Henry The Brave!

It started off so innocently . . .

A family walk in a field, the possibility of chasing butterflies, making memories off the beaten path . . .

20 minutes later, Henry looked like this:

Yes, folks, those are ticks.  Don't bother counting.  The answer is just under 300!

300 embedded baby ticks that needed to be removed, with tweezers, one at a time, and drowned in rubbing alcohol.  That's a lot of Power Ranger episodes and patience that definitely deserves two Super Hero Squad figures!

In the morning, we understood why Henry had had a difficult night sleeping:

Apparently each tick left behind a red itchy bump!

Sweet Henry, thank you for being so brave!  We'll never make you go to Tick Field again!

Two Elementary Kids!

Lexi and Frankie certainly had different excitement levels regarding the start of school.  Sure, Lexi couldn't wait to find out which teacher she got and who would be in her class but, actually STARTING school, that was a different story!  Of course, having one of her very best friends in her class certainly makes it easier when the alarm clock goes off each morning!

Frankie had known all summer that his teacher would be Mrs. McCracken (she's the only AM Kindergarten teacher) and, truth be told, would have loved to start school in June if they'd let him!

Only 1st-5th graders started school on Wednesday and it physically pained Frankie to have to stay home!  He'd met Mrs. McCracken at Sneak-a-Peek on Tuesday night and he had a hard time staying away!  His first two days have been simply magical.  Playdoh center, checking out books from the library, listening to books on the star carpet, using glue sticks, and daily milk . . . What's not to love!

He has a tiny class - just 14 sweet kiddos, although there are 10 boys and 4 girls!  Yikes!  Three of his classmates are on his soccer team and he already has made several new friends.  His crush on Mrs. McCracken grows stronger by the hour - he was pretty sure we should call today to ask if she likes the Jayhawks or the Wildcats!  I've walked up to pick him up at noon each day and cherish hearing about his day the entire way home!

Lexi's First Day - New dress!

Kindergartner!

At his desk (yes, apparently Buster sits
across from him!)

Last 72 hours of summer

Lexi's first competitive soccer game

Summer Book Club Finale: Because of Winn-Dixie play

Bowling with friends

Deanna Rose

Cousin Finale

 We crammed two month's worth of activities into nine days while the Spieckers were here.  It was exhausting but so absolutely worth it!  We crossed several things off our "cousin list" (sleepover, Plaza art scavenger hunt, marble demo) and have already started on next year's list (Winstead's sundae, hike in the woods, waterpark!)

With Grandpa Bud

The fountain of the "boy peeing" was quite a hit!

Frankie's first sleepover

At Moon Marble Company

Happy 8th Birthday, Lexi!

Lexi, we have loved you for eight years and love you more each and every day!

Blowing out her candles!
Lexi helped design and decorated her
cake all by herself!

Swimming party!

What do you do when you have leftover birthday cake?  Invite a few neighbors for an impromptu picnic (BYOL*, of course!)

*Bring Your Own Lunch!

Can you guess the outing?

Today, we took the kids + Grandma + CO cousins somewhere.  Can you guess where?

Let me give you a few hints.  One of us will now feel nauseous until tomorrow, all of us are exhausted (Henry almost fell asleep at the dinner table!), and the kids are counting the days until we go back.

Did you guess yet?

Want a few more clues?

You guessed it!  We spent seven hours at World's of Fun!