Weekend Shenannigans

 Well, we survived our first week of school, and we actually didn't have any plans for this past weekend. We finally got to spend a weekend at home!

Emma had a sleepover at Lily's house on Friday for her birthday. So, it was just Elliott, John, and I. We decided to go to Great Bear for a summer celebration. They had bouncy houses, yard games, beanbag tournament, and a bonfire with s'mores. John and I participated in the beanbag tournament, and got our butts kicked in the first round. Elliott was so disappointed in us. We enjoyed some of the games, got kind of bored, and then left. We did some grocery shopping and then headed back home. 

On Saturday, I went to pickup Emma in the morning, and then we headed to the library to pick out some new books. It ended up being a really hot day, and the kids were tired, so we had a pretty easy day of some Ipad time, naps, and then indoor activities. In the evening when it cooled off, we biked over to Hayward park to spend some time in the splash pad and then play on the playground. The kids had a lot of fun, and it was nice to get them active and outside for a while. 

On Sunday, we went to church, and then Emma and I headed to the Humane Society for our first shift as volunteers. We stayed for about 2.5 hours. We made sure the cats had water, snuggled and played with cats, cleaned some kennels, dusted, and then played some more with the cats. Emma loved every second of it. It was a pretty satisfying way to spend a hot afternoon. 

Elliott spent the day playing with Salvatore. They played Pokemon, made rainbow loom bracelets, and just generally hung out for most of the day. 

The weekend in now wrapping up. The kids are in full chill mode before bed. I am trying to catch up on some things, and then I plan to shower and read and go to bed at a decent time. We are preparing for a busy week. And the heat is in full force today. It was around 94 degrees and the humidity is off the charts. It's gross outside. 

I'm ready for fall. 

Emma loving on some cats 

First Day of School 2024

 Another school year is upon us. Once again, I feel like I blinked and summer flew by and now we are back in school mode. Overall, the kids were ready to get back to school. They missed their routine and seeing their friends every day. 

Emma is now in 7th grade. She is officially and upper grader, and she's the third oldest kid in the school. That's crazy. She has Mrs. Jakober for most of her classes. She is planning on participating in cross country and volleyball this fall. She has never done volleyball before, and she is really excited about it. She still loves science, does pretty well at math, but hates social studies and language arts. Emma has turned into a little reader over the last year. She is a full-on bookworm, and I love it. Her current favorites are Warrior Cats and Wings of Fire. Overall, she has a pretty good attitude about school this year, and I'm excited for her to have a good year. 

Elliott is now in 4th grade. He is officially in the upper graders room, and he is taller than most of the other kids. He was a little nervous about being in a new room, but a couple days into school, he is loving his new room. He thinks social studies will be his hardest class, and he still really likes science and math as well. I do have to twist his arm to read. He does really well reading once he starts, but it's always a battle to get him to read. And we set a timer, and once the timer goes off, he is done and onto the next thing. Elliott is going to participate in cross country and Dakota Alliance Soccer. He is really excited for his soccer season to start. 

The first couple days of school went really well. The kids had no complaints, no homework. and overall seemed to enjoy themselves. They were super tired every evening, but that always happens the first week because the kids get so over stimulated. Luckily, the first week is usually only 3 days long to ease the kids into things. 

This next week things start to get crazy. Practices start for cross country, volleyball, and soccer. So, we will be running around and having some wild evenings. But, that's the way things usually roll for us. 

We are all excited and ready for a new school year. This year, the kids are packing their own lunches, remembering their own backpacks, and being responsible for more things. Here's hoping everyone has a smooth and successful school year!

First Day of School

The Turner County Fair

 We went right from the wedding into the fair. Literally, on Sunday, we woke up, drove home, unpacked, repacked, and then headed to the fair. 

I actually stayed home on Sunday to do laundry, unpack all the bags, and catch up at home. The kids and John headed to the fair to get the animals and projects checked in, and enjoy the free supper. They also got settled into the camper, and spent the night. 

On Monday, I came out in the morning because Emma and I had to help with the 4-H judging with the safety posters and hobby binders. It was long and boring like last year, and Emma ditched me after a couple of hours. My parents came to the fair at around 10:00 am, and they had fun walking around, seeing the projects, and enjoying the fair. They also got to watch the kids show their bunnies. The rabbit show was at 3:00pm. Emma's rabbit got a red ribbon, but she got third place in showmanship, so that was exciting. Elliott got a blue ribbon on his bunny, and didn't place in showmanship, but I was proud of him for doing it. Mom and Dad stayed until around 5:00pm, and then they headed home, and we headed to town for open house for school. We got the kids settled into their desks, talked with the teachers, and got them signed up for everything they need for the school year. 

We all slept at home and took showers on Monday night, and then we had to get up really early and head back to the fair for our 4-H stand shift. It started at 0630 and went until 11:30am. It was a fairly busy morning, and we were all pretty tired after out shift. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We walked around, looked at exhibits, rode a couple rides, and ate some fair food. John headed back home for the night, and I stayed in the camper with the kids. 

Wednesday was another full day at the fair without any real agenda. We went to the Zoo mobile show at Heritage Park and learned about some animals. Then, we did some bunny chores, walked around, hung out at the camper, and ate some more fair food. I did volunteer and sell some ride tickets in the office for a couple of hours with Emma. That evening, we met up with Jeff and Samantha to have supper and hang out. The kids showed them all their projects, including Elliott's Champion Chicken photo. Then, we all played some Bingo for the evening. After bingo, Katie and I went back to Sioux Falls for the night while John stayed in the camper with the kids. I was ready for a night at home in my own bed. 

On Thursday, we took our time heading back to the fair and made it back there at around lunch time. John was volunteering and driving golf cart, so the kids and I spent some time on the fairgrounds. By the last day, we were all pretty faired out. But, it was a great fair, the kids did well and had fun, and the weather was beautiful. Thursday night we picked up projects and bunnies around 9pm, and then called it a night. 

Friday was a pack up and catch up day. We packed up the camper and campsite, and then headed home. We did some laundry, cleaned, and enjoyed being home. I also gave blood at Remedy, while John had a beer or two. We also took a trip to Sam's Club to get snacks and groceries for school starting again. We made quite a haul, but got a lot of good stuff. 

On Saturday, we took the kids to River Fest. John and I actually volunteered while at River Fest. I worked the Beer tent from 4-7:30pm and John worked from 7:30-11:00pm. I had fun working in the beer tent, and then I got to take the kids around at River Fest and enjoy all the activities. There was an Art bus that was pretty cool, and a nice green area that had spinning chairs, beanbags, and other activities. I bought the kids some shaved ice, and we just walked around and looked at things for a while. It was a really fun evening and the kids really enjoyed themselves. 

Sunday was another busy day (do they ever end?). We had church, and then we had the Kick off to Christian Education. We had a couple bouncy houses, a beanbag tournament, Gorilla Vanilla Ice Cream Truck, and a hamburger and hotdog supper. It was a fun, busy, afternoon. 

Finally, after that crazy week, we had the rest of the day to relax. We just chilled at home. We finished the Home Improvement series, which was a big milestone, and then we just enjoyed a quite, lazy evening. 

Mom and Dad bought this for our 14th Anniversary 

Elliott and Peek-A-Blue 

The rabbit show 

We won 6 Zebra Donuts for doing this 

Fair time

Happy 14th Anniversary to us! (Another one spent at the fair)

Bingo time 

Helping out at the church stand 

Ryan and Emily's Wedding

 After 2 years of planning, and talking about it, Ryan and Emily's wedding has come and gone. It was a really fun weekend, but it was so busy and went by so quickly. 

It all started on Friday evening, when we headed to Minnesota. We stopped in Redwood Falls at the Scicily Boutique to pick up the suits for the boys. We ran into an interesting problem there. Elliott's pants ended up not fitting very well. They were way too tight in the hips and too short. He ended up gaining two inches in the hips and he grew an inch. So, we had a problem. Luckily, Bonnie called in an overnight order and John and Elliott just had to drive to Granite Falls the next morning. It was a sucky problem, but at least we had a solution. 

There were a couple of other problems before the wedding as well. Michelle and Adam had their baby two days before the weeding, so they couldn't come to the wedding or be in the wedding. So, everyone was a little bummed about that. And Alex (the best man) almost didn't make it back from Canada. So, things were happening and there was some stress. 

After we figured out the suits, we headed to the farm. The kids played around on mom's new e-bike (and no one got injured, thank goodness). At 5:00 pm we headed to Gibbon for the rehearsal. We walked through the wedding ceremony and practiced walking in and out. It was a good practice and took care of some of the nerves. 

