And the Fun Times Continue

Nope, school did not dampen us taking opportunities to have fun.  We are just a little more timed when we do it!  We had a weekend filled with church related activities.  On Friday night, we went to the Akron RubberDucks Game with about 50 others from Salem.  It was a great night (required a hooded sweatshirt, even!).  The kids had a blast because their two friends, Ellie and Bailey, were there again with them this year.  So, it kept them awake, interested, and not whining all 10 innings!  Which is more than I can say for myself.  That extra inning led to a little complaining from me because frankly, I was exhausted after a five day week back to school!  But we made it and enjoyed the fireworks after the game.

    

The next night of that weekend, we had a Sunday school party at Lake Harmony.  Beautiful night to sit outside, and it is never too cold for kids to swim, right?  We had a smaller group than normal, but it was still a lot of fun to just hang out together. 

We biked to Ben and Steph’s house on Sunday night of that weekend, too.  It was so nice, we just couldn’t sit inside.  We got lucky that they were there when we arrived.  We talked for awhile and then invited them over for a popsicle.  It was just going to be Landen coming with us, but then the whole family biked back to our house with us!  It was a great time, and I am sure we looked like quite a spectacle!

This weekend – a three day weekend with Labor Day extending it for us – we spent Friday night at my parents’ house for supper with all the family (except Luke).  We headed to the Dariette for a “welcome back to school” ice cream treat.  It was good to connect with everyone again.  It was a later night, but so worth the time.  It was also a Friday night, so we didn’t have to wake up the next morning at a certain time.

Today (Saturday), we went with Grandma Yoh to the Museum of Natural History in Cleveland.  I hadn’t ever been before.  We got there around 10:30 and didn’t leave until about 3pm.  It was a neat place.  Some highlights included an earthquake simulator, Google earth map where we zoomed in our home and other fun places, the gem and jewels room,

dinosaur bones,

putting together a fossil,

 

earning from the live animal program about the great horned owl, box turtles, and opossums,

      

noticing an ancient fish … eating a hamburger???

and seeing the really neat live animal exhibits they have outdoors, which included “being” the animals in a few cases.   

    

We took some turns being the “i” in science as well.

    

The other fun thing that has been going on is that we are raising multiple caterpillars again this year.  This morning we missed the chrysalis formation because we had to leave for the museum.  I think had we waited an hour (or maybe two) we would have seen it happen.  I hope we get to see it for one of the two we have left.  There are also multiple caterpillars munching on our enormous milkweed plants that our outside our house as well.  Nature is so cool!

First Day of School

It happened this year on August 19 – a MONDAY!  Unheard of!  It didn’t matter.  My kids were excited for school, and I couldn’t be happier that is their attitude.  I slid out of the door after waking them up around 6:45.  They bounded out of bed pretty quickly.  After that, I don’t know what happened.  I am glad Jeremy is able to be with them most mornings rather than needing to cart them off to someone else every morning.  He does a good job getting their breakfast together and keeping them moving so they can get on the bus.  He even did the first day picture taking like a pro. 

Madison is going into 4th grade this year.  It is a big year in that she will change between teachers with her homeroom class.  This is new to her, but exciting.  She loves school.  She was so happy that STEAM was going to be a special this year, meaning she would do it every week!  She was proud of her school supplies, happy with her first day outfit, and ready to be with her friends again.  She is sweet.  Her friends that she is drawn to have similar personalities, and it is fun to see how they play and relate to one another.  I am hoping that she will continue to enjoy school. I also want to see her come out of her shell a bit in the classroom – raising her hand, leading within a group, and asking the questions that are floating around in her brain.  This year, she has said she wants to be a paleontologist.  She thinks she will enjoy working with dinosaur bones in some way.  I say, Do whatever interests you!

Ellie is going into 2nd grade.  She is happy with her teacher this year; in fact, she wanted any teacher that Madison didn’t have just to be different.  She has been happy going to school and coming home from school, and that makes my heart light.  She gravitates to playing with kids that are in her class, so it is fun to hear who she is creating games with on the playground this year.  I think she still wants to be a nurse, but every day after school, she has come home, had a snack, watched a little TV, and then … played teacher!  I know more math and reading after school hours.  It is fun to hear her chatter as she breaks down the concepts she is learning in school.

I hope that this year will be one of growth for both of them – academically and relationally.  I hope they learn how to welcome in new friends, navigate hard things, and be attentive to the needs of others.  I hope they continue to find joy being with one another, too.  I hope they stand strong in the faith they are learning about at church and at home.

Before School Fun

School always rushes back to greet us at the end of the summer, but this year, it seemed to happen exceptionally fast.  Before the first day happened, we squeezed in a few things.

Grandma Yoh has taken the girls school clothes shopping the last few years.  It has become a fun tradition.  Their job is simply to find a first day of school outfit; they usually come home with a few more finds though and a lot of smiles!  This is their shopping picture in the dressing room with one potential outfit.

Then, we had open house night.  Usually this is the night before school starts.  This year, it was on a Thursday night with school starting the following Monday.  It worked out better than I thought.  The girls dug into some of their new clothes on this day.

I always have a day where I have to go to school before the girls start.  So, I have to find a fun friend for them to play with.  This year (and I think last year, too) great-aunt Diane came to play with them.  They had a blast.  They painted masterpieces, played with fairy gardens, shopped at MCC Connections, ate pizza at the park, and other things.  Such fun memories

    

Last, but not least, we went putt-putt golfing with them for the first time ever.  And it was a lot of fun.  I think they were a good age – able to kinda swing a golf club, able to maintain focus throughout all 18 holes, and able to just have fun.  Jeremy was in first place with a score of 2 over par.  Better than any of the rest of us.

         

And fun with a new game, Kerplunk!

Minnesota Yohs

Jason and Niki came to visit with their three kids in mid-August, the week before school started and the day after we got back from Colorado.  While I was a bit stressed because of the timing, it was good to see them.  It is fun watching Zadie grow.  When we saw her back in April, she was 6 months old.  Now, at 9 months old, she is moving around, interacting, smiling, and so much fun!  The girls have fun with the boys, too.  At one point, Niki said, “Your girls are so good with the boys.”  I thought about it and told her it was because they have had such good examples in their older cousins.  On my side, the older ones have always taken time to be with the littles, even when it maybe wasn’t what they wanted to be doing.  Things you learn. 
We did fun things together:

Akron RubberDucks Baseball game… fun for the girls at least for the first few innings… and for the Dippin’ Dots!

Kidron Auction … sooo hot that day!

    

Buggy Rides following

    

And just being together.

  

The unfortunate thing is we live so far away from each other.  So, it will probably be Christmas when we see them again.  I always appreciate them taking time to drive the distance to this area.

Colorado: Part 4

We left Sherry’s to go back to the airport.  Our drive out was so pretty!  If only I could have figured out how to get it all captured in my camera…

    

We decided to go through Colorado Springs and drive through Garden of the Gods.  It is a spot that I always love.  The first thing we came to was Balancing Rock.  This is always a fun first stop. 

    

The 1-1/2 hours we had there was not long enough, especially when 45 minutes was spent in the trading post!  We hadn’t shopped anywhere in Colorado, so I guess here was as good as any for a souvenir.  I got a hoodie.  Madison bought a t-shirt.  Ellie bought a stuffed animal wolf with a Colorado hoodie.  Jeremy, uncharacteristically, bought nothing.  Madison and Ellie always bought sand to pan for rocks.  They found some “real” gems!

    

We also tried a short hike, which wasn’t as short as we wanted, and was a little more miserable than we wanted between the heat and tired girls. 

Then, we just drove by sightsaw (is that a word??) what we could.  We were pressed for time at that point to try to get to the airport.

Then we hit an accident.  Then, I had to check-in because I had a bag.  Then, the security checkpoint took 15 minutes at least.  Then, the bag scanner broke in our line.  Then, my bag was held back because I always carry food that sets off their machine.  (Note to self: remove food from bag next time.)  Then, the bag before mine to be checked had a pocketknife in it and the lady walked off to put it somewhere… and my bag just sat there… Then, we made it to the gate… barely.  Then, we sat on the plane because as luck would have it there were 13 passengers coming from San Francisco that needed to catch this flight.  So, we weren’t the last ones! 

We settled in, watched the TV on the seatback, which kept the kids pretty well occupied.  And as we flew over Indiana and into Ohio we were blessed with this sunset.  Madison said, “It’s as pretty above the clouds as from the ground.”

 

Jeremy also caught a glimpse of Progressive Field from the air to mirror the Indians game he was watching on board.  We climbed into our car and headed home.  We fell in bed at 12:30am.  Now to get on Eastern Time before school starts on Monday.