Summer Fun

We had to put sweatshirts on for the walk to school this morning. Seems odd considering Veda's classes were cancelled last Thursday and Friday due to heat. Winston and Adele started their new fall schedule at Fraser today... Fall is finally here. Here's a re-cap of our crazy fun summer.

Our neighbor, Anna, was our summer babysitter and spent every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with the kids. Tuesday and Thursday Adele and Winston were at Fraser and Veda was busy "camp hopping" from week to week.

Summer 2013:
3 Vacation Bible Schools (in Iowa City and Minneapolis)
Creepy Crawler Camp
Fairy Tales Camp
Bear Hugs Acting Camp
Construction Camp
Farm in the City Camp
4th of July week in Clear Lake
Iowa State Fair
Two trips to Iowa City
Ladies night at the Package Tour concert
Lots of walks around Lake Harriett and visits to Bread and Pickle
An awesome visit with the Soffins from California
Veda's 5th birthday celebration
Daily trips to the park and pool for Winston and Adele
A visit from our friends Kim and Kai from KC
Mom's trained for her 10k race in October
Veda's first sleepover with her friend Ava
An adults only weekend in Clear Lake
Tuesday night date nights for Mom and Dad
And plenty of popsicles and sweet corn!

Creepy Crawler Camp

S'mores at the lake

St. Louis Park Pool

                                              Mom's night out at the Package Tour;)

                                                     Backyard sprinkler fun

                                                   Bread and Pickle at Lake Harriet

Music in the park in Coralville

Just one of our many trips to "The Cone" in Clear Lake

Clear Lake Randomness

Winston's first rides at Mall of America

Ava gave Veda a "Best Friends" necklace

Story time with Nicole

Tea Time at the State Fair

Friends in Clear Lake - 1st Annual Trip

Adele being Adele

Arts and Crafts at the Iowa City Farmer's Market

Adele doing Yoga with the College kids in IC

Veda's First Day of School

It's finally here, Veda's first day of school.  It's been the highlight of her conversations for the last several months.  This morning, the whole family walked her over to her school and into her room where she was greeted by her new teacher, Mrs. Williams.  Veda walked in, hung up her school bag, and walked over to her table, with her name tag and waved goodbye to us.  That was the extent of her anxiety (I think mom was definitely a bit more sad).

It's been extremely hot here this week (in the high 90's), so Veda had to pack a water bottle to stay hydrated in class.  Luckily her room was one of the rooms that is air conditioned.  We are anxiously awaiting to hear about her first day in class.

18 Month Stats

Winston weighed in at 26lbs and 13oz (75-90%). He is 34.5 inches tall (97%) and his head is 19.5 (95%). He babbles nonstop these days. He loves to sing ABC's and Twinkle Twinkle - blurting out random words and letters as they come to him. He carries around a blankie and stuffed monkey and refuses to go to sleep without them. He is a rising star at daycare and hasn't fought us drop-off for weeks. Instead he takes his seat and waves goodbye to us;) He LOVES his sisters and giving hugs and he LOVES his I-Pad (which is one of the few words he can pronounce clearly). He has scrapes and bruises on every inch of his body and he is 100% boy! He screams every time he sees a tractor or train or airplane.

5 Year Stats

Veda weighed in at 45 lbs. and she is 45 inches tall! Unfortunately she had to have 4 shots AND have her blood drawn to test for allergies. We had a little scare a few weeks ago after she ate some nuts and the tests confirmed that she is very allergic to Cashews. So we had to get an EpiPen and luckily Veda is very serious about her limitation and will ask everyone if anything they are serving contains nuts.

 

Happy 36th Dad!

Todd spent the day golfing with friends in Des Moines but not before the kids surprised him with his birthday balloons.

Boating on Lake Minnetonka

Friday night Adele and I had our first trip out to Lake Minnetonka on the Nickell's new boat. Originally the whole crew was supposed to go but Veda and Winston were still out cold with their naps, so it was a good chance for Adele to do something fun on her own.  Adele and Hudson had a blast on the boat. Got to swim, eat at Lord Fletchers and play hide and seek in all the boat compartments.  Made for some funny pics.

Who Wore it Best?

Visiting the Iowa State Fair 2013

We made the annual trip to the Iowa State Fair this past Wednesday.  Hit all the key spots, the baby farm animal exhibit, the agriculture building to see the Butter Cow, the cattle barn to see the biggest bull contest winner, the pig barn to see the biggest boar winner.  Then to the Bill Reilly talent stage to watch the little kids sing and dance.  Oh yeah, and we ate our fair share of State Fair food.  Ribs from Rib Shack, Corn Dogs for the kids, Watermelon for Veda and Milk Shakes from the Dairy Barn.  Yep, that about sums it up.

Happy Middle Child Day

Not to over-shadow Veda on her Birthday, but today is national middle child day!  You stay weird Adele!

Happy 5th Birthday Veda!

Extreme Birthday Party Planning

Veda officially turned 5 today, but got to celebrate in a big way this past Friday.  Nearly 30 kids + adults attended and it was a good one.  It was a bug theme where Kathy went above and beyond by creating bug themed food (unfortunately we forgot to take picks).  We then played the cotton ball game (where you rub vaseline on the kid's noses and they run around picking up cotton balls without their hands).  Then all the kids got to take a whack at the butterfly pinata (even Winston).  Pretty great b-day party (even the parents had a little too much fun)...

 

 

The Soffins are Here!

Veda's long lost buddies (Jacob & Alex Soffin) from California arrived this weekend to help us celebrate Veda's birthday (and more importantly, a good reason for the parents to have some fun).  The kids had a blast and were certainly exhausted by Sunday, but it was a great time.  Lots of fun at the park, Minnesota Zoo, Mall of America rides and of course a big party on Friday night.  They will be missed, but we plan to head out to LA this winter (not a bad trade off - MN in the summer and Cali in the Winter).

Little Buddies

Most of our friends seem to have kids the same age as Veda or Winston, but very few the same age as Adele (which means she is usually playing with the smaller kids or constantly picking on the bigger kids).  Well, Hudson Nickell is a good match for her, even though he is a bit younger.  This was a couple great candid shots of the two little guys walking down the path to Lake Riley.  And then other of them up to no good on their picnic table while we enjoyed a great Sunday evening.

Veda's Date Night

We decided to let Veda go out with us on Tuesday night date night last week.  We figured it would be nice to give her a little one on one time and could also let her pick out her school supplies, given she starts in 2 weeks.  She couldn't stop talking at the dinner table and seriously smiled from ear to ear the whole time (it was very cute).  Mom and dad were smiling too as it was Kid's Eat Free night at George and the Dragon!

Crazy Dell

The silliness of Adele never ceases to amaze us.  The highs are high and the lows are low...such a dynamic personality, always keeping us entertained.