First Day!

Last Tuesday, Ella and Sam had their first day of third and seventh grade.  It was a shock to all of our systems to be up that early.  Sam's bus picks him up at 6:35 and Ella's bus comes at 7:07.  That is about ten minutes earlier for Sam this year and ten minutes later for Ella.  Sam is riding a different bus this year which accounts for the time difference.  He used to go to another part of the neighborhood to catch the bus with friends but he decided this year he would just catch the bus at our street.  Ella's route and driver are exactly the same but  our district changed bus companies and they changed the times.  
After waking Sam and leaving to get myself ready (so I could take Ella to school) I realized I hadn't heard much noise.  I went to check on Sam and fifteen minutes after I woke him he was still in bed.  He had fallen back asleep.  He rushed to get ready though and we still had time for a few pictures before he headed to his stop.  He would have had even more time if we had known his bus had been hit by a tree and would be at least fifteen minutes late.  He made it to school though and said his first day went well.  He likes his teachers, which is a huge plus and is okay with his schedule.  That is about all we can ask for from a boy who is still complaining about going to school a week later. 
Ella was excited for her first day.  She was ready early and eager to get to school.  We had to wait outside the door in the morning for it to open.  When she got off the bus that afternoon I asked her if she had a good day.  She said, "No mom, (pause)  I had a great day!"  She is still loving it a week later but not getting up as enthusiastically as day one.
  

New backpacks for the new school year. 

Can't believe he is in seventh grade! 

Ready for a great first day! 

Ella and her friend Amelie waiting to go into the building. 

Schedule Pick Up & Meet the Teacher

Ella and Sam's back to school nights fell on the same night this year.  We headed to Sam's first since it started an hour earlier.  There was already a line across the parking lot when we arrived for the kids to get their schedules.  We were able to turn in forms, pick up his schedule, take his school picture, find his locker and classrooms and meet a few of his teachers.  Sam seemed to be pleased with the teachers he had and enjoyed meeting them.  While he is not excited to go back to school he liked his schedule and seemed more at ease after finding everything.
Next, we headed to Ella's meet the teacher.  She has a brand new teacher this year and she was her first choice so she was very excited.  Her classroom looks great!  We were able to visit with Mrs. Kobermann, unload school supplies and find Ella's cubby and book tub.  She was also excited to find out that she is sitting right across from her good friend Amelie.  
After meeting Ella's teacher we headed to the cafeteria.  I helped out at some of the PTA tables so other moms could visit their children's teachers.  Ella ran around with her friends and Sam helped by giving tours to families that were new to the school.  Ella is really excited to start the year and I think Sam is comfortable with beginning again even if he will miss summer.  

Taking photos in the school is "not cool" but I was able to sneak one in the parking lot.  

Ella next to her s'more! 

Finding her spot

Ella with Mrs. Kobermann

Last Days of Summer

The kids enjoyed some time with friends for the last few days of the summer.  We had Ella's  friend Addison over for a playdate and the kids decided they wanted Shakespeare's for one of their last meals before packed lunches.  Then we headed to the park and enjoyed some time outside.   The next day Ella went with Addison to the pool and to see Shrek the Musical at a local theater.  Sam also spent the weekend hanging out with friends at a party at Jacob's house.  It was a nice way to have some fun before the start of school.  

He has officially graduated to two slices! 

Much better than the cafeteria food next week. 

Ella the climber! 

Ready to watch Shrek! 

The boys enjoying some chocolate fondue! 

Siegel Time

Scott came over on Friday night two weeks ago to spend some time with us.  We had fun hanging out with him on Friday night.  We watched some Royals, he played quite a few games of horse with Sam, ate some Shakespeare's pizza and visited.  Saturday he and John went out in the morning to play twenty seven holes of golf.  
Brian, Lauren and Savannah came up on Saturday and Brian joined the boys for golf after their first nine holes.  The rest of us got to hang out with Lauren and Savannah.  We all loved having them here and the kids made it their mission to keep Savannah entertained.  They kept offering her toys, talking to her and doing things to get her attention.  She had a few spells where she wasn't too sure about me holding her but by the end she let me hold her for a while and even give her a bottle.  The kids got a chance to hold her too.  They went home shortly after golf and Scott stayed and hung out with us for another night.  It was so nice to catch up with everyone and have some time together.  

Ella went and found a headband that matched Savannah's! 

Sweet Sixteen

Since we were out of town on our actual anniversary we celebrated it a week later.  The kids were still in St. Louis with AC and Grandma so we took advantage of the time alone.  We went to Murry's for dinner and felt no rush to eat quickly or get home to the kids.  We were also able to sleep in the next morning and get in a good workout all before they returned from St. Louis.  It was nice to have time for just the two of us!  Happy sweet sixteen.  

Run, Jump, Crawl and Have a Ball!

