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Category Archives: Katie

First day of 4th and 1st grades!

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I tried to get pics on the front porch but the lighting just wasn’t right (well, the lighting was good but it was too bright and they wanted to squint).

So we tried elsewhere, but it still wasn’t right…and Katie was cold.

First day of 4th grade. What?! So serious.

Okay, a tiny smile.

Owen and Xavier are the only two at their bus stop at 7:45. Yes, 7:45AM. Needless to say this is the ONLY day I will be going with him. 🙂

Katie’s turn…in her annual T-shirt pictures.

We found the perfect lighting! She was pointing to geese flying overhead.

First day of 1st grade. I can’t even with this outfit and the shoes.

With a backpack almost as big as she is!

At the bus stop with Linkin and Nate (Sophia will be there, too, but she was parent drop off today).

My happy face!!

And later on Facebook I found these pics of how the elementary students were welcomed to school. How cool.

A successful play date!

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My new friend that I met at the playground (LOL) invited us over today so that was right after the orthodontist. They live in a new subdivision in a huge new house and it really made me miss our new houses… And yes, I told her I kind of hated her a little bit. 🙂

The kids all got along—even with Katie! They jumped on the trampoline, played Xbox for a bit, played Legos, had snacks, then played board games.

Anna was really impressed since she said normal playdates only last about 20-30 minutes before one of the boys is done. So apparently Owen and Katie are magic.

Her husband happened to come home early and he was just as great and easy to chat with as she is and we had a great time. I can’t wait for them to meet Tom!

Oh, and you know how I said it was weird how similar we were? Look what she has?

We have the same exact secretary. I have only ever seen one other of these in person and it was at antique store. Bizarre. (Truth be told, I might like ours better if it looked like this. In its current state it is NOT my style.)

The time flew and suddenly it was 3 hours later…

Katie at Six Flags with friends!

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Each kid was playing at a different friends house for quite awhile. Then Katie got invited to Six Flags with them if it was okay with me. Ha! Yes! (These are the same neighbors who first offered to watch the kids while we unpacked the week we moved in. And Katie’s best friend.)

I got this pic in a text…and then a bit later a note saying (and I quote):

We took katie on the condor. She almost puked on Sophia:) she was doing some heavy breathing…didn’t know she did not like big rides:)

After I apologized for not warning them (I thought they’d just be going on the small rides that Katie likes) she said that Katie had been very proud of herself! When Katie came home, she told us about ALL the rides she went on (kids rides, but still…baby steps).

Of course when Owen found out that she had gone without him, he was whiny. Not even considering that

  1. He had spent ALL day playing video games at his friends house.
  2. He doesn’t even like rides.

Kids.

Hurricane Harbor for the first (and likely last) time!

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We were supposed to meet friends at Six Flags water park (Hurricane Harbor) after the play date. Let’s just say things didn’t go quite as planned and I didn’t have the fun time I expected.

  1. It was hot and humid.
  2. It was super busy. As in we got there about an hour or so after they opened and there were still about 200 people in line ahead of us.
  3. Everywhere you looked it was just a sea of wet and/or sweaty humanity. Not my thing.
  4. There was nowhere to sit. I managed to snag one chair in full sun (totally not my thing) and baked there for about two hours while the kids swam.
  5. The person we were meeting ended up being about two hours late but hadn’t really kept me updated so I hadn’t wanted to move too far from our meeting place…or even get in the water. But honestly even if I hadn’t been meeting anyone I wouldn’t have wanted to get in the water…I just hate that many people.
  6. I finally had to get in a line for food around 2:30 because we were starving (the plan had been to eat lunch there) but all the lines are crazy long and move sooooo slowly. The kids and I bypassed the nachos at the place close to us in the hopes of pizza or something but those lines were even more ridiculous. So the kids decided nachos were fine. So even in that short line of about six people…it took almost a half hour. Just asinine. And for crappy food. Not my thing.

My friend eventually made it and we headed to the wave pool…which was an even bigger mess of humanity with less place to sit. And by this time we had three adults and eight kids. We tried to sneak into the new VIP section (since it was practically empty) but got called out within minutes.

The kids loved the wave pool and I let them swim for about half an hour but I was long done and we past rest to get the hell out of there. I have zero desire to go back and told the kids I hoped they entire it because we were going back. (And I was even looking forward to the lazy river.)

