo when she walked by us and we exchanged quick hellos. After that we headed inside to wait in line to enter the auditorium where once inside we waited another hour for the talk to start! At this point Pat was able to join us and we all got to see her speak together. We had amazing seats and the talk was amazing/inspiring/informative. Then we waited in another long line for the chance to get her autograph and say hi. Such an awesome night!

The kids are posing in front of the new mural. If you look closely you can see their blue mouths from the blue-raspberry ice cream they had just eaten!

Kate DiCamillo did a short speech and then they turned on the lights and she walked around answering questions for the rest of the time. 

What to do while waiting to meet one of your favorite authors? Read her books, of course!

Yay! It's Kate DiCamillo!

So many books!

Art Museum!

We left the Botanical Gardens a little early so we would have time to see a new sculpture (is that the right word) outside of the art museum and then headed inside when we remembered they were having a Family Day inside. They were just about cleaning up the activities by the time we got in so we were only able to do a couple things but at least we weren't jostling for space with other families! Afterwards we spent some time in the kid's area before heading home

New sculpture! It's a curved C shape so when you stand on the other side your reflection is upside-down!

Pat and Owen played with the robotic art makers. You can't tell by the picture but they're moving on their own!

Paige got in on the action too!

Balancing mobile shapes in the kid's section

The kids made a massive house with the magnetic shapes

Tree(houses)

We finally got to the Botanical Gardens! I had heard they had a treehouse exhibit and I wanted to make sure we visited before it was over. They had activities that were fun for both big and little kids like tree climbing, playing in sand and just generally running everywhere. They had 5 interactive treehouses to find and we got to four of them before we decided to move on. Owen's favorite part (and maybe Pat's too?) had to have been the tree climbing. Pat got in on it too but we couldn't convince Paige to try it.

This was not Owen's favorite rope

This was!

In the trees!

Pat had fun too!

Paige played in the sand!

Owen stopped here to pose like George Washington crossing the Delaware

This double swing was hanging from the bottom of one of the treehouses

I'm in a picture too!

This treehouse was only big enough/sturdy enough for two people at a time!