August memories...

Mason's first time eating sweet corn!  We love fresh, Iowa sweet corn!!!

Can you tell it was his first time!  He wasn't really sure what to do with it.  :)

On a day when Nathan was traveling and we didn't have anything on the schedule, we decided to go to the Brookings Children's Museum.  The last time we went was in the winter, but when we went this time the outdoor section was open.  It was amazing.  I contentedly sat on a bench while the boys had a blast fishing for pretend fish.  And Mason found a scooter to ride on which he loved.

We spent 3 days with my parents, Kerry, Ashley, Emma and Claire at Lake Okoboji.  Unfortunately Heidi had to work since one of her birth moms went into labor.  But we did get to see Ryan, Aniah, Eden and Adria for part of the time!

On Friday, the 8th, we went to Arnold's Park.  The older boys were thrilled and went on MANY of the rides!

Mason was content to sit in his stroller and play at the playground.

The adults had fun going on rides as well, but it often took us longer to recover...we are all getting old!  :)  But we still like to have fun!

I think that's dad, Emma and Levi.  :)

Cutty's has so many great things for kids.  We took out the paddle boats and went fishing on Saturday morning.  Ashley, Emma and Claire wanted to show us Rodney's tackle box that they found in their garage.  He went fishing every day after school growing up and always loved to fish.  His tackle box was FULL and neatly organized with detailed notes from when he was a kid of how to catch different kinds of fish.  We still miss him...a lot.

We went for a long boat ride on Saturday afternoon and went to church and miniature golfing on Sunday.

August 16: Omaha Zoo
We promised the boys that we would take them to the Omaha Zoo this summer because they loved it so much the last time we went.  Thankfully the weather cooperated on the last available Saturday before school started!
I just love how Dorian adores his littlest brother.

I had fun taking Dorian and Levi on a skyride!

Mason was right up close and fascinated with the penguins!

How fun to feed the goats and pet them!

We came up to the penguins at the perfect time to watch them get fed!  Dorian and Levi were fascinated and we spent over a half an hour watching the penguins patiently line up for their turn.  :)

When Dorian was little I got to take him on a camel ride at the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids.  So I was very excited to take Levi along with us this time!!!  It was a short, bumpy ride, but we had a lot of fun!

Mason is growing up so fast.  I was thinking about the words that I hear him say and made a list just for fun.  Vroom vroom, uh-oh, di-di (for bye-bye), stop, ga (for dog), there it is, where is it?, da (for ball), and stuck.  It's amazing how much he understands and likes to help out.  He picked up all the duplo legos yesterday and put them in the right box.  That was especially exciting.  :)  If Molly barks, he runs to go and get the leash to take her outside.  He loves to feed her and take her out.  He gives us hugs.  In the following picture he was playing peek-a-boo with us!

 Sporting his new shoes!!!

Dorian caught a monarch butterfly in our backyard with his net.  Unfortunately he damaged one of the wings, but fortunately that meant that he had a pet butterfly to play with for an entire day.  He was a happy little boy!

On occasion I babysit for Aniah, Eden and Adria.  Aren't these 2 little ones adorable!

On the last Saturday before school started I took the boys to Sky Zone in Sioux Falls.  The Lamfers joined us and then we went out for cupcakes afterward.  The boys had a blast jumping into the foam pit!

 Then we stopped at our favorite park in Sioux Falls before heading home.

Back to school!!!  August 26 was Dorian's first day of SECOND grade!!!  He really didn't want school to start but after the back to school night when we got to meet his new teacher, Ms. Woudstra, and put his school supplies in his desk, he was ready and excited to go!  I was the only one who cried on his first day.  

The only thing that didn't go smoothly was that he was put on a bus that was different than the one he rode last year.  He got home safely but was afraid with the mix-up.  I'm thankful that the boys will get home only 15 minutes after school gets out.  It makes it very easy for me!

I've been spending some early mornings with this little one while Nathan is gone.  He goes back to sleep for Nathan better than me...probably because I don't want to listen to him cry and he knows that.  It's pretty cute that he wants everything from his crib including his lamby, paci, Henley his bunny and his blanket.  How sweet!

August 27 was Levi's first day of KINDERGARTEN!!!  I felt quite lonely after dropping both Dorian and Levi off at school.  Nathan was literally on the other side of the world and I couldn't reach him. But God knew what I needed and I had a phone call from my friend Kristin shortly after I got home. Then 2 friends texted and asked if I wanted to go for a walk with them.  It was just what I needed.
Look how grown up Levi is!

It makes me happy to see the boys playing nicely together (since I know they can also fight like brothers).  They took out Monopoly Jr. and picked out this spot to play.  Love them dearly!

 Levi put a towel on his head while Mason was eating breakfast and Mason thought it was hilarious!  I'm glad I caught some of his giggles on video!  :)

Well....it's August 31.  Labor day is tomorrow.  Summer has unofficially come to an end.  It has been another busy summer with many fun memories.  Nathan comes home tonight from his trip to Austria and Ukraine.  I'm excited to have him home and I'm excited for a normal schedule and normal routines.  Nathan has been gone 28 days this summer traveling for work and I think that is WAY TOO MANY.  It's been hard to start a new school year with new routines on my own.  I'm looking forward to normal family life during the month of September!