Summer Fiesta

Colton's 3rd Birthday!!

Colton really likes the movie, Cars, so it was quite fitting to have a Cars themed fiesta!

Caleb taking a whack at the pinata

A new hat?

Sonya gets a little help from Angel

Sharing candy

The coolest Cars cake ever!

Labor Day Weekend -- Up North

For Labor Day weekend, we planned to visit Tim's grandparents up north. On Friday, Caleb had a short day at school since it was his first day and Tim took a few hours off of work. Tim got home earlier than I expected and surprised me with a rose. Then he asked if I wanted to go out on a date with him that night. I was confused because we were going to have dinner at his grandparents or so I thought. Apparently that was why he was emailing them from work instead of home. He had already arranged for them to watch the kids and feed them while we went out to a restaurant.

So the kids ate pizza while Tim and I went to the Weatherwood Supper Club. I had stuffed jumbo shrimp and Tim ordered chicken cordon bleu. They had fresh baked bread and a soup and salad bar too. It was so delicious! We had a lot of fun just being goofy and enjoying each other's company. Then we decided to drive to Mountain to see what was there before heading back to his grandparents' house. The sky was so dark and I tried to get a good picture of how cool the clouds looked. My camera didn't do it justice though. Oh well.... here's my attempt:

The sky looked really cool!

I had to get a photo of the kids with their Great Grandma and Grandpa before we left for church. The first one is a little silly. Caleb really likes to pose and make weird noises. Sonya is watching him of course. The second picture is a little better. Well, Caleb is kind of sticking out his tongue or something, but at least Sonya and the rest of them look good!

Great Grandma and Grandpa Wagner with the kids

A slightly better photo

Caleb's First Day of Kindergarten

Caleb has his first day of Kindergarten today! Daddy left for work before Caleb woke up so I had to document everything in photos. Plus, it's always fun to look back on that first day and remember what it was like. I didn't even cry when I dropped him off. I think I was ready for him to go back to school. Now I know what my mom meant when her summer vacation didn't start until we all went back to school!! haha

Lying on the floor in Sonya's room... not quite ready to be awake

Sonya wanted in on a photo -- such a ham!

Ok, he's a little more awake now

Daddy left a note for Caleb and even got him Cap'N Crunch for breakfast

The note

Eating breakfast

Caleb reading his message from daddy

Enjoying Cap'N Crunch

Such a big boy!!

Walking to School

He'll be at Lincoln Elementary

His teacher is Miss Zeske

This is where he hangs his backpack

He survived his first day of kindergarten and was even smiling when he got home!!

After his first day!

Lime Kiln Park

The day before Caleb's first day of school, we ran a few errands in Grafton and then I just wanted to do something special with the kids. We stopped at Starbucks where I got a Mango-Orange smoothie and let Caleb pick out a treat from the bakery items. He chose a cake pop. Sonya got whatever we wanted to share with her. :-) Then we headed to Lime Kiln Park to play for an hour before lunch. It gave me another chance to play with the new camera that Tim bought for me right before he left for CO.

Just walking around

The bridge

Posing by the slides

Ready to swing

Just enjoying the park

I've added a few videos too! The first one is of Caleb going across the monkey bars and back. He's been doing this since he was three, but we've never gotten it on video before. The next one is Sonya's way of going down the slide. She's such a little monkey and can get up and down the playgrounds just as well as her big brother. I try to get behind her to spot her most of the time, but she's very determined to do it herself.

VIDEO: Caleb on the monkey bars

VIDEO: Sonya on the slide

Love this crank thing! It sure gives your arms a work out though!

Bay Beach and the Wildlife Sanctuary

Grandpa and Grandma were on vacation so they took us to Bay Beach and the Wildlife Sanctuary before Caleb started school and before they had to move Uncle Bob into college. It looked like it was going to rain for a while, but it stayed dry while we were there. We went on rides -- mommy even got to go on the big slide with Caleb. Maybe next year Sonya can go down it too! For lunch, we ate subs and grapes and then walked over to the Wildlife Sanctuary for a little bit. Sonya absolutely LOVED being so close to the ducks. Her favorite animal and word to say is "duck." We spent a little time in the Nature Center. They had live bees building a honey comb and a cave to explore in. The beaver slide was neat too (although really fast and dark in there!) 

Caleb and Grandpa on the carousel

Sonya riding her pony

Giddy up!

Two tickets, please!

Riding the train with Grandma

Grandpa and Caleb on the train

Steering the boat

At the playground

Eating lunch

(not the best picture -- but they were laughing so hard at each other)

Climbing in a tree trunk

Grandpa looks so tiny in there

Love

Trying to get a good photo

The kids weren't fully cooperating.. hehe

Grandma and Grandpa Pauly

Wildlife Sanctuary

Someone is carry Sonya again...

Looking at the marsh

Feeding ducks

A little girl shared her corn with Sonya so she could feed the ducks too!

Waterfalls

On the rocks

Uncle Bob

The river (and the ducks)

At the Nature Center -- Caleb is a baby bee

In a turtle shell

Grandpa is a turtle?

Caleb on the kid version of the "yo-yo" swings

Ding Ding goes the train

We finished the day with a few more rides and then stopped at Dairy Queen for ice cream on the way home.  Sonya and Caleb were both exhausted and zonked out on the ride back to Grandma and Grandpa's house though. Mommy was a little tired too. :-)