After practice, we headed to Ryan's for supper. We had pulled pork, brisket, a pasta salad, cheesy potatoes, and bars. And drinks. It was a nice little celebration, and Michelle and Adam even stopped by with their new baby girl. We all enjoyed the party, but we had to call it an early night. The girls all had to be in New Ulm by 7:00 am the next morning, so it was time to go to mom and dad's house and get ready for bed. 

Saturday was a very long, very fun day. We got up at 5:30 am so we could get ready, packed up, and get to New Ulm by 7:00 am. We did pretty well. Emma even got up without too much problem, and we had time for some coffees and a hot cocoa before we arrived at The Hive. 

The Hive was a really cute little place to rent for getting ready for a wedding, or baby showers. It was adorable. Emily had a hairdresser and a makeup artist come in, and we all got our hair and makeup done. It took awhile, and we barely all got done on time. It was very close (good thing we were down a bridesmaid). I really loved how my hair and makeup turned out, I even tried fake lashes, and those went pretty well. Emma got her hair done and she looked so pretty. We decided that makeup for her would be a little overkill, so I just put some makeup on Emma, and just a touch of makeup looked pretty good on her. We also enjoyed some mimosas and muffins during the getting ready time. Then, of course, we got our dresses, and accessories on. And we helped Emily get ready as well. She made such a beautiful bride!

We left the Hive around 10:45 to get to the church for photos. We were running a little behind, but overall doing well on time. Photos went really well and pretty quickly. We did the bridal party photos outside, and then the family photos inside the church. The kids handled the photos really well. First, I should talk about how good they looked. Emma was absolutely gorgeous. She honestly looked 5 years older with her hair and makeup, and then a formal dress. She liked being a part of the wedding and being included with everything. She had a great day, she did really well with the photos and walking down the isle, and being patient. I was super proud. Elliott also did very well. He looked so handsome in his suit, and he also did really well with the other boys, the photos, the waiting, and the pants-not-fitting fiasco. I was also so proud of Elliott. 

After photos, we had some time to chill in the basement of the church. We ate a little lunch, had bathroom breaks (and helped the bride) and then before we knew it, it was time for the ceremony. The kids got a little nervous at this point, but they did really well. The ceremony went well. It started on time, everyone filled their roles well, everyone said their vows and exchanged rings. There were a couple hiccups. Ryan and Emily had a little trouble with their unity candle. It did not want to light. The priest had to like whittle around the wick so it would finally light. Luckily, there was a long soloist song during this time, so they had some time to make it work. And they got it lit in the end. And then when they exchanged rings, Emily accidentally almost put the ring on Ryan's right hand, but they corrected it in time. But the congregation chuckled a little. 

But the silly moments aside, it was a beautiful ceremony and it was special to be a part of it. Both Ryan and Emily got emotional a couple of times, and that was sweet. After the wedding, we got on the party bus (no kids allowed) and headed to the reception. We stopped at DJs in Gibbon, and then the Sleepy Eye Brewery in Sleepy Eye. And we had some drinks along the way. We were all feeling good and having a good time at this point. 

We got to the reception around 6:00pm. We did our silly walk-in when they announced the couple. Emma gave Elliott a piggyback ride in, and then ended up tripping on her dress and they both went down. Nobody was hurt, and it was pretty funny. John and I did the twist, which was pretty dorky. Then, we got to enjoy a nice meal of pork chop, roast beef, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, and a bun. And they had cupcakes and cookies for dessert. It was delicious, and I was starving by then. And needed something in my stomach. Next up was toasts, tears, and kisses. 

After all that, we finally checked into our hotel room and hauled our bags into the room. And then it was time for the dance. The kids were dancing machines. Emma couldn't wait to change out of her dress, and then she danced the night away. She even did the worm. And of course Elliott was dancing all night. He was leading line dances and break dancing in front of everyone. And he had Cody and Kyle to hang out with, so he was a happy little boy. 

We all danced a lot, drank a lot, and overall had a really fun time. We all stayed until the end of the dance (Emma left a little early and went to bed). It was really hard to believe how fast the weekend flew by. I felt like I was surrounded by family and friends all day, but barely spent any time with them because the whole day was so busy. But, I am so happy for Ryan and Emily, and it was a really fun day. 

Congrats to the newlyweds!!

Rehearsal supper 

Beautiful wedding hair 

Emma's hair 

So pretty!

The bride!

The dads 

They got their names up there!

Reception time