some of what we've been up to lately

August 26: A visit from the Baas family.
How fun to have overnight guests from Michigan!  We're thankful that Jeremy and Kathy have family in Minnesota.  :)  It was fun to hang out with them again.  We went for a short hike at Oak Grove on Sunday afternoon and enjoyed a lot of time just relaxing and talking at our house.

Dorian and Levi thought it was really fun to watch Clay play games on his iPad.  :)

August 28: The start of a new semester.
Nathan started his second year at Dordt and his 8th year total of teaching!
I started auditing a photography class at Dordt, hoping to have fun learning how to take pictures in manual mode and edit them.  I'm amazed so far what Lightroom 4 (the editing software) is able to do!

September 3: Labor Day.
The boys are at perfect ages to fully enjoy everything that Sheldon has to offer on Labor Day!  First we went to the pancake breakfast (where the boys ate mostly sausage!) and watched many little airplanes take off and land.

Then we went to the city park.  Levi decided that he wanted the balloon man to make him a hat and Dorian wanted exactly what Levi was going to get.  :)

I paid $6 for a wristband for each of the boys so that they could ride for an unlimited number of times on the train, inflatable toys, ferris wheel, etc. It was a good purchase because they were entertained for hours!

And lastly, we sat to watch the parade!  I think the highlight for the boys at this parade was the amount of candy that they throw out.  :)   

September 8: Spencer Fair. 

It was fun to take the boys to the Fair again this year.  We met my parents, Ryan, Heidi, Aniah, Eden and Adria there.

The kids watched a magic show and each came away with their very own magic wand!

Nice!  Milking a pretend cow.  :)

All the boys (including Grandpa) loved sitting in and looking at all of the machinery.  :)

We tried to avoid the expensive carnival rides, but of course they were right at the entrance so that your kids can't help but see them when you walk in!  So each of them picked 2 of their favorites and thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

September 11:  Pumpkinland.
I took the boys to Pumpkinland this morning.  It looks like Fall around here since it was such a dry summer.  There are many farmers combining.  Some leaves are falling off of one of our trees in the backyard.  But it was supposed to get up to 97 degrees today!  So it didn't feel much like a Fall morning...but we certainly still enjoyed our visit to Pumpkinland!

The boys each picked a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch and then ran through the corn maze.

The kittens were a hit!  Dorian just LOVED them and couldn't get enough of them.  After Dorian inquired about getting a kitten I told him that we already have a dog.  So then he tells me that some people have both cats and dogs.  :)  Sorry buddy, that's just not going to happen at our house.

Levi really loved feeding the horse! 

I'm so thankful for our morning out together this morning!  Tuesdays for the month of September are the only week day that they boys are both home together. 

 

We are all adjusting to our new schedules.  Still adjusting.  It's crazy how much information there is to remember and keep track of.  Show and Tell, Red day, the letter M day, Field Trips, lunches, library, P.E. and early dismissals just to name a few.  :)  But, Levi has LOVED every day of preschool so far and Dorian is doing great in Kindergarten. 

 

Our family is truly blessed.