Niabi Zoo

The Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley, IL is the best little zoo if you are looking for an easy peasy afternoon with littles. It is relatively inexpensive, provides lots of shade, and can easily be tackled in a few hours. The girls and I were headed to visit my sister in Davenport, so we had to check out the zoo before she got off work. 

The gibbons were a favorite. These friendly little dudes kept photobombing us which, of course, the girls thought was hilarious. 

Emma loves signs. She has to read each one of them. This explains why it takes so long for us to get through any museum! She's a sponge!

Norah was a serious snake charmer on Thursday. This snake followed her every move...it was super creepy. 

The petting zoo is always a hit!

Obligatory photo on a hippo as we have this same photo from when Norah was a babe. 

Goofy monkeys.

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). 

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...

Genova picnic

It was a beautiful night for the Genova picnic this year and like usual it was a low-key, fun-filled night to catch up with Mark's co-workers and their families. I love that he works in a place that values family and events like these remind everyone to stop working so much and take the time to enjoy the people around them. 

It was another delicious meal followed up by a little tug-o-war this year. The girls blamed daddy for leaving his muscle at home as try as they might, their side lost every time. 

Geocaching

The girls love to Geocache when we go on vacation, but we've never actually taken the time to do it locally, so we headed out to Wickiup with our friends to give Geocaching a try in our own back yard. I've never Geocached using my phone, we usually just check out the GPS units that they have at the resource centers, but we downloaded the app and tested it out.

Water. Sunglasses. Hiking shoes. Ready to find some caches. 

The first cache was just a sign, so we were a bit disappointed that there weren't any trinkets to swap out or a log book to record. However, the girls pressed on and eventually found their first real cache hiding in a tree stump. They were so excited to sign the log book!

Their next cache was hanging inside a hollowed out tree and had been there for a few years so they liked looking back on everyone who had signed it. 

Of course we had to go into the Nature Center too and check out all the fun stuff that it had to offer. Norah loved playing dress up.  "All the better to eat you with" - Norah. Wolf. Fox. We have some work to do...

Emma has quite the wing span! It was a great day spent with friends. 

Wash Co Fair

It was a steamy one at the Wash Co fair this year, but that didn't slow down the fun! Sheep show, hog show, calf show, oreo stacking, little hands on the farm, tons of animals, crafts and projects, catching up with friends, celebrating birthdays...it was an incredible few days at the fair!

 

We started off early Tuesday morning watching Mo at the sheep show. She did such a great job with her sheep and even though one was being a bit ornery and took her for a ride, she handled it with such grace! The girls loved how soft they were.

Oreo stacking was a blast. Norah was close to making the final round, but she walked away just as proud with her participant ribbon!

Emma won the oreo stacking for her age group! As excited as she was to win, we was even more excited to find out that there was actually a monetary prize for the winner!

Oh how I wish my girls were 4Hers. Norah loved leading Jillian's calf to Little Hands on the Farm. 

Of course, no hot afternoon in the show ring is complete without a dripping Kalona Bar. 

Emma Softball

Emma has had such a great time playing softball this year through Peg Pierce. If you are looking for a low-key recreational league to get started, look no further. We had an incredibly patient and loving coach, a playground nearby for Norah to pass the time and good friends on the team. I love how they started the games off with the National Anthem and I've heard about the incredible burgers they serve in the concessions [I can only attest to their yummy popcorn]. What more do you need in a ball game?

Emma has learned so much. Considering she had never before played softball we were impressed with how quickly she picked up on it. Her last game she had an out at first, an out at second and caught an infield fly. She also got on base each time she was up except for one. At the end of the season when we told her coach she was a newbie, he didn't believe us. He thought she played better than a lot of girls who have played for 2 or 3 years! Of course, this was just the confidence boost Emma needed to decide she maybe likes softball even more than basketball. We'll see what she says when basketball season rolls back around!

End of the season ice cream at the Freeze. We were so lucky to have such positive coaches and great girls on our team. It was a great introduction to softball for Emma and we are so happy that she enjoyed the season and is interested in playing again. 

Lined up and ready for the National Anthem. Never too early to learn good sportsmanship!

