It's Allen's Turn!!

Allen finally got his turn at back-to-school this week with the start of Pre-Kindergarten! He was so excited and so ready to be back in school. He has the same teacher Drew had when we moved here in early 2011. Allen was excited to finally be in the Pre-K class with the big kids of the school! He has class 4 half days each week and does extended care on 2 days as well. He wants to go full-time like Kindergarten. I told him he has plenty of time for full-time school...a couple of decades at least!

The best thing...

...about a big brother who can read? Having him read your favorite stories to you any time!

Tee Ball!

This summer, Allen joined the world of organized sports with his first tee ball season! He had a blast playing "his" new sport...except when the temps got above 100 degrees...then he was much more interested in sitting and drinking out of his water bottle! He made new friends and enjoyed spending time with kids his own age with the focus on them and not their siblings. He was led by the awesome Coach Brad who also coached Drew's team this year. That made Allen feel that much bigger! Patrick was an assistant coach and it was fun to see him in that role and back on the baseball field where he spent so much time as a kid. It was a great experience all the way around.

Legoland Discovery Center

The Legoland Discovery Center in KC opened in May to serious fanfare...and insane crowds! We tried to visit twice over the summer only to turn away at the sight of the lines down the sidewalk and around the corner just to get inside. Thankfully the crowds have started to die down and we were able to visit a couple of weeks ago. The trick is to go late in the evening...the last admission is 2 hours prior to closing and the place was virtually empty! It's a decent attraction - nothing to jump up and down about but a fun diversion every now and then. The boys enjoyed the two rides and building the Lego racers. Patrick and I thought the scale models of KC landmarks were very impressive! There is a 4D movie theater that shows multiple movies so we can see something different each time. And there is a room where you can build a mini-set with a Master Builder and then buy the set to take home. We passed on the build this trip but will do it on another outing for sure. It was a good adventure and the perfect family evening to close out the summer!

All-American Boys...

On July 4th the boys helped me make a real homemade Apple Pie! They loved helping make it...and eat it...

First Day of First Grade!

Hello there! Yes...I took a bit of a summer vacation from the blog. Something about keeping up with our busy summer made it difficult to post about our adventures! If time allows I will attempt to back post the most interesting things...or we'll just move on from here!

On Thursday, Drew started First Grade!! He was very excited to get back to school...back to routine...back to friends! He seems to like his teacher so far and is very happy about school in general. I am hopeful the great attitude about school will continue throughout the year!

Allen is missing having his brother at home during the days but we are staying busy so far. (He will start Pre-K in 2 weeks!)

DeAnna Rose Field Trip

Today I was finally able to make it to one of Drew's field trips! Somehow every other field trip they have been on this year has conflicted with Allen's schedule - either the times didn't line up with Allen's school hours or he was out of school and the field trip was not conducive to having younger siblings there. So today I rushed from Muffins with Mom at Allen's school down the street to the DeAnna Rose Farmstead to meet Drew's class. It's a really neat place where the kids can get a small taste of what life is like in the rest of Kansas! They visited the cow barn and met all sorts of farm animals and even saw a demonstration of a cow being milked! They got to fee baby goats with bottles, feed ducks/geese/fish in the pond (luckily we didn't fish today...I hate having to take them off the hooks to put them back in the water!!), ride little tractors, and generally run around and play like kids should. It got really crowded with other field trips, but luckily we had to eat lunch early so they could get back to school before noon. (One of the Kindergarten classes at Drew's school is Half Day so they get out at 11:45 am each day. The other three classes are Full Day...thankfully!!) I then rushed back to pick Allen up from school, thankful all the way that it was so close and I could actually make it today!

Drew loved feeding the goats...until they jumped on him. Then he got a little snippy at them!

Baby Goat Chaos!!

Such a determined look on that face!

Drew's Awesome Class...I love these kids!

Muffins with Mom

Today was the annual Muffins with Mom at Allen's preschool.  He was so excited about this morning - he talked about it for days and then all morning. After we dropped Drew at school he said "NOW can we go have muffins?!" It is a sweet event and the kids do enjoy having their moms there for some special time. Allen was a bit confused though...there was only one type of muffin but multiple donuts and even cinnamon rolls. He said "We already had Donuts with Dad...this is supposed to be Muffins with Mom! Why aren't there more muffins?!" So he refused to eat anything but the muffin. Quite cute, actually. After we shared our breakfast, we went to his room where he presented me with my Mother's Day gifts - some coffee spoons he had dipped in chocolate and a beautiful, hand painted flower pot with a pretty purple flower. He was so proud to tell me about how he painted the pot, picked out the flower, put the dirt in all by himself and even watered it. He was really beside himself with pride! I loved it. No better present than something made by sweet, loving little hands!!

Our attempt at a self-portrait...

The only thing better than receiving this?

Is having it presented like this!!

Oh he was so proud of his flower!

Allen might be our photographer! He took a pretty good picture of me and my new flower!