Disney Dream 2011

finally got a slide show put together from our cruise in 2011. why did it take me so long? no idea!

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First day of school

 

I have been waiting for the first day of school post until Hannah started preschool.

 

Brooke started 3rd grade on August 15th. She's getting to the 'please quit taking pictures of everything' stage. Well, that is one battle she shan't be winning :)

 

 

 

 

"moooommmmmmm" 

 

This is the first time that I haven't walked her into her class, gotten a pic with the teacher, etc. My first-day picture mojo is all screwed up now. They lined up in the hallway and all went into the classroom together, so it just didn't work out. Here's Mrs. Kipp, her teacher. Notice how Brooke is the tallest one in the class. Still.

 

Today, the munchkin started Pre-Kindergarten. My last first day of preschool moment. As Matt and I drove away from the school I said, "Well! It's time for another baby!".

 

I'm not sure how much he agreed with that thought (and it's not gonna happen anyhow), but it was for sure a bittersweet moment.

 

I can tell you now, that taking this one to all-day kindergarten next year is going to TEAR ME UP.

 

With one of her three teachers, Mrs. Patti. Who is like, theeeee greatest preschool teacher in town.

 

And Mrs. Tara, another superfab teacher of hers.

 

These little girls have been BFF's since they were 2 and in Moms Day Out together. They are so precious together!

 

Another start to the school year in the books. Not in the scrapbooks. That would require me to sit down and scrap. Which hasn't happened for a long time. But maybe, just maybe, I'll get myself in gear one of these days and at least start working on some digital books.

 

Happy 3rd Grade and Pre-K year girls! The time has gone so fast!

Tanganikya Wildlife Park

Today we went to the Tanganikya Wildlife Park for the first time.

I'm not sure why we hadn't been there before (other than it's way far on the other side of town and it's pricey!), because it was awesome! Way more exciting than the Zoo I have to say.

But it was pricey. Grandma and Grandpa treated us by paying our admission (thank you).

It was overcast (though it didn't really rain) and it was COOL. Amazing for August in Kansas.

At the entrance is the nursery where there were several babies on display. That is always a favorite part for me at any zoo-type place I go.  Several babies from the big-cat family, a baby honey badger, and I can't remember what else.

Then we were onto these Monkeys. I could have packed a picnic and sat and watched the monkeys all day. I was particularly enchanted with this little guy, one of the babies in the monkey cage.

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On to the children's area, where we got to walk amongst and pet KANGAROOS....

BUNNIES.....

Tortoises, goats and guinea pigs (didn't get any pics of those)...

And then.... one of the many highlights...Remember when the Miniature Horses came to our house a few weeks ago? Ever since then, Hannah has been talking about riding a horse and being a horse girl when she grows up. Well, for $4 each, the girls got about a 3 minute horseback ride. Hannah was in heaven. Brooke wasn't going to do it, but we talked her into it.

They loved it! Then it was off to play at the playground for  a little while before continuing on our animal adventure. We saw Cheetahs (and saw them chase a ball), gorgeous Snow Leopoards (who were very interested in watching the cheetahs play), and some other (very vocal) monkeys to name a few.

Then it was into the bird area. I let Brooke get a cup of nectar ($1) and Hannah was mad that she didn't get one (I didn't have any tokens left). I think, considering how they swarmed Brooke, it was good that Hannah didn't have any! She might have freaked out! Look at her face in this picture, the one bird that is landing on Brooke's hand had just zoomed in right past Hannah.

They were pretty gorgeous birds!

As close as Hannah got....I don't think one landed on her the entire time....

But a few stopped by to visit Matt on our way out. They must have thought he was sweet or something, but they quickly changed their minds. Good thing, because I don't think Matt was loving that moment!

We had to stop by the bunnies and kangaroos again. Can you believe I actually forgot about the whole babies-in-a-pouch thing? Look at this one, you can see baby legs sticking out of the pouch. That was pretty cool.

Finally it was off to see the Lemurs before we left. They said that if you just sat on the rocks, they would come see you even if you didn't pay the $2/each to feed them (which the girls and I did anyways). They jumped all over us. It was so funny! Their feet were so soft and it felt so strange having them just all over you! We were all giggles.

Brooke is pointing at one that was on the hut or rock right above us that soon jumped down to our laps.

They told us that we couldn't pet them, just to let them explore on us. It was hard not to pet them, but they were pretty fast anyways.

I had a hard time snapping pics so I didn't get one of Matt. This is one that the photographer guy took, I snapped a pic from the screen at the display center. Matt informed me later that he would have to take a shower tonight simply because he had lemur butt on his head.

I cannot tell you how much this tickled!

Really such a fun outing. So glad we went and that the weather was cooperative!

Thanks again to Gma and Gpa for taking us!

Our 'not very busy' summer

I asked Brooke today if she has had a fun summer. Her response?

"Yeah, it's been fun. But it hasn't been really very busy...."

I told her summer was supposed to be lazy and she disagreed. And then tonight I went thru my pics on my iphone and I have proof that our summer has been busy for sure!

The proof:

Bike riding (and finally ditching the training wheels for Brooke).

Fishing....

Going to the park on several occasions.....

