First Day of School

Below are back to school haircuts, and first day of school pictures. Also a picture of everything I had to take out of Zachary's backpack before we left for school the first day....pretty funny :)

First trip to the Orchard this year

What a beautiful day for an orchard visit! We got season's passes this year and decided to start it off last weekend. The favorites were still the corn pool and giant bouncy cushion. This year we elected to go on the corn maze adventure. It was 4 acres of corn maze with 10 hidden objects. Thank goodness for daddy's sense of direction and methodical tracking or we would still be wandering around! The kids got really into it, and only quibbled over who would lead. Kenna even surprised us in the end and let Zachey find the last item (even though she saw it first...pretty cool kid!)

Here the kids are pretending to be children of the corn...they have no idea what that is :)

The day was going splendidly, but Zach had some control problems. He couldnt help throwing rocks on the bouncy cushion or hay on the giant slide. After multiple warnings we had to take away his treat...and I think there is nothing more torturous than watching your siblings eat ice cream while you drink bottled water....he let his unhappiness be known and we left for the day. I know he will get through this impulse control phase...can't wait!

Impromptu photo session

One of the Joys of having a middle schooler next door is the love of taking pictures of themselves :) Megan and Kenna have a similar outfit and when they were both wearing it, they embarked on an hour long photo session....so silly, but turned out cute.

Last picture of Summer

Flag Football

We have always said that Zach isn't going to be our aggressive competitive kid. But he does get an A for sportsmanship and rule following! He is the first to give high fives and say good job to his team mates and to do exactly what the coach tells him. And this mom is totally fine with that!

It was good for Josh and Zach to have something to do together. For 6 weeks they played father/son flag football. Josh would help Zachey learn about what the different positions did, and Zachey would listen. Was funny watching all the little 5 year olds...like herding cattle I thought! But they all seemed to have fun. Zach's last game was sort of a nightmare. It was like 40 degrees and the field was sopping wet. He got soaked in the beginning and refused to play the rest of the game....maybe football isn't his thing :)

Gymnastics

We have decided Zachey needs an outlet. He is a busy antsy boy that needs to run and play. Sitting still all day at school has been really hard for him. We tried karate, but he was not interested...below you will see him and another karate brother playing minecraft on an ipad vs watching their sister's karate class....

He went to a few birthday parties at triad and seemed to really enjoy it! It took a little nudging, but he agreed to try gymnastics. They have a kindergarten boys class and he LOVES it! Gets to run, tumble, try cartwheels and the balance beam, and most of all run and jump and giggle. There are about 8 boys and the teacher is completely overwhelmed. His name is Conner and he is about 16 years old....but he has "cool hair" so he is in with Zachey.

The routine on Tuesday is sort of crazy, getting kids from school, snack, running grayson to mom's, taking kenna to karate...leaving her there for 10 minutes to run zachey to gymnastics, leaving him there for 10 minutes to go get kenna and bring her back, then we watch until 6 and head home. But, since they both enjoy it, worth a little bit of chaos!

The 5pm timeslot is NUTS! There must be 100 kids in the gym at once...parking is crazy and seating is limited...but fun to watch Zachey have something that is his!!

Late Start Wednesdays

One thing I love about staying home is late start wednesdays. We can stay up a little later Tuesday night, and I can make a yummy breakfast on Wednesday (cause we have time!!!) The kids LOVE pancakes....seems they are pretty happy with the result!

Jester Park

I surprised Kenna with a trip, just she and I, to Jester Park Open house. Jester Park is an equestrian park only a few miles from our house! They have 70 horses you can rent and take on the trail, take lessons, have birthday parties, all sort of things. She got to brush one, learn about the program and care of horses. She already announced that she will be taking lessons and having her 9th birthday party here...we will see!

We have made the agreement that she can have lessons if she works on her talking at school. Every year she gets an "I" for inconsistent when it comes to talking when she is supposed to (such a chatty girl!!) So....we will see come November!

Garden

Not much of what I planted this year grew...but what did grow - wooooo nelly. Take a look at these zucchini! Almost as big as my little man! Also our apples went nuts again! I will spray next year so we dont' have to cut the worms out....Iowa is like crack for plants!