PTA playdate at the new playground

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Katie’s school (Owen’s old school) got new playground equipment so the PTA had a playdate there. They do this playdate every year before school starts so hopefully the kids can find other people in their grade and make friends before school starts (each grade wears a different color shirt).

We ran into friends right when we got there…

And then I made a friend, too! It was really hot so I eventually sat on the bench next to another mom and we started chatting and just totally hit it off! We had lots in common (she just moved here, she’s an editor/graphic designer, we have the same sense of humor) and our boys hit it off, too (she has twin fifth graders). I was super excited to say the least.

Finally! A decent road trip meal with the kids and the dog!

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We usually eat fast food on road trips because we are trying to save time or we can’t leave the dog in the car…but today we found a place that had a patio so we could actually stop for a decent road trip meal (she’s under Tom’s chair).

Someone was being grumpy and didn’t want their picture taken.

But this one let me.

First ever grandparent camp!!

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Since we live so close to family now…and the kids are getting older and more self-sufficient, we thought it was time to let them stay for a long visit with the grandparents! As scheduling happened to work out, we went to Michigan for our family Christmas and then left the kids there…and then Gramma Jean and Grandpa David would drive up to meet Papa and Grannie Lin to hand off the kids…and then we’d eventually drive up to the UP to pick them up. They would be gone a total of 19 days, 12 of which they were completely without us. Needless to say we were all looking forward to it…the grandparents were excited about having the kids, the kids were excited about fun with the grandparents, and we were excited to have some alone time and general peace and quiet.

Here are the pics from some of the adventures they had with Gramma Jean and Grandpa David!

Lake Margarethe – of course they made fast friends with other kids who where there!

Roscommon Zoo

Len Christmas in July, Year 5

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And the meat festival begins…Of course Timmy brought a ton of his amazing brats…but this year he added smoked brisket to the menu! HOLY WAH!

And no, your eyes aren’t deceiving you…that’s a Gummy Bear brat. With real gummy bears in it. It wasn’t bad…just a sweet taste. I thought Katie would love it because she LOVES gummy bears but nope. Silly kid.

And the annual kid comparison! After last year when Owen was taller, Nick pulled ahead (which he should, as he’s almost 14).

Owen and Nick 2018

2017:

Owen and Nick 2017

The kids goofing around while I was getting the camera set up.

My test shot to make sure the settings were okay, and I loved it so much I kept it. It’s also fun to see how we can all pull it together for the real photo!

Nick and Owen…conspiring? Planning? Who knows.

Gramma created a project for the kids—money frozen in a block! They had to figure out how to get to it! (It didn’t take them long!)

Oh yeah! We also gained a dog for an hour or so. Mom didn’t recognize him and Tom called the number on his tag and it was animal control…?!? He was good and just hung out with us—got a few pets and belly rubs (Maggie pretty much ignored him). After awhile a young girl came looking for him—and we found out she was visiting someone in the neighborhood.

Overall it was a perfectly gorgeous day—not too hot and not too cold, lots of good food (too much, actually, but we’re Lens so it’s expected), and great visiting with family and watching the cousins play!

Tom saved me from certain injury!

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So you remember that Gramma Jean had a rope swing. Well she got a new swing this year and Tom rigged it up again with a new rope and Katie was really enjoying it. But I wanted to swing too because it’s damn fun. So long story short I ruined the first rope (it was supposed to stretch and rebound but it was too old so when I sat on it it stretched but didn’t rebound). So Tom eventually rigged up a second rope which he tested to make sure it was suitable.

It wasn’t.

He wasn’t hurt, though he was a bit sore.

Needless to say we gave up on the adults using the swing. 🙁

Just a few fireworks.

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Tom and I might have gone a little overboard at the fireworks store…but in our defense the kids love them and all the fun ones are illegal in Illinois. So tonight we did a frog princess and some huge sparklers. (The frog princess was really quite cool but I didn’t get pics because I didn’t think it would last that long… But it kept going and going! I’ll get pics the next time!)

Katie’s birthday adventure with GJ!

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Remember last year when Gramma took Katie out on a birthday adventure? Well, she loved it so much they decided to do it again! But this year, Katie was really nice and invited her brother along, too, since she knew he’d have fun, too. Awwwww, what a sweet Katie bug.

They went to the city park and had a picnic lunch, skipped stones, and played in the river; then went mini golfing and to another playground; and finished off with ice cream from Dairy Queen and a quick treat from Dollar General! They had a great day!