Last Day of Play School

In September 2016 this 2.5-year-old sweetie started his first adventure without Mom. Ok, that's not exactly true. He went to daycare until he was 1 year old but he didn't really know what was up at that age. He started at Ms. Lori's playschool two days a week. I was so nervous to send him because he was shy and never wanted to be left with anyone other than a family member. He typically freaked out anytime he was left with a babysitter. I almost didn't start taking him at 2.5 because I was so afraid that he would freak out! But, he quickly learned to love it at Ms. Lori's and he made so many different friends of different ages - Owen, Whitney, Finny, Grayson, Becket, Beckham, Piper, Joey, Neil, Hunter, Soren. He started out as one of the little kids but eventually became a leader, helping Ms. Lori with the little kids. He loved playing cars, having outside recess, making muffins and eating Ms. Lori's leaves, macaroni and cheese or hot chicken! So sad to see this chapter come to a close but so amazing to look back and think about the growth that Will has experienced in the last 3 years! 

St. Louis

What a fun weekend in St. Louis! On Friday we spent 7 hours at the City Museum and had to force the kids to leave because Scott and I wanted to eat dinner at Sugarfire BBQ. The kids did a great job exploring all the caves and they had bumps on their heads to prove that they even explored the tightest spaces. Scott and I felt a little anxious and we tried to keep track of where 3 kids were - running in and out of the various tunnel systems! Whew! So glad we made it out with all 3 of them! 

On Saturday morning we had to go to 3 stores before we could find Ponchos. Luckily the very nice security guy at Target scoured the backroom for us to find the last remaining ponchos. 

Heading into the team store to get these kids decked out in red.

How fun to meet up with Scott's college buddy Kevin. 

After the game we explored the arch.

Icee break at the City Museum.

Oh my word. Climbing these things was not easy!

The rain finally stopped so that we could go explore the roof top.

A ferris wheel on the roof of a building? Ok.

On our way to dinner and Emily laughing that she's carrying the child and the backpack as Scott strolls along. 

Sugarfire. YUM!

This was the kids first MLB game and they loved it! The weather was perfect. Such a fun day.

Tons of foul balls were coming our way but we didn't manage to catch one. 

DDS

Charlie loves to play Barbies and because Evy is a good sister she will sometimes play along. They like to go downstairs in the toy room to play and don't want Will to be down there with them so they talk in code. Let's go play DDS is their code talk for Dolls Downstairs.  

Girls' Trip to Disney!

As the girls are averaging age 10 it was their turn for a trip with Grammy. Instead of a Canadian fishing trip which the 10-year-old nephews have enjoyed the girls opted for Disney World. What fun! 

The best ride in all of Disney is the new Flight of the Avatar ride in Animal Kingdom. With over a 3 hour wait we were so glad that we were able to score Fast Passes for this ride. Charlie and Evy got off the ride at the last minute and they missed an awesome experience. They say they'll do it next time :-) 

We had fun going to Epcot two nights for dinner.

Airport tram ride.

Just arriving at our hotel: Carribean Beach Resort. 

We arrived at Hollywood Studios super early to try to get a ride on the new Slinky Dash Coaster. Mission accomplished and we loved the ride!

It rained almost every day. Lugging ponchos around was necessary. 

Donuts bigger than their heads in Animal Kingdom.

Sci-Fi Dine In Theater for lunch. So fun!

Charlie and Kate rode the Rock 'n Roller Coaster. I rode it once and that was enough for me!

The new Pandora world in Animal Kingdom is amazing!

Dinner at 'Ohana at the Polynesian was amazing!

Lots of fun walking around Epcot and looking for dinner. The girls wouldn't get any braver than a hot dog.

The Day That Bo Came Home

The breeder was on his way to a family reunion so he drove Bo to Coralville for us and met us at the Casey's off of the Interstate. The kids were going nuts waiting for them to arrive. 

He's here!!!!

We spent a lot of time outside those first few days.

Emily was in Des Moines so she missed the exciting first day of Bo at home.