Lots and lots and lots of swimming.....

A trip to Kansas City.....

Sleepovers with friends and lemonade stands....

Several bowling outings with friends and a week of VBS....

A weekend visit from Papa Terry and Grandma Diane....

Let's not forget kicking the summer off with a great four days at church camp...!

I don't know what she's looking for in summer entertainment, but I think ours has been pretty full! She doesn't think we've done much around the house...like 'project' stuff...well...we've been busy doing all this other stuff. Plus it has been a gazillion degrees so we haven't gotten to do a lot of things outside. One more reason to look forward to fall! I think she forgets that there are things that have to get DONE at home too...like laundry, cakes, cleaning.

So. Don't listen to Brooke. We've had a great summer! Gonna squeeze as much goodness out of the next two weeks as we can too!

Things I said this week

I have had a lot of moments this week where I stopped and thought, "I'm getting old" or "I'm channeling my {mother} {grandmother} {grandpa}"  or "I've lost my mind"

Here is a peek at some of these moments and the words that prompted them.

"Seriously? I can't even go poop without you asking me for something? Do you really think I'm going to get your goldfish RIGHT THIS MINUTE?"

"I'm sorry Max, did the clippers buzz your nuts?"

"You know how hot it is outside? Do you know that we pay a lot of money to keep our house cool? And everytime you open the door, you are letting our cold air out? Can you just possibly wait 95 seconds for me to come inside to ask me that question instead of opening the door 5 times??"

"I've just got to sit here and cool off for a few minutes."

"You don't want to eat breakfast this morning? Okay, whatever"

My personal favorite

"My phone seems to be stuck on the forecast for HELL"

"Is it fall yet?"

Extremes

I feel like I have been living a life of extremes...

Extreme ends of the emotion spectrum....

We have so much extreme change coming up in our house in a month or so,

yet at this moment I sit in the land of extremely normal summer fun....

Moments of extreme optimism, and moments of extreme apprehension....

Moments with nothing going on, and moments where I meet my booty coming and going out the door..... which if you know me, you know that's how I roll.

I can tell you, I'm going to have a lot of moments coming up where I'm going to need my friends and family in an extremely present way.... it goes back to that 'lots of change coming up' thing....

I'm excited for our new school, and worried about getting Brooke transitioned to it (since she is not happy about going there).

I'm optimistic about a couple of job opportunities I'm looking at, but worried about how to make it all work. There are days where I'm stretched thin enough with being a travel agent, doing cakes, being a mom, being involved at the school, and being a wife. Really, do I have another chunk to cut out of me? I've always gotten things done....but will I have time for myself anywhere in that?

I'm glad the hubs still has a job, but seriously dreading him working 2nd shift.

It's hard to be facing all these extremes. The only way I'm getting through it now is knowing that God will take care of it all. I don't have to worry about tomorrow, because He is already there, preparing my way. Worrying isn't going to make anything happen any better, quicker, etc. Trusting God is going to make whatever comes our way easier to work with. I can say though, I'm not going to pray for patience. As they say in the movie "Evan Almighty" 'when you pray for patience, doesn't God give you opportunities to be patient?".... Um yeah, I do not need any extra 'opportunities' in that realm, I've got more than enough of them already.

So that's where I'm at today. Great post after 2 weeks of absence, right? Sorry. It's just what's on my mind. I've got a lot of mental/emotional balls in the air right now!

I will leave you with some fun pics though. The first ones are of our time in KC with my brother and his family. It came at the perfect time because I was really getting homesick for them. We had a great time at Crown Center, Science City, and hanging at the hotel.

Some baking I've done lately....Angry Birds cake, Monster Jams, and some dinosaur cookies.

One of the funnest moments in this house for the girls, the dog, and I is when they have wrestle-mania with daddy. I think he enjoys it a bit, but always gets whooped since the girls and the dog totally gang up on him. I watch, laugh, and take pictures. :)

Brooke at camp

Wanted to share this fun little sampling of a moment at camp that I had while watching Brooke.

It shows her personality perfectly.

While she is tall and gorgeous, she's also a bit uncoordinated and not much for upper body strength.

She loved the swimming hole. We were there every afternoon.














She got out to the floating rock climbing wall.















And tried and tried to get on it. I'm not sure I could have gotten on it, that round tube part at the bottom would spin when you would grab it. I didn't see a lot of kids on it the whole week actually. But she tried several times, giggling everytime she fell back in.

Then she decided to swim over to the rocket thing and try to get on it. I watched her try for about 20 minutes. Her friends were trying to help her out, and she was trying her darndest but just couldn't do it. Giggled everytime she fell back in.














Finally, she swam over to the floating dock, and got right up the ladder, and proceeded to have a blast out there, jumping in, hanging with friends. Giggling the entire time.















That's one of Brooke's best qualities. Her exuberance for life. She just had FUN. Even if she couldn't get on the rock climbing thing. Or the rocket. She had fun trying, then found something she could do, and had more fun.

I love that girl's spirit. It was such a joy to get to watch it in action from the sidelines like that. 

Too bad I wasn't a nice enough mommy to swim all the way out there in the 75 degree water to help her get on one of the inflatable things :)