Niabi Zoo

We started the summer off with a trip to the Niabi Zoo with the DeWaards and the Seatons.  This is one of our favorite summer activities.

Drake stayed in the stroller most of the time but still got a good view of all the animals.

Sylvia and her friend Adrian.  These two love spending time together.

You can now feed the giraffes at the zoo (if you buy the zoo's lettuce).  

Sylvia had been talking a lot about tortoises so daddy told her to see if there were any at the zoo.

The petting zoo is always a favorite.

This guy stopped to watch the train almost every time it went by.

It was finally his turn to ride it.  I used my leg as a seatbelt.

Sylvia is grown up and riding the train with her friends Grayson and Kalea.

Sylvia was excited to pet one of the wild animals.

SonWest Roundup

We spent a week at SonWest Roundup for Vacation Bible School this summer.  My friend, Jessica, and I taught one of the kindergarten classes.  We had a big group this year but made the most of it.  It was fun to be with Sylvia and some of her friends for the week.

My little cowboy.  I found this shirt at Goodwill a few days before Bible School started.

Great Nana stopped by for a visit and took a wagon ride around the church.

The kids got to try on clothes from other countries while learning about Parkview's global workers.

Sylvia's cousin was in her class for the week.

Music time is always one of Sylvia's favorite parts of VBS.  The kids also go to snack, craft and rec time during the morning along with classroom time where the Bible story and daily verses are taught.

Bible School is always a fun but exhausting week.  All four of us had a great time.

Jessica and I attempted to get a picture of our families before finishing out the week.

Bloomington Cousins

After a few months of talking about a trip we started the summer off with a trip to visit our Bloomington cousins.  It was so nice to spend the weekend catching up with family.

Eric and his cousin who is 8 days younger than him.
It's entertaining to watch two 3-year-olds sword fight.

Drake and his cousin who is 19 days younger than him.
Drake is quite a bit bigger so I don't think he was actually being pushed here.

Sylvia and her cousin who is 3 months older than her.
These two still enjoy spending time together as they get older.

Eating meals outside made for less clean-up on our part.
Eight of these 9 children slept in the same room...and they actually slept!

We had beautiful weather for our weekend and spent lots of time outside.

The older boys enjoyed having uncle Dan around to play with.

Flooding

There was hint of flooding this summer but it didn't end the same as 2008.  It was odd to watch the water rise and know that we would not be nearly as directly affected by a flood this year.  Our neighbors on Eastmoor packed up their houses in preparation and I'm sure the preschool staff were making plans if necessary.  We just got to drive around and take pictures this time around and thankfully the water didn't end up going over the spillway.

Grandma and Grandpa went for a hike with us on Woodpecker Trail to see how high the water had gotten.  It was covering part of the trail at one point.  Sylvia noticed the change since her spring field trip with preschool.

We also took a field trip of our own out to the dam.  We checked out the outlet from a couple of different views.  Sylvia really wanted to go right down by it so daddy took her on a ramble down the rocks.

The water was also rising at church so we stopped by there.  They were in the process of building a berm and the kids loved all the machinery.  We were able to let them get pretty close by playing on the church playground for a bit (which is fenced in).

Broffitt visit

Aunt Ginny came to for a wedding planning visit at the end of May.  Granny and Kecia were able to come at the same time.  We had a few family meals together, did a bit of wedding work and Sylvia got to show Ginny how she'd been practicing to be a flower girl.

Eric's Playgroup Coop

Eric and I had the opportunity to be in a playgroup coop this school year.  A few friends and I coordinated the group so our kids could have some "school" time and we could have some free time.  Many of us had preschoolers so we met on Monday morning at church while our big kids were in preschool.  The moms took turns leading.  While at coop, the kids had time to play but we also did read alouds, snacks, crafts and music.  Eric enjoyed having school of his own this year.

Making pumpkins in October.

Wheels on the Bus was a favorite all year.  Eric was the driver in this picture from February.

Miss Emily was attempting to chase the snakes out of Ireland with her drum while learning about St. Patrick's Day in March.

Making some music with his good buddy, Macy in May.

Thank you all for a great year!

Sylvia's Preschool Graduation

Sylvia finished up another year of preschool back in May.  She had so much fun going three days a week this year and we saw her grow in so many ways.  We're so thankful for all of the love she got from Mrs. Berends, Mrs. Fink and Mrs. Nelson.

On the last day of school the kids sang a few songs for all the parents, Mrs. Fink shared a little about each child and we finished the morning with a picnic at City Park.

On the podium with Parker.

Showing off some yummy treats with Grayson.