The summer weather continues, for now, and we have enjoyed every bit of it! We celebrated Sam surviving his first week of Kindergarten with a bit of ice cream with the neighbors on a Friday!
Bamma was up to her usual project fun: graham cracker aquariums and paper plate dinos!
Ellie had a naughty moment where she swallowed an entire rib (meat AND bone) in one bite. Fortunately, she was no worse the wear, but had a nice BBQ sauce beard of shame!
Hattie and Isaac had their very own truck day! When the big kids went off the school on a fun Friday, we headed up to Palatine and prepared our head gear!
We stopped off in Crystal Lake so Philie could look at some furniture. It was a gorgeous day, so we enjoyed some train watching while we waited.
At Stan's office, we donned the appropriate safety vest, et al.
It was incredible! Hattie and Isaac both got turns driving the big fork lift truck with Uncle Stan!
Isaac really is a "truck" boy, so this made his day!
Some swag to boot? How fun!
In a total example of "3rd kid-itis" we had to make an emergency target run to get a backpack. I really thought I had one for him somewhere, oh well! At least they were all on sale since we waited to the last minute!
We celebrated Francesca's 11th birthday with all the family! Proud Papa with all 7 grandkids!
It was finally Isaac's turn! His first day of 3 year old preschool with Ms. Megan!
Bamma and Bampa took him and reported no tears or reluctance, he went right in and enjoyed the day. He didn't even want to leave when class was over!
Sam began his fall sport, this year he's giving basketball a try! It's just a class, not a team with games against opponents yet. Perfect speed for Sam!
Then, this past weekend was RODEO weekend! It's much easier to travel with these hooligans nowadays. It makes the experience even more fun!
Parade watching requires double fisting of treats!
Cowboy shirts and hats good to go!
The kids really do all love spending time together!
After some hotel rest and relaxation, we were ready to go to the rodeo!
Who would have thought when I met these ladies at U of Iowa back in 2001 it would result in this wonderful tradition (and 8 kids!!!).
Load them up, daddy!
Pony rides up first, so much fun!
I think Sam exists solely to eat cotton candy, it's his FAVORITE thing in the world!
Family selfie!
The animals were cool to see too!
We lined up all the kids for one last shot before leaving! We can't wait to do it again next year!
So today we are back to our usual schedule of school, etc. Now Isaac has started off his fall sport, gymnastics. He had a great first session, looking forward to seeing what he learns!