The next morning in St. Louis we went to The City Museum.  It is an old warehouse in St. Louis where they have repurposed things from old buildings to make essentially a four story playground.  There are caves, tunnels, slides and more to climb on and through.  The tricky part for parents or grandparents is once your kids enter a tunnel many times you are not sure where they will come out in the end.  
We started our day on the roof of the building. The roof had many large slides, a school bus that hangs over the side of the building and a ferris wheel.  Ella and Aiden loved the slides and went down them many times.  Emma and Sam decided they wanted to ride the ferris wheel.  They had a fun time on the roof and then we headed downstairs to see what was on the first four floors.  Each kid had things that they liked the best but they all had fun exploring.  
When it was late afternoon I headed back to Columbia.  The kids, AC and my mom went to drive by the arch to get a closer look.  It is under renovations right now so they decided not to go up in it this trip.  They then went back to the hotel for some swimming and card games to end the busy day. 

Ella coming down the large slide.

Aiden's turn

Sam and Emma exploring the caves.

Ella loved running up these walls American Ninja Warrior style.

Drawing on the chalkboard

Grandma spinning in the chairs that all the kids loved!

The Zoo Crew

AC and Grandma planned a trip to take Emma, Sam, Ella and Aiden to St. Louis for three days.  I went with them for the first day and a half.  We left early Thursday morning and headed to the St. Louis Zoo.  We started the day with the Asian animals.  We really enjoyed the elephants.  There were a few reaching to get food in different places that were fun to watch.  There was a baby elephant that Ella really loved.  She could have stayed much longer and watched him but the group was already moving on to the next animal.  Our next stop was the children's zoo.  Emma, Aiden and Ella got to feed and pet the goats which they enjoyed.
Next, it was time to board the train.  It was a bit of a wait but the zoo has a good train with tunnels that the kids enjoyed.  After stopping for lunch and some rides on the carousel Mom, Ella and I went to see the penguins and polar bears while everyone else went to wait in line to pet the sting rays.  The penguin house was fun as always.  We enjoyed watching them swim and pop out of the water.  There was one penguin that kept doing this yelling call that was interesting to hear.  The polar bear was kind of hard to see but it was neat when he would get in the water right by the kids that were watching.  Another fun animal for the kids was the sea lion.  You walk right underneath the sea lions tank and can watch them swim above you.  They have them trained so you can throw a glove and they will follow it.  Sam, Ella and Aiden all got a chance to throw the glove and watch the sea lion swim.  
We got to see quite a few animals but it was a fairly warm day so by the time we made it over to the big cats they were all hiding in their habitat to nap and get out of the sunshine.  After seeing the giraffes and zebras , my mom, Emma, Sam and Ella went inside a 4D movie which Sam says was awesome!  It was his favorite part of the day.    Then after a tour of the insect and butterfly house we headed for the exit as the zoo was near closing time.  We finished the day with some swimming in the hotel pool and AC and Grandma brought us dinner.  The kids had a fun day but were definitely wiped out at the end, not as wiped out as the three adults were though! 

The baby elephant

All smiles riding the train. 

Ella chose to ride on the baby elephant! 

Watching the penguins swim.

The sea lion chasing the glove. 

Cousin Time

Since our last trip to Springfield had been so short we decided to head down on Friday of John's vacation to spend some more time together.  We knew Hannah would be leaving for school soon and Sarah and Caleb would be getting busy with sports so it was a good time for a visit.  We went down on Friday morning.  Ella and I dropped John and Sam off at Highland to play a round of golf and headed to one of our favorite Springfield locations, Lucy's.  Springfield style cashew chicken is so delicious and there is no where in Columbia that does it right.  
It was a really hot day and Sam decided nine holes was all he could take so we went and picked him up and the kids and I got to have some time hanging out with Sarah and Caleb.  That evening Sarah, Dana and Hannah played in a mother daughter softball game with Sarah's team.  Sam and Caleb got in on the action too as pinch runners in the heat.  Dana and Sarah stayed for a potluck dinner after the game while we took everyone else to Newks for dinner.  We had a fun time watching the kids dancing in the parking lot while they were waiting for John, Ella and me to arrive.  
Saturday we decided to all head down to White Water.  It was hot and crowded but we still had a good time.  We spent a lot of the day in the lazy river, I am not sure how many times we went around but the water felt good and you never have to wait in line to get into it.  After a full day of water rides we headed back to the Lowe's for a delicious steak dinner.  We hung around Sunday morning and had lunch together before heading back home.  It was nice to have time to catch up with everyone before schedules get busy this fall.  

Love watching these kids whip and nae nae without a care! 

Definitely a crowded day at White Water but they have found a spot together. 

