SCHOOL DAYS

I was able to go to school with Jaden his first day. We received a tour of the school and then attended his class room to meet his teacher. We had a lot of fun. It is hard to see them go. I miss being a part of his life all day.









The Super First Grader!

Jill had to wait another week to start Pre-K! She asked me everyday if it was her day to go to school. That day finally came and she was so excited. When she came home she said. "Can I do my homework now?" Not quite like her older brother who does well on home work, but has no desire to do it.

The Mighty Preschooler

THE HAIR CUT

As much as I loved his long hair, it was time to
go. It was getting crazy.

He sat really still as long as I kept toothpaste on his brush.

The end result..... The Big Boy!

He would not stand still for a picture, so this is the best I could get as I chased him around the house.

SPLASH COUNTRY

BLACKBERRY FARM

Mike took the day off of work and we spent a family day at Blackberry Farm and Splash Country to finish up our last days of Summertime. These are two of our favorite places to go. The kids can visit the animals, ride the tractors, train, carousel, and ponies as many times as they would like. Then we are off across the street to the water park to splash in the pool, ride the lazy river and slide down the slides. We had a fun, fun day.

SUMMER CAMPOUT

Summer is not summer without a family Camp Out. So we packed up and drove to the Mississippi Palisades State Park. It was very different from Utah camping, as it was very green and there was grass everywhere instead of dirt. We had the best time. I love getting away.

Mike and the kids made a fire and we enjoyed roasting

hot dogs and marshmellows for Smores.

The Flying Hot Dog

Finally after hours of making the fire we get to eat.

Smores... Our favorite camping treat.

We love playing in the tent. Playing in the puppy door was their favorite part.

Jaden said his favorite part of the trip was Sleeping.

He never likes to sleep at home,

so we clarified that sleeping in the tent was his favorite part.

Yes, those are the roasting sticks they are twirling.
We had fun playing at the camp ground.

We took a great hike to the overlooks of the Mississippi river. It was beautiful. We even made it through all of the poison ivy with none of us getting any itches.

The Caves



Now this is the way to hike!

This way!

Under.......Over.........Jump

Jaden jumped over the logs as fast as he could,

because there were Bugs on the Logs.

M .I. S .S .I .S .S .I. P. P. I

RIVER

We ended the day going to Galena Illinois. This is the oldest town in Illinois. We visited the home of President Ulysses S. Grant and the downtown shopping area. There are streets of shops and resturaunts. The kids loved the fairytale store and the ice cream shop.

YUMMY!