More August fun before school starts

As usual, we've been going non-stop since our return from California.  One of our favorite things about  this August is having more Bamma time!  After 30 plus years of having to prepare for the school year, she gets this one (and the next 30!) off!  So the boys have been enjoying spending more time with her.

 The weekend of Aug 10th, we had some out of town visitors.  Andrea and Nic were in from Des Moines with Ayla, Kyndal, and Lydia.  We pulled off a big zoo trip with our usual crowd, the Worsts and the Schwantzs.  The kids all got along great!

 After the zoo trip, we came back to our house were the boys showed off the new Captain America costume Bamma and Bampa found.  Sam hates all headwear, except for the tight fitting Captain America mask, go figure!

 How better to end the day than popsicles on the deck?!

 The next day we drove out to where the Richmond/Krogmeier clan was staying and Grandma Becky got tied up by the savages (mostly lead by Ayla and Noah).

 We went to Donley's Wild West town in Union, which is TOTALLY worth the drive out west if your are ever considering.  The kids had a blast!

 Noah tried out the handcrank train.

 Then we took a ride on the real train that's in the park.

 Noah tried his hand and lassoing while Sam was happy just to pet the pretend cow.

 There was a little canoe ride too.

 And panning for gold.  It was a busy, but super fun weekend and it was so nice to spend some time with our buds from our of town.

 Also that weekend was Evelyn's big 2nd birthday party!  Here she is sporting the tutu/minnie shirt that Philie made for her.

 The boys certainly enjoyed the cute minnie-ear cupcakes.

 Then we took a fun train ride downtown the following week to see Bampa at work.  

 Sam took a little snooze on Bamma while we rode.

 Then last weekend we hosted the Schwantz and Worst crew at the lake house.  Of course with a mob of children there I took nearly no pictures.  But it was awesome.  And I got to spend plenty of time watching Leo smile :)

 And Uncle Josh braved the ankle biters and even made us all Monster Cookies, a great weekend!

 And so all the days off lead to the inevitable return to school.  I went back on Monday, working 3 days per week in Hinsdale again.  Noah started at a new preschool.  This year he's at St. Peter's Lutheran school in Schaumburg.  The preschool is actually housed in their newly renovated 100 year old red school house.  It's cute and the teacher is very nice.  Noah was a bit nervous his first day but I think he'll do just fine.  

So, whew, that's what we've been up to the last 2 weeks.  Hope everyone is well and we'll update again soon with more fun and excitement!

4 Year Old and 2 Year Old

Just before vacation, we went to JCPenney's to get the boys photos taken.  Here they are, looking all cute and dapper.  Sometimes they look so big to me, and sometimes they look so small!  So here are my wonderful 4 year old and 2 year old.

California Trip

So, as promised, here are some pictures from our trip to California.  We flew out to San Jose and stayed with our friends, Meera and Jason and their 2 four year olds Kali and Kirin.  The boys adjusted to the time change by leaping into the pool in their backyard.

Then the next day we all headed up to Truckee, California and stayed at a rental home near Donner Lake.  The boys loved traipsing around the backyard finding pinecones as big as their heads!

 Kali and Kirin brought along their beloved pugle, Dawkins.  He was great!

 Sam's favorite Olympic event is the Pinecone Toss.

 There was even an outdoor play area for the kids.

 The kids got along so well, it was pretty normal to see all four of them hanging together on the couch waiting for Mike's pancakes in the morning.

 Sam even convinced Dawkins to sit on his lap.  So cute!

 We went to the beach at Donner lake one morning and did a picnic lunch.  The water was freezing, but the boys had fun playing in the sand.

 Beautiful Donner Lake Marina

 Kali and Kirin enjoy some picnic lunch on the beach.

 We did S'mores one night in the fireplace.

 No surprise they were a big hit!

 The weather was fantastic, up to mid-80s during the day, but cooling off in the evenings.  We did dinner outside to enjoy the scenery.

 One day we went to the rockier beach area that was for dogs, so Dawkins to run around.  The boys enjoyed rock throwing and watching all the dogs that came to play.

 We did an evening nature walk and found a thistle bloom that was pretty big.

 Sam had fun stealing Kali and Kirin's shoes to try them on.  Love how he even coordinates with his shirt.  Kirin gave him a pair of shark slippers to bring home!

 We did a popcorn/jammie/movie night with the kids when the big kids (Mike and Jason) went out for a night on the town.

 Mr. Naughty found some markers (washable thankfully).

 We had a lovely indoor concert one night provided by the 4 year olds.

 One of the bigger highlights was the horseback riding.  Sam had a fit getting a helmet on, but LOVED the horses once he saw them.

 Big kids ready to roll.

 Sam is NOT a fan of headgear.

 They also had a play area with fun little wild west scenery, which made for a good photo op.

 Little rascal looks kind of at home behind bars, huh?

 We also spent a lot of time at the pool.  All the kids enjoyed sporting goggles after watching all the Olympic swimming.  

 And we survived the plane ride home.  The boy traveled amazingly well and we had a wonderful time. We miss our buds in Cali and look forward to another trip sometime soon!