Swinging Easy & It's Definitely Not Easy Mac

After our early morning fishing in The Dells we took a nap or rested at the hotel before heading out for our last evening.  We had seen a review on Trip Advisor for MAC's, a place that makes all different kinds of homemade macaroni and cheese.  The kids and I had been looking forward to going there the whole trip and it did not disappoint.  Ella and Sam had the traditional mac and cheese and John and I tried the loaded baked potato.  It was delicious but way too much food.  It was so filling! 
With our stomachs stuffed, John decided a walk would be a good activity to do next.  There was a little river walk close to the restaurant so we headed over there to walk off dinner.  The views of the river were pretty and we were entertained watching a water skier make his/her way down the river.  
After our walk we headed to play miniature golf.  The place we went had five courses and we decided to play one with a medium level of difficulty.  The course was well maintained and had fun things to read and pretty landscaping throughout.  I would say it was the perfect amount of challenge for us.  We laughed, teased and had a good time with John coming out as the overall winner which surprised no one. It was a great end to a fun vacation.  

Being silly pirates

Golfing buddies

Enjoying our time with each other and our kids 

Hamming it up for the camera

The amazing loaded baked potato mac

Caught on Fishing!

The last day of vacation started with an early morning to head out fishing.  We met a guide at the Wisconsin River and set out on his boat to catch some fish.  We were hoping to catch some walleye and crappie but had to settle for what we could find.  The kids had fun at our first stop reeling in some large sturgeon. Sam caught the biggest fish and had to be coached by John the whole time to get him reeled in and inside the boat.  We also caught a catfish and a few suckers.  
Then we headed off for a quick tour of the dam and to look for some crappie.  We never did find any crappie but the kids really enjoyed the boat ride down the river and I enjoyed seeing the cliffs along the side of the river which were beautiful.  We then took a tour of some of the other pretty features on the river and stopped at a spot to look for some smallmouth for John while the kids fished for whatever they could find.  Sam ended up catching one of John's smallmouth and they caught a few more fish but it was getting slow as we approached lunch so we called it a morning.  
While John was a little disappointed in what we were able to find I think the kids both really had a good time.  After our trip they were busy trying to talk John into getting a boat for us to go out and Ella hit him up the next day for a fishing pole of her own.  No boat yet but Ella did get the fishing pole.  

The river was beautiful. 

Sam was so proud of his sturgeon but wanted no part in holding it.  

Get Set to Get Wet

We stayed at a Hilton Garden Inn while in the Dells.  One of the things that I really like about them is the made to order breakfast.  We all rolled out of bed Monday morning and downstairs to a delicious meal.  Each of us had plates full of food and were ready to tackle the water park. 
Once we waited out a quick storm and pulled John away from the British Open finals on tv (I know he would have rather stayed and watched the end) we headed to Noah's Ark.  Noah's Ark boasts that it is the largest water park in the US.  I would find that hard to argue with since we spent about six and a half hours at the park and did not have time to ride everything.  Everyone in our family loves water parks so it was a perfect thing to make everyone happy.    
We each found rides and activities that were our favorites and wished we could bring back to some water parks a little closer to home.  Ella's favorite were some regular shaped slides that you would go down then fall about five feet into an 11 foot pool.  I can not begin to count how many times she went down those slides.  John and Sam's favorite was called Time Warp.  It was a four person tube that went into a dark tunnel and spun you around in circles.  My favorite was called Black Thunder.  It was a two person slide that went in a dark tunnel and the part I like best was that it went really quickly and had a few bumps that would lift you up into the air.  We all agreed it was a really fun time and stayed until the park closed.  The sun and swimming though wiped us out so we had some fast food and a relaxing evening in our hotel to end the day. 

Relaxing after riding the waves! 

Sam poses while coming down the slide into the lazy river. 

Another fun pose! 

Doing the Dells

After church and breakfast in Madison we headed towards the Dells.  It was a really pretty drive.  We stopped for a quick lunch at Culvers, which started in Wisconsin, because we knew it would be better than the food at the theme park.  Then, we headed to Mt. Olympus.  Mt. Olympus is a water and theme park but since we knew we would be hitting up another water park we decided to focus on the roller coasters.  
We all started out with Pegasus.  It didn't do much but definitely jerked you around a lot so that got Ella uninterested in riding anything any bigger.  So the boys headed off for a bigger coaster and I took Ella over to the kid rides.  Then the boys were ready to conquer Hades.  Hades is the big coaster at the park.  It reaches speeds of seventy miles per hour and goes through a completely dark tunnel under the parks parking lot to come out on the other side.  Ella rode the kids roller coaster many times and the boys had a great time on Hades.  Next it was my turn to ride a bigger coaster with Sam while John and Ella went back to Pegasus.  We were through with the heat and lines after that and decided to go check out our hotel.  
Our hotel was nice.  I took Ella for a swim at the hotel pool while the boys relaxed,

then we headed to drive around the town and eat at Moosejaw Pizza.  The pizza was good and the atmosphere of the restaurant was a lot of fun.  It was a great first day in The Dells.  

Ella enjoying the kid coaster.

Sam and John waiting for the Pegasus.

Ella with her moose antlers.

We loved the Moosejaw delivery cars.

Sam and I ready to ride Zeus.