Happy Birthday, Dear Jens!

Jens's birthday landed on Friday, a good day to celebrate.  Both kids had a happy first week at school.  We managed to get up early enough to have birthday breakfast (pancakes, orange julius, bacon) and open presents in the morning before Jens had to leave.  It seems like he was just barely my little baby!  He tried out the crib to reminisce.
  







To celebrate that night we met up with friends at the pool and had dinner, swimming, and cake.  We were also celebrating the 4th birthdays of the trio--Brenner, Millen, and Abby.


Testing out his awesome new laser pointer.

Back to School! August 11-14

The kids were excited to be heading back to school, Jens to 5th grade with Mrs. Windham, Sylvie to 1st with Mrs. Swagerty.  They will both be riding bikes to school this year, which is fun.  We are glad to have some nice friends to ride with in the mornings.  Big kids head out at 8:05:


Little kids head out at 8:45


Cora needs in on the picture taking action, but I'll keep her to myself for a little longer!


Testing out the volcano--it is awesome!

Cora and I ride with Sylvie to school.

Trying to find a way to fill the quiet hours that the big kids are away.  Painting oneself with lipstick seems like a fun activity.

Birthday Party! August 10

Nothing like getting home from a huge trip and suddenly deciding that you should plan and have a birthday party before school starts, but that is what we did!  We do birthday parties on even years and Jens was turning ten.  Looking at the calendar, it made the most sense to party it up before the kids were back in school, so the day before school started we packed up a bunch of kids and went to Sky High.





The kids had a great time running around and getting sweaty, and Jens felt very celebrated.  He really enjoyed the thoughtful presents from his friends, and he wrote some cute thank you notes. 

August 4-8

Just some of the random things going on around our house as we try to settle back into a reasonable routine before school starts up. Stack of people (also tremendous amounts of just-home-from-vacation/catch-up laundry):


This girl was so happy to go back to all her beloved ladies at the gym.

I'm not sure what they are doing, but I love the tied up dresses.

A praying mantis on Mike's car

And a selfie by Cora

Who has started liking to wear dress up clothes.

We hit the zoo with Mike on Saturday.  It was fun to get out and see the animals.  The bears in particular were very exciting!

This kid learned to use the lawn mower and weed whacker.  Awesome!



Sylvie loved trying out karate with her friend Kendra!