Back to school 2015!

So, we are back at it, school 2015!  Noah and I both started on the same day this year.  So off I went to begin my 5th year in Hinsdale, and off he went to begin 2nd grade.  Mike went in late so that he could take him for the first day.  They walked over with the neighbors on Wednesday 8/19/15.

 Big 2nd graders!  Not in the same class this year, boo!

 Ready to start the year in Mrs. Maslowski's class!

 He was excited, not too anxious this year.  I think he felt pretty confident that he knew the drill this year, so it was a pretty easy start.  Sam is doing another year of preschool and that doesn't start up till after Labor Day.

 I was home on Friday, so we celebrated the end of the first week with popsicles!

 So we've settled into our weekly schedule.  This year I'm working Tues/Wed/Thurs with my parents here on Tuesday and our nanny, Laura, here on Wed/Thurs.  The younger two have enjoyed some outside play during this cooler week (in the 70s!).  Isaac likes to "fix" things with giant sticks.

 And yes, we're back in homework mode.  It's never fun, but fortunately Noah knows his strengths and weaknesses...

And so, here we go, into another (hopefully) successful school year!

Summer 2015 is in the books!

Here we are, August and yet again it's time to get back to school.  I'd say we've logged another highly successful summer, crossing off some big things on the kid (and mom) bucket list.  This last week, we were able to squeeze in a last few!  We went to the outlet mall in Aurora with my mom.  Nothing too exciting about buying new pants, but cookies with copious amounts of frosting are highly exciting!

 Mike was in California all week for work, so we went to stay at my folks on Monday night.  Of course we had some quality time with the Churchias and the Skaggs!

 Sleepovers must mean donuts, right?!

 On Tuesday we joined the Worsts in a glorious day at the Indiana Dunes.  Seriously, we will be doing this many more times in the years to come, the kids LOVE the beach!

 Noah was a big fan of the surf, Sam actually managed to climb up 2 of the big dunes, and Isaac was content to play at the waters edge in the sand.

 It was a wonderful day, a great way to spend an August day!

 After another night in Burr Ridge, we returned to the comforts of home and some costume play.

 Roselle Park District hosts a "Bounce Back to School" even each year.  It was mobbed, but thankfully Kjersten came with and waited in lines with Noah while Sam and Isaac were content to play in one of the smaller bounce houses.

 Cotton candy and snow cones were a hit, giant lines were not.  Thinking next summer we may skip this event, but it was a nice night nonetheless!

So this weekend, our official last summer weekend, was spent with a lot of play time.  Noah and Sam have really gotten into Minecraft lately.  The screen play has now carried into real play as they construct buildings and such.  A trip to visit Papa garnered some minecraft figures from Cesca!

 We close the summer as we started, with a trip to Oberweis!  It seems like it passed in a blink, and yet we were able to pack in so many fun memories!  Daddy tried to teach them a bit about chess as we waited for our ice cream.

 Fountain fun, one last time!

 And one last note, Josh successfully completed a Spartan race this weekend.  He kind of got roped in for work, but managed to survive despite some intense heat.  Way to go Josh!

So, here we go into the school year.  Noah and I both start on Wednesday and Sam will start up (with another year of preschool) after Labor Day!

School is approaching...

As we prepare to head back to school on August 19th (for both me and Noah), we are attempting to squeeze in some last bits of summer fun.  The same storm that dropped hail on us just before Evie's party gave a pretty awesome lightning storm that night, this picture doesn't do it justice it was incredible!

 I was tentatively scheduled for a work training on Monday, so we were planning on heading to Burr Ridge so my parents could watch the kids.  The training was cancelled, but we went to Burr Ridge instead and enjoyed some time at Harvester Park and a special lunch at Culver's with Bamma.

 My folks recently got an apple TV and the boys had some fun projecting from the iPad to the TV.  Angry Birds on the big screen in surround sound, how exciting!

 Isaac awoke from a nap with some epic bedhead!

 Mike was gone on a business trip to Minnesota, so we had to mix it up a bit to keep things fun without him around.  We watched Mary Poppins and had a picnic dinner!

 When we went to the store Rocket Fizz last week, we picked up some interesting sodas to try out.  The first taste test was Orange soda versus Dragon's Drool (which was black licorice flavored).  Dragon's Drool surprisingly won out!  Another night we tested out Butterscotch, Sarsaparilla, and Grapefruit.  Noah liked the butterscotch and Sam liked the Sarsaparilla!

 The quest for independence is often fraught with difficulty when you are two...

 Faith came to visit with our favorite chunkers, Xavier!  Cousin love!

 He's even wearing a onesie that my mom purchased for Isaac, yay for family hand me downs!

 She shared her knowledge of how to make Kolache cookies.  Basically A LOT of butter!  The boys all enjoyed rolling out the dough and shaping the cookies.

 While the cookies baked there was some time for mutual cousin adoration.  Poor Xavier didn't even get a nap in because his cousins were all over him!

 We did another cooking project this weekend, cocoa puff treats.  They were delicious!

 "I'm not tired, mom..."  Boy this summer fun is sure catching up with us!

So, onward we go to enjoy our last full week of summer!

And, so we're on to August...

The quest to fill our summer with fun continues with great success!  Mike worked from home on Monday, so I tried out some headphones with tunes to help Isaac keep quiet during a phone call.  It worked pretty well and he looked super cute while rocking out too!

 The big guys had annual doctor visits, we geared up for it by hitting Red Mango in Burr Ridge while Isaac napped.  Stats update - Sam gained four pounds this year to hit 34 pounds (7th percentile) and grew 2.5 inches to hit 40.75 inches (10th percentile).  Noah gained eight pounds this year to hit 60 pounds (75th percentile) and grew 3 inches to hit 50.5 inches (75th percentile).  Keep up the good growing gentleman!

 On Wednesday, we drove up to Glenview to meet Mike for lunch.  We found a nice park with swings and a fun playground nearby.

 The shopping area where we met Mike had a Rocket Fizz store that carries unique candy and soda.  Of course we had to stop in a pick up some treats!  Sam opted for gummy turtles.

 Noah selected giant peppermint patties.

 Thursday offered another beautiful evening for a local outdoor concert.  This week, Sam and I had a date night.  It was a classic rock cover band, he loved it!  (Of course he also loved the gummy worms too!)

 Thursday was also special because Mrs. Laura took the boys up to her house for a few hours so I could do some closet purging and organizing.  They enjoyed the park near her house, had some Subway for lunch, and were able to meet her daughter, husband, cat, and turtle.  They had a great time!

 On Friday we met up with the Worst clan for a fun morning of mini golf!

 We also enjoyed Pilot Pete's for lunch!

 Saturday was a fun family day with some paper airplanes at the park.

 On Sunday, a big hailstorm blew through very quickly and dropped some big pieces of hail!

 Sunday was the big Schwantz birthday party!  This year they did not disappoint with a really wonderful balloon twister!

 Calvin opted for a traditional sword.

 Fred chose a lightsaber.

 Things got pretty crazy when Noah asked for a minecraft guy!

 And Sam got an octopus!

 We decided to go a bit smaller with Isaac's puppy.

 Uncle Bob, just one of the kids!

 The birthday kiddos!  Happy 3rd Leo!

 Happy 5th Evie!

So with the summer whizzing by, we have just a couple more weeks to cram in some more great memories before the school year starts up again.  Off we go!!!