Hazel's friend

No worries, Hazel made friends too. The girls were lucky enough to dog sit sweet Luna while some neighbors were on vacation. They loved walking her and playing with her each day. Hazel accompanied Luna on all of her walks and these two quickly became best buds. 

Sweet Luna kisses.

And in true Emma fashion [as the most unfortunate events always happen to her] while we were walking under a tree a beetle fell out of the tree and landed in Emma's ear. Not knowing which way to turn in went right down her ear canal and merited a trip to the ER. We left Grace and Norah in charge of the dogs and Emma and I ran for home to get the car. Luckily, Mark was headed to Menards and happened to be at the corner and swooped her up and took her in. Since her screaming alerted most of the neighborhood I stopped to let them know everything was okay and the same thing had happened to one of them. He assured me he had never felt such pain in his life, so he assured me she was crying out in pain more than fear. Since Mark had Emma under control I headed back up to check on the other girls and make sure they had Luna and Hazel under control. Luckily, en route to the ER, [and a long 10 minutes later] the beetle was able to back out of her ear and was relocated to a tree far from our house! After hearing Emma's description of what it was like I can't imagine the pain she must have felt and once again am in awe of the crazy things that happen to her and how well she always handles them. 

These two calmly had everything under control when I returned. Phew!

Drive in

If you've never been to Maquoketa to the 61 Drive In, this is a summer must. The experience alone is worth the $30/family price, but couple that with the fact that you get to see two movies and its so much cheaper than taking the girls to a movie at the theater in town. With Cars 3 and Despicable Me 3 both playing, we had some pretty happy campers on our hands. We met up with the Lakes for a fun night out picnicking, catching up on vacation stories, and letting the girls run and play. 

Swings, tether ball and a the train kept the girls busy before the show started. 

You'd never know we just pulled in from vacation a few hours prior...

A little picnic dinner to pass the time until showtime.

Snuggled in the back seat of the van for prime viewing.

Ready for the show to begin.

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. 

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 - :)

Lego date

Since Grace was in the Toy Story production, Emma and I had already seen the show multiple times, so we decided to have a day date while Mark and Norah went to support Grace. She has been begging for a little one-on-one time so it was the perfect opportunity to get her all to myself. She is a Lego FANATIC, so it was perfect that the Lego Launch Party for Lego Maker opened Saturday. I surprised her by taking her to the mall to check out the life size Lego models, build her own Legos and enjoy the launch party. We spent the whole morning together just the two of us with no agenda but fun. I think I needed it as much as she did. 

Hulk was her favorite. She was pretty sure she would win in a thumb wrestling match.

She loved having free reign of all the Legos to build a tile to add to the wall. 

Typical Emma...nose picking the Lego art.

Summer splashing

The girls missed seeing their friends while they were gone, so they didn't waste any time catching up.  Sunday Norah celebrated Allison's 5th birthday with a bounce house/sprinkler party. Then Monday, we celebrated with Sydney for a little more birthday fun. We met friends at the pool so the girls could swap vacation stories since some of their friends were on vacation at the same time as us, and then we rounded things out with a pool party the next day to get back into the swing of summer.

Summer loving

I am sad that times have changed to the point that kids no longer go out and explore the world until the sun goes down or play with friends until the streetlights signal it's time to head home. Each time the girls ask to go out and play the initial panic of "where's the white van?" flashes into my mind. Grace wants to ride her bike to friends' houses and I feel the need to text those parents and ensure she arrived safely. Good parenting? Helicopter mother? Who knows. All I know is I am thankful that we live in a great neighborhood full of kids to play with, backed by great parents that we have a lot in common with. It has led to some great summer get-togethers and lots of memory makers for the girls. I am so glad the girls can grow up with memories of backyard flashlight tag, swimming with friends, riding bikes through the neighborhood and late night s'mores. Good "ole-fashioned" fun. Days spent with scraped knees, bug bites, dirty faces and tired bodies. 

S'more snack before a night of s'more fun. 

Mid afternoon snack for all the neighborhood before more shenanigans.

Popsicles by the pool.

Neighborhood pool party.

The cutest bike gang to hit the streets. 

Only stopping long enough for a little lunch in the sun.