A graduate and us

While we were in Ohio for Amy's graduation, her sister-in-law took some pictures of everyone and I thought that they turned out so fun.  We even hung a bunch of the pictures of the kids up in the playroom!

Abby's First Day of Kindergarten

Abby's first day of Kindergarten went well!  She has a great teacher and we are so excited for what the year holds!

Here she is posing with a picture of herself on the first day of school last year.

The bus was running a bit late and Mike got this shot of it finally arriving.  The past couple months she hasn't shown much excitement for school so I didn't know how the first day would go.  Fortunately, though, the morning came and she acted more excited than she ever had!

 

Speaking of the bus, there have been a few transportation issues with bus drivers and others getting used to new routes, etc.  Her bus was 45 minutes lat the first day.  Whoops!  I was never too concerned because I had more or less followed it part of the way so I knew where it was, but here's to hoping the timing gets better!  (I keep getting emails from the district saying they are tweeking things to improve bus schedules so I am confident!)  

We are just happy that Abby is enjoying herself!

August stuff

Here are a few random pictures from the last few weeks.  Very random.

Abby enjoys playing with pattern blocks.  She made this owl (from a pattern) and was very proud of it.  She did a very nice job.

 I forgot what jets do to bubbles.  It made a big mess in my bathroom but they were happy!

 

Abby and Briton put couch cushions at the bottom of the stairs and had a blast jumping.  I thought some of these pictures were fun.

  

  

 

Ohio

A weekend or two ago, we hit the road again (48 hours after our visitors left) for Ohio.  We were excited to be able to travel to Columbus for my sister-in-law's graduation from OSU.  We were able to spend 5 days with Amy and Brian and my parents, as well as some visiting with some of Amy's family.

On the first day, we visited the Columbus Zoo.  It was awesome!

There is a water park adjacent to the zoo and we spent part of the day there.  It was a bit chilly but still a fun time.

The best part about these two pictures is that they were taken less than 30 seconds apart.  During that time, the bear kind of leaped up on the window as Brian and Abby were posing.  It was pretty sweet.  Too bad we didn't get that picture.

The next day we went to the Hopewell Culture Center.  It is run by the National Park Service and teaches about these ceremonial and burial mounds built hundreds of years ago.  Apparently there are a few sites around Ohio built by the same groups of Native Americans.  It was very interesting.  Abby continued her habit of earning her Junior Ranger badge.

On our last day we visited some parks in Columbus.  These were taken at the topiary gardens downtown.  The garden had lots of topiary figures that replicated this famous Seurat painting.  It was pretty impressive!  (Notice Abby's missing tooth.  Grandma pulled it pain free!)

I'll post some other pictures (from the graduation) soon.  (I need to prove that the others were there as well!)

Visitors

Today grandma, grandpa and N left after a 2 week visit.  We enjoyed the company, the extra playmate, help with dishes, etc., etc.  It was fun.  Here are a few pictures.

We took an obligatory trip to the horse farm - always a fun time.  Briton and N are less than 2 months apart in age and it was a lot of fun to watch them play so well together.  (They also had their "moments" but overall did very well.)

Mike and I took advantage of the visitors and took off for the weekend.  We bought a weekend stay at a B&B (Inn at Honey Run) through Groupon getaways.  It was so great!  The Inn is in Amish country in Ohio and is beautiful (both the Inn and Amish country).  The time away was needed and appreciated.  I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed it.  This is a picture of the two of us at a garden we visited.

Last weekend we spent 2 days out at the beach (Ludington and Silver Lake State Park area).  The beach is always fun and one of our absolute favorite things about living in Michigan.  (1 - We walked out to and climbed a lighthouse in Ludington; 2 - The second beach we visited had a river entering it and the kids loved the "tidal pools" as Abby called it; 3 - Notice the nice green water?  The recent heat has been good for algae:) 4 - Hannah is really warming up to the water!)

Here are a few other highlights:  1 - Lots and lots of stories;  2 - Our last day of playgroup (with a cousin); 3 - The MSU Bug House while mom and dad were out of town;  4 - A yummy (and entertaining) meal at a Japanese steakhouse; 5 - Lots of playtime at home

Pictures

We have been eating a lot of cherries lately (especially thanks to Grandpa Dave who commented this morning, "These cherries seem to be multiplying!" - he's the one who was bringing bags and bags home)!  Hannah has been having fun eating and wearing the cherries.

This is from Father's Day.  A few days before Father's Day, I suggested that Abby make a card for her dad.  She decided to make him a bow tie.  It was awesome.  He wore it on the way to church but took it off when we arrived so that everyone could see the pink tie she gave him as a gift.

We have started trying our hand at grilled pizza, thanks to this tutorial.  It is good.  (I like my toppings a bit more well done than what the grill can offer so we usually stick it in the broiler for a few minutes after we grill it.  Does that defeat the purpose of using the grill?)

Briton's received his first (much needed) haircut at the salon a couple weeks ago.  Mike said that he was somewhat terrified and that translated in him not moving a muscle and not making a peep.  That translated into him falling asleep in the chair.

More of our trip to the Mountains

Our trip to Durango was very nice.  I didn't really know what to expect of Durango, but it is a great little town.  It has a lot of touristy shops, restaurants and activities; seems to have a comfortable climate (at 7500 feet above see level); and is located in a very scenic area.

The Animas River runs right through the center of town and there are several companies that run rafting and kayaking trips and rent float tubes.  We rented this tube the last day and played in the river for a bit.

One of my favorite parts of our trip was our visit to Mesa Verde National Parks.  Every time I visit a new National Park, I am reminded of what treasures we have in our backyards!  Mesa Verde has Native American structures from 500-1300 AD.  These were built by the Pueblo tribes.  The most spectacular were the cliff dwellings which were built between 1200 and 1300 AD.  They were amazing!

Here are some pictures.  These four are from the Spruce Tree House.  Hannah was with us but she didn't end up in these.

As we waited for our turn to go on a ranger led tour of another cliff dwelling, we drove the Mesa Top Loop.  Here is Briton and Uncle Lance enjoying some scenery.  Also, here is a picture of another cliff dwelling that was not open to visitors, but that had a great view from the road.

These pictures are all of our tour of Cliff Palace - the largest of the cliff dwellings.  We didn't take Hannah on this tour because of the ladders and walking.  Lance, Bekah and Carter were our tour buddies.  It was very neat!

Our last stop in Mesa Verde was at the Junior Ranger station.  Abby enjoyed working on her booklet (and I enjoyed helping her) to receive her badge!

Here is a picture of cute little Hannah since she is painfully missing from this post: