Mt Vernon pool

We found a new hidden gem in the area. Since area pools haven’t opened yet since not all schools are out we had to search to find a fun place to cool down. We picked up Grace’s friend Gabby and headed to Mt. Vernon to meet up with some of Emma’s friends. The Mt. Vernon pool is AWESOME! Perk #1: none of my students were there…not even as lifeguards. Perk #2: slides, diving boards, zero entry...this pool has it all! Perk 3: homemade concession stand signs. This pool is all small-town cuteness. The people were friendly, the price was right and Emma got to catch up with her friend that moved from St. Matt’s to Mt Vernon a few years ago. It was a great group to spend the day with as everyone was so kind to include Norah since she didn’t have any one her age there and I got to catch up with some dear mama friends.

First day of Sumner

Summer is here!! Last Friday I buttoned up my classroom and though I’m ready for a break, I’m excited at what the fall holds. I will be spending the summer writing curriculum for 2 new classes that I am teaching in the fall (one psych class and one business class) and also revamping my curriculum for my Spanish classes since we are moving to block scheduling. Lots of big changes in the fall, but I am excited for new opportunities and challenges.

Summer won’t be all curriculum though…we’re ready to enjoy! We started our first day of summer swimming with friends in their pool! Since the local pools haven’t opened yet, it was a fun preview to the water fun that awaits this summer. We’re finding our summer routine and we’re enjoying our slower mornings. Emma has her gardens all planted (squash, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries) and though it’s a lot of work, we’re enjoying the beautiful gardens at our new house. It’s hard to believe we’re coming up on a year being in the new place. Fingers crossed we have a yummy harvest filling our tummies soon (and not our deer friends). 

NYE

We rolled in the New Year with a 12 hour binge of BFFs. We invited the Lakes over to play for the afternoon, had snacks and busted open the wine a little early. :) We grabbed a little dinner at Lucky Penny and then headed over to their house to continue the festivities. We've spent nearly every NYE since the girls were born with the Lakes, and though we like it for the ease, relaxation and cost savings, we love it for the friendship, fun, and memories! Cheers to a great 2018!

Checking out the newest episode the girls filmed of their shenanigans together.

Could these 4 be any cuter?

After dinner, we switched venues. Looks swanky, right!?

As swanky as a friends inviting living room. :)

Mid-pictionary countdown on the East Coast! 1 hr to go!

 

Officially 2108! They all partied right into the New Year!

Cheers!

Air fx

Summer is ending quickly and school is right around the corner so we felt like we better sneak in a few more play dates with friends before we get back into a routine again. Since AirFX had a "bring a friend" month, we decided this would be the perfect way to spend a few hours with friends on an otherwise steamy day. 

These two were coming off of a sleepover, so of course they chose to color coordinate for their afternoon out. 

Norah has a fun little best bud who lives next door now and these two are inseparable. Since they never really leave the block Norah was excited for Lucy to be able to take a little car ride with us to the trampolines!

Grace got the short straw today...her jumping friend was her mom. Lucky for me, she still thinks I'm fun to hang out with. I pray those days last...

Making friends

Leaving our last neighborhood was almost as difficult as leaving our last house. We have made some incredible friends where we lived and though I had no doubts that the friendships would remain regardless of proximity, the girls were worried. Not only worried that they wouldn't get to see their friends in our old neighborhood enough but also worried that they wouldn't make any friends in our new neighborhood. 

The week we moved in was HOT. We were only in the house 5 days before we left on vacation and with it came a lot of unpacking, settling, repacking and preparing. It didn't leave much opportunity to meet new neighbors and given the heat, not too many people were out. The girls waited by the windows and bolted out the door any time they saw any signs of life under the age of 20. Grace was the most worried. Each day she volunteered to walk Hazel as, "no one can resist a cute puppy." One day she even returned home and asked if Norah would come walk Hazel with her as it would double her odds of someone saying hi to her since no one can resist, "a cute puppy and a cute kid." 5 days straight. Nothing but a few embarrassing encounters. [Grace will tell you a hilarious story of how she tried to say hi to someone but her shoelace was caught in her scooter so she couldn't get off...she came home changed shoes and grabbed her bike only to crash in front of the girl she was trying to befriend]. 

