I survived!

Today was the MUCH anticipated kinder field trip. After a hasty lunch at 10am, which most kids were too excited to eat anyway, we all boarded the school buses for a nice long trip to the Children's Museum. Claire was most excited about getting to go on the bus for the first time ever. She was grinning ear to ear as we boarded. It was fun to see her notice things like the bumpiness and the fact that all the other cars on the highway were going much faster than us.

I had a group of 4 students to chaperone for the day. We had a lot of fun trying to see and do everything together. It was slight mayhem at the museum, but we all had a good time. The kids all painted their faces and spent a good amount of time playing in the water.

After a couple hours of play, we all loaded up for the trip home. Overall, it was quite successful. No lost kids or accidents. The only snafu was losing a sweatshirt. I hope the kids all had a great time, I know Claire did!

Camping Adventure

Friday night we went camping with some friends. I was a little worried about how fun it would be since it had been pouring rain all day before we left. Luckily we were staying in cabins complete with heat, electricity, and lights. We opted for some McDonalds for our picnic dinner. The cabins were super nice inside! They each had a table and chairs, a twin/full bunkbed, and a futon that folded out. It was very clean and fun to be in.





After our dinner we went outside to set up the rest of our camp. Thankfully it wasn't really even raining much up there. It was more of a mist. We could spend time outside without getting soaked. Chris was even able to get a fire going, despite the wet wood, with a little help from our friends...and the neighboring scout troop. :)





We made some yummy smores before bed, went for hikes in the woods, and then put all our kids to bed in their respective cabins. We had an extra cabin because someone decided not to come with us due to the rain. Once the kids were all fast asleep we stayed up playing silly games and giggling for many hours inside.

In the morning we made a hot breakfast of eggs, pancakes, sausage, and hot chocolate. Neil spent most of his time in the playpen snuggled up with blankets. The girls had lots of time to ride their bikes and hike with daddy. We took our time and didn't leave until just before 1pm. It was a much nicer day. The sun even came out.






Overall we all had a blast! It was great to spend time together and with good friends! We will have to do it again sometime for sure.

9 Months and more

Neil is now 9 months and continues to grow. He is now 26 pounds, 29 1/2 inches long, and has an 18 3/4 inch head. He's in the 90's percentiles in all categories. I am definitely getting my workout in each day! He still has the most gorgeous blue eyes and squeezable chubby cheeks. Two bottom teeth have recently popped out and he has been using them on baby crackers and chunky baby food. He is the sweetest baby and has the best smile. We had a little bit of sun over the weekend so we spent some time outside. The kids loved playing at the park and going for a nice family walk. Even Neil got to swing, which he thought was hilarious. It was fun to see his excitement.

Thirty-one Years

On Friday Chris turned 31. His uncle had come to town for a visit, so we had planned to go out to eat with him and the family. We went to PF Changs, which was pretty yummy and even splurged for the great wall of chocolate. We stopped by Rainy Day games on the way home to buy Chris's new favorite game: Agricola. When we got home there was a large gift waiting for him on our kitchen table. He opened up his brand new hunting rifle. I was excited to have finally pulled off a surprise! I had been planning and scheming with my dad for the last month and it was killing me to not say anything about it to him. It paid off! He was really happy with it. I also got him a case to carry it in. We stayed up late playing our new game.

The next day was spent hanging out with the family and playing more games. We went over to my parent's house and my dad gave him a really nice Leupold scope for the rifle! WOOHoo! Now he can actually use it! That was really nice of him. Thanks Dad! We are excited to take it to the range. The rest of the weekend was plenty relaxing just hanging out and watching conference together. It was a good weekend, and a good birthday (if I may say). Happy Birthday honey! Hope you enjoyed it.