Friday Fun (8/22)

We celebrated the end of our first week of school with some Friday popsicles.

Sylvia's First Day of 1st Grade

Sylvia headed off to her first day of 1st Grade on August 19th.  She was excited to get back to school but not quite ready for summer to be over.  Her friend, Sophia, from kindergarten was a friendly face in her new classroom.

Lemon Boss

Sylvia set up her first business this summer with a little help from Hills Bank, the Coralville Lake Marina and her little brother, Eric.  We took lemonade and lemon buddies out to the lake for a lemonade stand.  Eric played the role of salesman, asking passers by if they wanted anything.  Sylvia handled most of the money.  She decided ahead of time that she wanted to donate her profits to the Crisis Center which ended up being $55.61.

Peter Pan

Sylvia participated in a week long drama camp at the end of the summer.  The week ended a performance of Peter Pan.  Sylvia played the role of a pirate and helped capture Tiger Lily.  She also briefly as an Indian in a quick scene.  It sounds like they all had a lot of fun.

Just Tri

Sylvia participated in her first triathlon in August.  She thought it was funny that I had to wait till I was 34 to do my first tri but she was only 6.  Her swimming improved immensely during our family reunion when my aunt Linda spent time working with her.  I took her to the pool ahead of time so she could practice getting into the deep end and swimming where she couldn't touch.  We were so proud of her that day for swimming the whole length of the pool with touching the bottom or side.  The race included a 25 meter swim, .9 mile bike and 1/4 mile run.  Sylvia did great during her transitions which we practiced ahead of time as well.  Putting socks on wet feet can be tricky.  She was so proud as she finished the race and enjoyed celebrating with her cousin Katie who also raced.

Niabi Zoo

Nana joined us this summer for our annual trip to the Niabi Zoo back in July.  The kids enjoyed showing her around on her first trip there and I appreciated the extra help.  I didn't take many pictures with the animals but we did get to hear the lion roar loudly and the giraffes were out and about to look at.

We started off on a train ride.

The kids each feed the lorikeets.  They were entertained when one of the birds went potty on a man that was trying to feed it.

A ride on the carousel is always a must at the zoo.  They each picked out which animal they wanted to ride.

The kids have never taken pony rides at the zoo and decided spend their own money on a ride.  They took a loan out with Nana since we hadn't brought their money along.

Before leaving, we stopped for some pictures in the butterfly chairs.

Okoboji Family Reunion

The Hoefer family celebrated Great Nana's 95th birthday with a family reunion in Okaboji.  It was fun to spend time at the lake with my kiddos since I have so many memories from past family reunions.  I don't even know where to begin describing the week so I'll stick with captions on the pictures for this post.  We are so thankful to be a part of such a wonderful family.

Drake and Eric on the dock with Grandpa.

Lilly, Sylvia and Phillip on the boat with John.

Enjoying the waves with my boys.

Uncle John patiently helping Drake drive the boat.

Extended cousins pile-up on the slide.

Eric likes to help Great Nana with her walker.

Enjoying some sticky s'more's with Adam and Grandpa.

We spent a lot of time on the Noah's Ark/Pirate Ship playground.

Eric and Noah attempting a game of Connect Four.

An evening out with my cousins.

The Hoefer Family 5K participants.

Eric investigated the boat lifts multiple times during the week.

Family "pedal" boat ride.

Eric and daddy's kayak trip.

The cousins all built flashlights with Uncle Lee.

Daddy is good at swings.

Sylvia's kayak trip with daddy.

Lots of cards and games were played in our lounge.

These two enjoyed the water all week.

Great Nana is good at sharing her snack with my boys.

Filling up buckets of water to take down to the beach.

Phillies Tee Ball

Sylvia and Eric played tee ball this summer.  Although their teams were divided by age they were both on the Phillies and had back to back practices at Willow Creek Park.  Eric didn't end up to interested but we stuck with it and made it through the season.  We owe his coaches a big thank you for the patience with him and the other 3 and 4 year olds.  Sylvia was much more interested but we need to work on batting and catching with her during the off season.  She's got quite the arm and can run pretty fast.

Devil's Lake

This summer we took the kids to Devil's Lake, WI.  We were joined by some good company which made the trip even better.  Our family stayed in a large cabin which made our "camping" trip much easier on all of us.

We did plenty of swimming at the beautiful sandy beach.  Eric really wanted to go on a "pedal" boat but it didn't work out on this trip.

Thanks to Yuani and a buddy of his, we were able to take all the kids rock climbing.  It was so fun to share this experience with them.  Plus, Dan took the kids for lunch at the park and I was able to stay up and do some climbing myself!

We went on a hike through Parfrey's Glen with the Lanes.  The man-made trails have all been washed out so we got to walk through the creek and up boulders.  It was much more exciting that way.  Sylvia and Eric even got to stand in a waterfall with mommy.

We did some meals in the cabin but we also roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire.  The kids all participated in a talent show organized by Beth.  Sylvia sang 5 Little Monkeys and called on Eric to help her with the actions.  Eric made up a song and dance on the spot for his performance.

Before heading home, we hiked to the the top of the east bluff.  All the kids made it to the top on their own.  We stopped for some pictures by balanced rock and Devil's doorway.