We left on vacation and though the girls loved the new house, they weren't sold on the new neighborhood. 15 days later we returned to find the same neighborhood waiting. They played outside all day hoping for someone to come by. No luck. Finally, I was out talking with the neighbor [who as luck would have it has a daughter Norah's age and they love to play together] and our sweet neighbor stopped a group of girls on their bikes and said, "that's Grace, she's new." Immediately they rode up our driveway, introduced themselves and asked the G&E to ride bikes. It was a huge weight off of this mama's heart.

Though I hate that they ride in the street and not a single one of them is wearing a helmet, it would be awfully hard not to see this huge group coming. Thankfully we live on a street where we only see a car every few hours.

Growing up in the country I never really had the chance to play with neighbors. However, I do think it made me a bit more of a "kids should spend the summer playing outside" type. I want my kids to come home dirty, climb trees, and be outside until the dark dictates otherwise. I'm excited for just one more reassurance that making this move was the right choice. I officially have no doubts. 

Our after dinner front porch view: couldn't ask for more. 

Boss baby

The move has been pretty consuming lately, so we decided to take a break from unpacking and head to the movies! If you haven't seen it yet, Boss Baby is adorable. Do yourself a favor and check it out with your favorite little. 

Caucho

Love these ladies. Friday night we met up with friends at Caucho, a delicious Mexican restaurant downtown that has incredible food. We spent the evening taste testing some of the beverages and entrees that make this place so special and, let me tell you, the rice is a must. 

The downtown area continues to grow and evolve and we have loved trying out new places and supporting local business. We then headed to Iowa Brewing Co. to try out a few of the new things on tap and continue the fun. 

Chalk the Walk

 Sunday was absolutely beautiful and gave us a little taste of the summer that is calling our names. We had a free day (which hasn't happened in longer than I care to admit) so when some friends called to see if we wanted to "Chalk the Walk" with them...we were in. It has been a few years since we've been out to Chalk the Walk, so we were excited as the girls loved it last time. 

Everything is more fun with friends!

Couldn't resist...this one was awesome!

Ross and Lester was one of our favorites...

But most of the girls voted for this beauty...

Of course, since we were out in Mt. Vernon, we had to stop off at the Palisades. 

It was a fun little walk through the trees to the beach to skip rocks.

Then back to the Lake house for some swimming. It feels like summer already!

The beach

A good portion of our summer has been spent swimming, but the pool just doesn't quite compare to a trip to the beach. We took our annual trip to Kent State Park for a fun morning building sand castles, splashing, and an obligatory stop off at Jons Ice Cream in Tiffin. 

Neighborhood fun at the beach!

Ready for some castle building.

The kids played awesome all morning, but the weather had a different plan. We were lucky enough to play for a few hours before the raindrops started falling and pushed us out of the water.

A stop off at Jon's is a must for their yummy food and ice cream after a swim.

Dueling Pianos

Saturday night Lowe Park hosted Dueling Pianos at the amphitheater. We love the music and fun of this show, so with it being outside and advertised as family fun, we thought we would forego the babysitter and bring the girls along. We met up with our friends Scott and Carly and Dave and Carla for a relaxing night out. 

Norah couldn't get enough of baby Emersyn. 

A little Kona Ice with her show.

Emma has missed her friend Norah, who switched schools, so it was a fun time for them to be able to spend the night together.

At the end of the night, they called everyone up on stage to sing together. It was an awesome ending to the evening.

The late night got the best of Norah, but Emma was having such a great time, she did her best to try to help Norah stick it out so she could enjoy the end of the show. 

