Summer fest

Mckenna designed the perfect parade candy collection box. The target definitely give her a record number of candy this year. Luckily I talked them into donating half of it to the soldiers overseas. This was also the first year she got to go to Summerfest by herself, with her friends. She quickly learned how expensive those carnivals can be as I paid some of it but she depleted a lot of her funds on the rest of it. Needless to say she definitely mowed a few lawns this summer to earn her money back.

It’s sort of bittersweet watching her grow up. I see her caring more about what her friends think, spending more time on social media and Snapchat, and really worrying about social things that she never cared about before. I’m so grateful that she has good friends.

Summer Fun

As summer comes to an end it was fun to reflect on all the things we got to do. I’m so lucky that I get to stay home with the kids and have a freedom to take them to all these fun things. Zach and Grayson did golf camp and swimming lessons, and Zach did science camp. Dry ice experiments, zoo, library and parks. We played at the pool, with Kenna having her own pool pass, went to grandma Rue’s pool, and played all summer with friends in our neighborhood.  We’re very lucky that the boy’s best friends have moms as teachers, so they get to be home all summer as well.

Youth in Parks

Kenna was lucky this summer and got to do two camps with Meredith, tennis and youth in parks. In the parks camp they volunteered half a day and played the other half. Such cool camps through Ankeny parks and rec. 

Shoemaker’s visit

Had a wonderful time when the Shoemaker’s came to visit us. Chelsey had a long weekend off of work. We had fun going to the park, farmers market, the beach and Chelsey and Spencer even got to go on a date. It was hard having a baby in the house again,  He definitely got tired and we were all ready to go to bed by the time they got home from Adventureland. Kids are growing up so fast!

Iowa games

Hot weekend (always is for Iowa games!) kenna went all in with soccer this year. She tried out for the select team and was told she had a little more work to do before she qualified. She plans to do a hybrid this year playing for both recreational league and select. She’s taking a few additional camps and getting some private lessons from a high school girl in order to improve her game. The Iowa games is always very competitive and the girls did great. They play 1-2 years up so atecalways very challenged! 

They didn’t win any of their games but they had a great time doing the parade of athletes, watching fireworks and just hanging out under the tent waiting for the games start. I love watching them play and I really got to know the parents this year.

Since the celebration runs very late and the games are very early Mckenna got to spend auntie em’s 50th birthday with her. Sounds like the girls had a great time!

Ragbrai

This year’s ragbrai did not disappoint. McKenna and I decided we just wanted to do a couple days this year. Between her busy schedule and my lack of training, this seemed like the best idea.

Kathy picked us all up at our house and drove us to Ames to set up our tent. There we purchased our day passes and she drove us halfway back the route for the day. We quickly found Beekmans ice cream, which is a favorite.

We made short work of the day, ending up in Ames and riding through Jack Trice Stadium. We rode to our campground and changed, then tode a shuttle to downtown Ames. We had a good time just goofing around, finding dinner at Olde Main brewery, and watching Kenna try on ridiculous thrift store finds. We met up with daddy and Auntie Em and Mark at different times during the night. I really enjoyed watching a band called the Spazmatics which sang 80 songs. We also watched some crazy acrobatics before we headed back to camp.

The night was less than comfortable. It didn’t really cool off and at one point Mckennas air mattress started leaking. I ended up giving her my air mattress and sleeping on the ground, which resulted in really neither one of us getting much sleep. Regardless, we got up early the next day and took off for Newton. The first part of the morning was a breeze, flat and fairly cool. We stopped for treats along the way and ran into some friends.

About 40 miles in it started to get a little more hilly and windy. At one point Mckenna was pretty frustrated and I give her some pointers on how to handle the hills. After she got it, she flew by me smoking me up all the hills. I lost her a few times which made me nervous, but she ended up stopping and waiting for me.

In true Ragbrai fashion we ran into a farmers acreage that was selling beer and playing music. She contemplated doing the zip line or the giant waterslide, but settled for just taking a dip in the pond before we head the final 8 miles to newton. It felt like we’d never get there because we knew grandma was waiting for us! 

We met up at the high school and then found the baggage truck. Seems like a mile walk but finally loaded everything in the car and headed home. So lucky to spend this time with my sweet girl! She continues to impress me, love her so much!!