History in the Making!

My oh my time continues to fly by! We've got some catching up to do! Both kids are into the school year now and we, (mostly me) have finally gotten use to having 2 kids in school!
We made sure and had some good ole' back to school fun before the craziness began, and we did just that! Here is an update from a few of our back -to- school journey's!
Dylan had his very first trip to the Iowa State Fair with Grandpa Kinney this year. He loved it. He got to experience all of the fair fun....food, animals, rides and more!

We also ventured to Kinnick Stadium for Kids Day, and one last sneak peek to see the Hawkeyes before the season started!

 It was a nice day and very warm in the sun. We forgot how hot it would be sitting in the sun until we left and saw the kiddo's pink faces...opps! But it was a very fun day. They had lots of activities for kids and it was a great way to get our fix of some pre-Hawkeye football!

 Nachos and cheese...YES please!!!

I had some fun cooking up some crazy food for Dylan the weekend before school started! He didn't quite know what to think of these noddles and cheese. He ate....only the colors he approved of!

We had a fun night at the Kernel's game for Mommy's work! It was another HOT August night but a nice breeze made the evening very tolerable. Dylan loved the ballpark fare and watching the game, dancing in the stands and trying to catch a shirt from the cannon! It was a great night supporting our local Baseball team!

Then the time came for school to begin and this Mama was pretty nervous and both Brad and I were sad. How in the world has the past 4 years gone by so fast to now have both of our kids in school. We sucked it up, prepared the best we could and the excitement in both of the kids faces was priceless. That is what it is all about!

Danielle is a Little Lion this year at Bowman Woods Preschool Program!

 Her first full day of school she brought home some art and we LOVED it! This is a keeper for sure!!!

 We had a few more days to prepare for Dylan to start, after Danielle started so we took some more time to enjoy a few more days of summer! I had the Friday off before Dylan started school so we had some Dylan and Mommy time out for a lunch date! Carlos O'Kelly's his choice for chips, salsa & lunch!

 We took more advantage of summer temperatures and played outside! Our swing set got a lot of use this summer, nothing made Daddy more happy than seeing his hard work put to great use!

 We took a Sunday visit to visit Great Grandma Holub before her knee replacement surgery. We always love a visit with Great Grandma and she is so kind and always has some goody's for the kids too!

                                     And then the day came, our little boy started Kindergarten!! We were both fully content and excited for this day for Dylan. We love his school so much that there were no bouts of nervousness in our tummy's, we are familiar here and that helped keep my emotions at bay :-)
                                                 

  He is so proud to be a 'BIG kid' now!!

 Dress code is new for him this year and so far it has not been an issue at all. He fully knows the difference between Kindergarten clothes and play clothes and the last Wednesday of every month is a free dress day, those days are a BIG deal :-)

And after his first full day of school he got the sweetest note home from his new teacher so we treated Dylan to some Orange Leaf, YUM!

And after the first full week of school for both kids is when I began to get a little sad. Life was crazier than ever at this moment and it was the beginning of what is yet to come! I love it and I don't know it any other way, but my baby's are no longer, they are growing up and we couldn't be more PROUD!
    What a better way to celebrate the end of the first week of school than with a milestone, Brad and I celebrated our 10 year Wedding Anniversary! Yes, 10 years, WOW! It surely doesn't feel like it has been that long!

And then we look at these two little beauty's and we realize even more how grand life is and how blessed we are!

I think this sums it up pretty darn well!

I love you Brad, thank you for making these past 10 years the best ever! I look forward to making more memories with our family for the rest of our life!

 

We went away for the weekend on a camping adventure with the LeConte's and some new friends too. We ventured to Morwood where we had rented cabins for a weekend of fun! The WHOLE family was included on this trip, Skylar too!

 The car was PACKED to say the least!!! Adding the puppy in and her cage was like packing for another child! But it was so worth it!

 

 Our Cabin for the weekend!

 We arrived late afternoon and quickly made ourselves at home! We had brought all of our bedding and goodies needed for camping. The cabins were great, the had A/C which is a MUST for August camping, electricity, a refrigerator and microwave and running water right outside. It was just what we needed!

The kids wasted absolutely no time getting together and taking off from cabin to cabin and to the camper having a ball. We rented 3 cabins and another couple had a camper so we had kind of our own little community, it was great!

 The beginning of the fire for the next 3 days!

 Playing Jenga with firewood kept the big kids busy for HOURS! Who would have thunk!

 Each family brought one meal to share for everyone, it worked out very well. It minimized the worrying about what to have for 3 meals every day when you just brought food to prepare for everyone for 1 meal. We shared ideas to ensure everyone like what we were bringing. Our meal was Saturday lunch! We had a feast!

 Camping kiddo's!

Daddy's lap made the perfect spot for an afternoon siesta while the big kids were at the pool!

 The campground had evening hay rack rides which was right up these kids alley! At the certain times all of the camping kids would run for the tractors to grab their favorite spot on the hay rack!

 Play ground and big sand box got a lot of use!

  Roasting marshmellows are a must for camping....whether its raining or not!

  In the mornings we would wake up by the pitter patter of little feet. The kids running to each others cabin's to see if their friends were awake! This morning was cartoon movie time on the ipod strapped on the bunk!

 Danielle loved her first 'roughing' it camping experience!

 Look at these boys, now 6 years old. We are so blessed by the friendship we have built with this amazing family who knows exactly what we went thru with these boys.

Roomates in the NICU = Buddies for life!!

  And camping is complete and so relaxing with evenings out by the fire. Staying up till the wee hours of the morning with the kids snuggled in their beds, the adults had a little 'adult' fun of their own. It was a great weekend and a good getaway for our 10 year Anniversary, making memories is what it is all about....History in the making!

So we are all settled into our Fall routines of school, bundling up, cool fall breezes and fresh Fall scents yum! One of our favorite times of the year is now in full swing! Fall fun coming up!~