Moonlight Movie

It was such a beautiful weekend that we had to get out and enjoy it. We decided to extend the girls' play dates on Friday and make it a movie night sleepover to celebrate. We headed down to the Moonlight Movie at the park and had a relaxing night of popcorn, snuggles, and Zootopia on the big screen.

McKenzie and Grace had a big day at SkyZone and "Secret Life of Pets"

These divas thought they were headed to a movie premiere - tiaras required - :)

Chicago (again) ;)

Before we knew baby was a sure thing, we planned a get-away with friends to Chicago for a Cubs game and some fun birthday celebrations. We got roof-top seats with an all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink ticket for the a day soaking up the sun with some great friends. Given that Mark and I took this trip with an extra passenger on board, I definitely took advantage of the all-you-can-eat...and I made Mark double up on the all-you-can-drink for me! :) Unfortunately, Chicago was in a cold-spell, so our sunny day, was blustery and cold. Lucky for us...our roof top seats came with beautiful indoor seating out of the elements. We ventured up to the roof for part of the game, but most of us watched the game from the comfort of our "box seats"...it was an amazing view!

First stop...The Cubby Bear for a pre-game beverage.

The rooftop was cold so only a few of the ladies ventured out. The boys enjoyed most of the game from up there. 

Afterwards, a victory beverage at Merkles - Chicago's Official Hawkeye Bar! 

After some yummy Pizzaria Due, we headed out for a night on the town. Chi-town has a great night life...good thing we're old and got their early, we only had to wait outside 20 minutes. After us the lines soared to over an hour to get into the bars downtown. 

Only half the group made it in, but with lines everywhere, we decided to stay put and enjoy a little, "Howl at the Moon."

What an awesome waiter...my very own water bucket! 

Spring Break!

Week 10 brought Spring Break!! As many of our friends jet-set to fabulous tropical destinations, we were quite content to stay home and RELAX this week! We snuck a quick overnight in at Grand Harbor so the girls could swim a little, but other than that we had a relaxing week filled with YES! Play outside, yes. Have friends over, yes. Play games, yes. Paint, yes. It also gave us time to house shop! We lost the house that we were hoping for, but we're in no hurry to move; so we'll wait until the perfect house finds us. For the meantime, we're in the perfect house. 

A spring break filled with play dates...it doesn't get much better than that!

Rampage Game

We started our NYE celebrations early with a trip to the Rampage game in the afternoon. With a little "balloon drop" fun before the game, the girls enjoyed being on the field, jumping in the bounce houses, and of course, the countdown to the balloon drop. With $1 popcorns, we had plenty to snack on while we watched the game as well. If you haven't been to a Rampage game yet, it is a fun, family-friendly afternoon with lots of music, dancing, and of course...some great soccer. 

 

 Fun being able to go on the field before the game.

The bounce houses were fun...the girls especially loved the obstacle course. 

Popcorn ready...bring on the game.

The balloon drop during half time was an added bonus.

After the game we walked over to Need Pizza for a yummy dinner and then walked the skywalks back. Some of them were all lit up and really beautiful!

Nerf Wars

Saturday Mark headed to IC for the (frigid) Iowa game, while the girls and I battled the snow to head to North Liberty for Nerf Wars. Nothing like second graders and an unlimited supply of nerf bullets to fill an afternoon. Emma had a great afternoon with her friends, and then Grace and her friends spend the evening at Nerf Wars taking on some 5th grade boys. I highly recommend checking out Nerf Wars if you have kiddos that need to burn off a little extra energy...it is so much fun!

2nd graders; locked and loaded.

Tail gate

We combined our two favorite schools into one awesome party before the game on Friday. A St. Matt's tailgate at XHS before the game was a fun way to help future Saints get to know XHS a little better and provide a great night of fun and community. 

With some delicious food and drinks, fun people, and a face-painting table there was fun for everyone. We closed out the night with a Saints victory as well!

Sheila, Emily, Grace and Norah right before diving into the dessert table!