First Day of Kindergarten

Olivia's first day of kindergarten was August 24. We believe that she was more than ready for it! She was so excited about starting school that she confided that she did not sleep very well the night before. Here is the big girl waiting for the bus.


The sad but excited mommy posing with her Miss Munchkin. I probably missed her the most at lunchtime...I didn't have to fix her meal and the sitting at the table was so quiet without her chatter.

The proud papa posing with his little girl. Joe was so happy to have the morning off of work to see this big moment!

The time has arrived! Here is Olivia and her bunny backpack boarding the school bus with our neighbor Danny (who was under strict instruction to look out for her!). Thus far Olivia seems to be very happy with school...she loves her teacher, is making new friends, loves lunch and recess (who doesn't?), and is happy but tired when she comes home. Here's to a new chapter in our lives!

State Fair Time!

Ahhh, the Illinois State Fair has arrived again. I have been attending the State Fair yearly (or almost yearly) since I was a child. What's not to look forward to? The butter cow, the food, the exhibits, the concerts (this year we saw The Bangles/Heart), and people watching. We went to the Fair 2 days, so if you notice some clothing changes that is why!

Olivia and her daddy sharing a lemonade shake up.


Ethan reaching for a calf at the FFA petting zoo.

We like to walk through the animal areas (namely cows, horses, and pigs) for the kids to see. Here is Olivia with a Clydesdale.

And of course the butter cow. This year Abe Lincoln was also sculpted. I tried to get a picture with both the cow and Abe, but just ended up with this shot. I realize that the butter cow is incredibly corny to those who have not been going to the fair for decades, but for me it is tradition. If you go to the Fair, you have to stop in the Dairy Building to see it. Period.

Olivia and Ethan petting the goats.

A first this year...the giant slide. I have a feeling Joe will be taking the kids down it again next year, and the next, and the next.....

Ready, set...

GO!!

In all fairness, while it may look like Joe is forcing Ethan to go down the slide while bear hugging him to stay on the mat, Ethan really did request to go on the slide and didn't attempt to run away once he had climbed to the top. Once he reached the bottom, he asked to do it again.

Pretending to be Bob the Builder.

I honestly wonder what farm kids think of people who pay $1 per child to milk a cow for 30 seconds! And how we think it is worthy of dozens of pictures? In any case, Olivia actually did milk the cow this year instead of just watching like last year.

And Ethan also had no qualms about milking the cow.

Day two of the fair started with another ride on the slide. This time grandpa escorted Olivia.

Olivia became very brave on the rides this year. No more watching from the sidelines. She really enjoyed this jumping ride.

A food snapshot...on Ethan's stroller is breading from a recently eaten corn dog, while he dips deep fried pickles into his blue sno-cone. I guess at the Fair anything goes.

Grandpa won the honor of joining Olivia on her very first ferris wheel ride. Olivia really seemed to enjoy herself, although in this picture you can see that she is checking out just how tall the wheel is!

Ethan riding the cars. I don't think that this ride has changed in 30 years.

Grandpa, Ethan, and Olivia in the spinning bear ride. Ethan did not enjoy this ride too much, although he did not cry or scream. We are preparing for the teacups at our Disney trip in October!

Olivia and Ethan riding the boats.

I still cannot believe that grandpa and Olivia rode on this ride. During the ride Olivia stated both "my tummy feels weird" and "I don't think I should be on this ride". It turned out to be the last ride of the evening! However, she walked away with a smile on her face!

Ethan riding the helicopters by himself.

End of Summer Fun

The summer is winding down and school will be starting next week. Here are just a quick few snapshots of what we have been up to lately....

We went to our first Springfield Sliders baseball game in early August. We went with friends from Joe's work. For the majority of the game, the kids were stalking "Speedy", the Sliders' mascot. Anytime he would approach, the kids would get so excited they could not contain themselves! Here is a picture of Ethan (kind of), Brady, Olivia, and Ali with Speedy. They also received Speedy bobbleheads, and it has since become a favorite toy.


Olivia, Ali, Brady, and Ethan watching the game.

Mmmmm...fresh peaches from the Farmer's Market. Best enjoyed outside so the juice can drip everywhere!

Olivia swimming in grandma and grandpa's pool. She was not brave enough to jump off of the diving board this year, but she has greatly improved with her swimming this summer (thanks to twice a week lessons for 2 months!). She will put her head under water, can jump into the deep end and swim to the shallow end, can tread water, and has begun to learn several different strokes like the back stroke, breast stroke, and freestyle.

Ethan and grandpa playing basketball in the pool. Ethan is beyond obsessed with any type of a ball. The first thing he talks about and the last thing he says at night is in reference to sports. Baseball, basketball, hockey, football, soccer, it doesn't matter. If it is a sport, he wants to play it all of the time! He frequently says "nice warm day to play (insert sport here) outside!".

Yesterday Springfield received 1 inch of rain in under 30 minutes, making for quite a bit of flooding. We took full advantage of the puddles!

Our soon to be kindergarten student. A picture of innocence...wearing a princess crown and with a princess umbrella, stomping in puddles with Hello Kitty rainboots, and getting wet and muddy and not caring about it.

The gutter/drain fascination lasted for about 20 minutes.

Sitting in the middle of the flowing water racing blades of grass over the waterfall and into the drain. They were loving it!

Olivia's 5th Birthday Party

Our baby girl turned five years old (!) on August 1. We celebrated with a big party of friends and family. Here is a picture of our birthday girl with her crown on (the party theme this year was Princess).


The party was intended to be a swimming party, but temperatures in the upper 70s and an afternoon of rain changed that plan. The kids still had fun playing in the basement together. Here is Olivia, Dominic, and Ali in the teepee.

Cake time! Olivia selected a Tinkerbell cake for the party.

Olivia did not say what her wish was, but blowing out all of the candles should help make it come true!

Thank goodness the rain cleared out by cake time, making post-cake clean up MUCH easier! Here is Ethan, Dominic, Griffin, Samantha, Ava, and Olivia enjoying cake and ice cream.

All of the kids played knights and princesses amazingly well together all afternoon.

Present opening time! The boys quickly lost interest when it was discovered that the majority of her gifts were Barbie themed. But Ava and Samantha were more than willing to help open.

Uncle Thomas and Aunt Rachel with Olivia.

Joe "volunteered" to be the pinata holder. Luckily, this was the type that used pull strings instead of baseball bats!

A scramble for the candy!

Uncle Brennan and Ethan playing together.

After Olivia's friends had left for the day, it was time to open yet another round of gifts...from mommy and daddy! Needless to say, it took 2 days to unpackage all of the gifts!

I was happy to see her excited expression with this gift. I LOVED my Lite Brite growing up, and I was hoping that she would like one, too.

Happy Birthday, Princess! We love you very much!