Too Big?

Farmers Market

Sporting their new crowns, handmade by Grandma Kathy. Alex wore his to school Friday for hat day and all the kids asked him if it was his birthday :)

8 Years of Marriage

What a fun ride we are on together! Love and laughter go a long way!

Potty Training Progress...

First Day of First Grade

Actually the best shot from that morning.
How Abby spent the rest of her day, when she wasn't sleeping...

Alex started school on Monday and is loving the fact that more of his friends are joining him at the bus stop this year! His teacher is very sweet and he is in class with a few of his friends from the neighborhood as well. He keeps telling us "First grade is so much different than Kindergarten," and I'm sure he is right about that!

As he was boarding the bus, Abby threw up milk all over the two of us and the sidewalk, luckily missing the schoolchildren! Poor gal spent the rest of the day napping and hanging on the couch with Scooter.

Company Picnic

Saturday morning started out as a thunderstorming mess, but we tried to wait it out in the van until it passed...
After lunch proved to be a better time of day to attempt the picnic. Abby and Alex both enjoy a good round of mini-golf.

The refinery brought out their ladder truck and let the kids take a look inside. It was a really nice looking vehicle that we pray never sees much use.

Cotton candy snack, yum!

Once his disappointment over the lack of bounce houses subsided, Alex took to climbing this rock wall. He scaled it quickly and confidently while Brad and I watched in awe as he hit the bell at the top :) What a big kid!

Daddy's Helper

Back To School Haircuts

This beautiful coiffe needed a little cleaning up on the ends...
2 inches or so later...
Ms. Kathy even gave Abby a fun braid to play with after her haircut. She did surprisingly well!

Alex, ready for 1st grade to start next week!

Bedtime Books

August in Cincinnati

August has flown by! We travelled to Cincinnati earlier this month when Great-Grandma wasn't feeling well and stayed for an extended visit since Brad was travelling for work anyway. The kids enjoyed seeing lots of family and the change of scenery for a while. We swam in Grandma's pool, played at the Splashground at Woodland Mound Park, shopped for back to school things, played outside, ate sno-cones, went bowling, visited Grandma's office, and sifted through Brad and Jackie's toys from the 80s (great fun!). Great-Grandma is home now and getting stronger each day which makes us all happy, especially her! Many thanks to Grandma Kathy for letting us turn her house upside-down indefinitely! Brad was certainly happy to see us when we returned home on Thursday.

Visit with Grandma Eileen

Grandma Eileen came to visit at the end of July (yikes, I am behind!) and we had fun taking the kids to see Winnie the Pooh at the movie theater. This was Abby's first movie and Alex's second. Alex really enjoyed it and Abby made it through with enough popcorn. We may wait a little while longer before we take her back again. I had a Groupon for Space Golf which is miniature golf under blacklights and the kids especially thought this was great fun. I am glad we did not even attempt to keep score! We also made our last visit to the zoo for the summer. School starts in just one week!

End of T-Ball Season

After Alex's last t-ball game there was a little ceremony at the YMCA where each team paraded in and the children each received a "medal" for participating. All in all, a good season. Alex enjoyed this sport more so than soccer but was not in any rush to sign up for fall ball. We may lay low until the Spring, picking up some indoor activities between now and then.