We're back....

I know it has been 6+ months since the last post. Lots going on and the blog seemed to fall off my radar. To both of the people that read this thing, I apologize.

I figured what better point to restart this than after some of the Wings of Tulsa were in town for a few days. There were plenty of pictures taken over the past few days and many are worth sharing.

We got off to a good start and just the boys went to have lunch at Surly and we took in the brewery tour too. I haven't had that much fun in a long time. It was great to spend some uninterrupted quality time with my dad and brother. It was the highlight of my weekend.  

Saints game #1. We took in 3 Saints games in 3 nights. This was the first game and only a few of us went to this one. Mudonna wasnt with us, but she was eager to have her picture taken with the girls.

A trip to MN would not be complete with a trip to the Angry Catfish.

Mudonna and the girls.

Mark Hamburger...this guys is awesome. He's the ace pitcher for the Saints. After the Sunday night game we all went down to the field for autographs and to run the bases. Hamburger is larger than life. He genuinely enjoys spending time with the fans, taking pics and signing autographs.  

LW was a little apprehensive to approach Hamburger. Not because she was afraid, I think it was more because she was in awe of him. She is the only player on the Saints that she knows by name and now she was standing right next to him. To top it all off, he heard us trying to convince Lucy to get in the picture. Then he started calling Lucy by her name to try to coax her into the picture. She is still shocked that Hamburger said her name. He has a fan for life..

Sunday night fireworks from the roof. Perfect view.

Preschool!

Here they are. Pictures of LW on her very fist day of preschool. She was more excited than I have ever seen her. Other kids were clinging to their moms and crying as they went into class. Not LW, she gave us hugs and ran into class. At dinner, I asked her why she didn't cry or anything and she told me that "she was holding it together". She felt like such a big girl afterwards, there was a noticeable difference in her attitude.

Backpack on and ready to go!

NW had to take some pics of the event.

Getting ready to go into school!

Yup, that's her name on the wall!

To celebrate,we went out for pizza for lunch. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not school related, but I dug out my old Lite Brite from when I was a kid. The kids thought it was the coolest thing in the world to be playing with a toy that I played with when I was their age. 

First Grade!

Here they are, the pictures of NW on her first day of school on the front step of the house. You will notice a difference from last year. Most notably the uniform. New year and new school. We could not be more proud of her. She wasn't nervous about meeting new people or making the change to the new school. What I thought would really bother her, she took in stride and was super excited to make new friends and get back to learning.

Tae Kwan Do

The girls took a little Tae Kwan Do class last week. It was just 2 sessions to see if they liked it and if the teachers thought they could handle it. It was great. I am usually telling them to keep quite and not to hit things and keep their arms and legs to themselves. This class was the opposite of that. They were encouraged to yell, hit and kick. They didn't know what to make of it and were reserved at first but then opened up.

10 Days of Fun

Lilly stayed with us for 10 days and we could not have had a better time. Those kids were busy doing something all day every day. AW kept them hopping. At the end of the week we recapped what they did every day and it was an amazing list. From going to Como Town, The Angry Catfish, parks, Saints game and play dates. It was great to have her around for that long and I was really sad to give her back to her parents. She was a dream to have around and my girls had an amazing week that they will never forget.

Grandpa Jim and I watched the game from center field. The girls sat on the berm and "watched" the game. They are in the front row right behind the fence.

At one of the many parks..

I gave them each $10 to spend on whatever they wanted at the Saints game. They bought a slushy, a malt and chicken fingers with fries. They shared everything so it seemed like they got to buy more. Pretty clever.

LW and Mudonna.

Matchy, matchy, matchy PJ's. We even sent one home for Kate so she was part of the group.

I am filling in for Kate in this pic. Wish she was here..

We met in KC to give LW back to her dad. This is what happens when you leave the 3 of us alone without adult supervision. We end up at a coffee roaster trying on pilot outfits. LW was embarrassed of her dad and uncle.

This is on the roof of the coffee shop.

On our way out of the hotel. We have our own elevators!

More festivities

Just like last year, we went to Como Town for NW's birthday. But this year we have a special guest from Tulsa..

Here is Lilly practicing her driving skills at Como Town.

On her tail.

Three kids staring at a zebra.

At the conservatory.

Peace and quiet. They are having a coloring contest at Lucky 13.

Just the girls, no boys allowed.

I'm not sure how much of this donut she actually ate. It looks like most of it is on her cheeks.

Let the Festivities Begin

Although it's not NW's birthday until next week, she had the party with all of her friends last weekend. It was at Richardson Nature Center and we rented a room for 2 hours and it was over. It was way better than having at our house. The rental fee was worth every penny.

Here is the whole crew. There were 17 kids at the party. A few more than I was comfortable with, but it wasn't my party. Here they are learning about all of the things that they are going to discover in the swamp.

17 kids and adults on a dock leaning over to play in the water. I thought for sure that one of them would fall in. But no, somehow they all stayed dry. It was kind of nice to have them all on the dock, they were contained.

They would scoop up some water and pour it into a bowl so that they could look and see the things moving in the water. It was pretty cool.

It's hard to tell, but she is petting a turtle. NW picked the turtle over a snake or frog. All of the kids got to pet the turtle and then the turtle walked around the mat and that was about it.

Friends from school and even some boys.

We picked up cupcakes at Yum and this candle thing too. I was a little worried about it. You lit the center of it and then there were 10 other candles that would lite and spin around. Lots of fire and moving parts around a bunch of 6 year old kids. The whole time it played Happy Birthday. Everything turned out OK.