Hockey

Ellie and Zach went to their first hockey game this weekend.  They had a blast. 

I was surprised that Ellie loved the fights as much as we do. 

1 week

7 days into the new routine and we're all surviving.

A little more vacation

Since we were at Great Wolf Lodge for Sams actual birthday, we wanted to make sure we did something fun on Zachs birthday.  We headed up to Marblehead for rock climbing which is always a favorite. 

After, we headed to the animal safari to feed the giraffes... and a few other animals too.

Zach was in heaven.  He fed a few and got up close to all of them.  Jon didn't get slobbered on this time so he was just as happy as Zach.

We headed home for cookies and presents and an early bed time.

Vacation cont.

We left family and headed to Great Wolf Lodge to officially celebrate 2 birthdays. 

We got a cabin with bunk beds and the kids thought they were the coolest things ever!

Zach can now swim underwater and Ellie has finally let go of her nose when she swims underwater.  They all loved the water slides and thought it was one of the coolest places they've ever been.

Sam turned 9 and Zach is now 6.  I've been looking at baby pictures of the boys recently and I can't believe how fast the past few years have gone.  Fortunately they both love their mom and are willing to continue to snuggle, give hugs and kisses and hold hands.  That makes them getting older somewhat bearable!

More vacation

We spent a few days seeing the Charlotte sights, hanging out with a couple of crazy boys and enjoying some down time.

Zachary lost his first tooth while we were gone.  Its been trying to come out for 2 weeks.  He was so relieved.

We also celebrated birthdays with really good cake and presents.

Vacation

It felt like vacation took for ever to get here this year.  Jon and the boys started with a camping trip.  This was Zachs first time being able to go and he loved every minute. Ellie and I spent a lot of time with Corrie.  We also squeezed in some shopping and movie nights. 

We headed to Charlotte to see some family a couple days later.  It was a long drive, but the kids held up pretty well. 

We spent a day at the Discovery Place.  The kids could have easily stayed several more hrs.

Ellie loved the aquarium and jelly fish.  Sam loved doing some science experiments.

They checked out all the attractions, saw a show, grabbed lunch and wore themselves out!

Zach

Resting up for a big day of building Lego bridges.

Date night

Daddy/daughter dinner at Red Lobster!

T-15 days!

Changes are coming!

More soccer

He scored 3 goals last week.  He LOVES soccer!

Lego Robotics

Ellie is slowly warming up to her Lego class.  Zach thinks its awesome!

Science

We made some elephant toothpaste this weekend.  Each kid got to pick a color and took a turn dumping in ingredients.  It was no Mythbusters, but they had fun doing it.

Tickles

You don't even have to touch him!

Co-op

We joined a co-op this year and yesterday was their first day.  They were all excited to get book bags and have been counting down the days until "school."  They're all taking Lego Robotics and a STEM class.  The rest of the day is filled with instruments, math, science, choir, cartooning, crafts and body systems.  They all seemed to have a fun day. They switch classes like you would in middle and high school so I think they felt like big kids doing that.  I think it will be good for them to be exposed to such a large group of home schooled kids at one time.  The classes have a wide age and are really laid back.  They are also taught by volunteers with a passion for each subject.  Its like the very best of a "real" school, but even better!

1 more party

The kids chiropractor had a patient appreciation night over the weekend.  They had the usual stuff: bounce houses, face painting, ice cream etc.

I know its hard to tell, but they had a good time.

Zachs "tattoo."

Wordless Wednesday: Week 2

Parties

Our weekend was filled with birthday parties.  Ben went to a party Saturday night where he was 1 of 2 boys out of the 11 guests.  The other boy was the birthday girls cousin.  I didn't think I'd be dealing with this kind of thing with Ben.  Sam has always been the ladies man in our family!

Sign ups

The kids went to sign up for the yearly Rangers program last week.  They had bubbles, bounce houses, snow cones, balloons and face painting.

I think they had fun!

Soccer

Zach has been torn on what he wants to do this fall.  It came down to soccer and baseball.  I think he'd be great at baseball, but he decided on soccer.

They went through some basic skills then had a game.  He loved it! Of course, he did awesome!

The end, unofficially

Labor Day was the last day our pool was open so we made sure to get some swim time in while we could.

Of course, since it was the last day, Zach was finally ready to jump in, go under water and didn't want anyone to catch him.  

We went to a friends house for a cook out and ended the day with putt putt (where Jon cheated) and ice cream.  It was a great (unofficial) end of summer.

Just another day

Style

She's ready to fight crime and she looks good doing it!