And They're Off . . . .

. . . to 1st grade!! Unbelievable. Though bittersweet, it was a good day - I held my emotions in check and the boys ended up enjoying it much more than they thought they would. They loved seeing their friends again, liked their new teacher and came home in a much more positive mood than when they left! :) Grandpa, Mark and I went to chapel with them in the morning and then my mom was sweet enough to come in and spend the day shopping with me - a nice distraction, as I didn't really want to sit at home all day and dwell on the end of summer.

Now we're getting ready for a Labor Day weekend camping trip - - never say die!! We'll be camping into October, hopefully, if the weather holds out! We have our furnace for the nightime, so as long as it's nice during the day, we're in business. Looking forward to spending some time with my sister and her family, who are going with us - she's been at my mom and dad's for almost two weeks now, and I've hardly seen her, things have been so crazy.

Other than that, we're definitely entering "wedding mode" - one week from Saturday! Jack and Noah are SO excited to be ushers - Jack prayed tonight that he would be a good usher and Noah has been obsessed with the attire - especially the shoes, for some reason. He's so excited about his tux, it's just funny. Can't wait to see what my little men will look like!!!!

The Last Few Days of Summer . . . .

Tonight we are winding up our trip to Minnesota, getting ready to head back home tomorrow. We arrived in St. Paul on Thursday around lunch time and headed straight for one of our old favorite restaurants - Cosetta. It's italian, and has the most fantastic Italian grocery store attached to it - it's enough to make me want to move back. :) We had a VERY yummy lunch. (It's the place with the green awnings).

Then we headed down the street to the Science Museum where they had a special Star Wars exhibit - much to the delight of Jack and Noah. The exhibit had all kinds of actual stuff from the movies - actual costumes, ships, etc. It was really interesting and the kids enjoyed it.

Next up: the Bloomington Radisson, our accommodations for Thurs. night, which happens to be attached to the Water Park of America - supposedly the largest indoor waterpark in the country. Our room was cool - instead of two queen beds, it had one queen bed and a little bunk bed room for the kids:

This place was just a riot - we had SO--MUCH--FUN. The big feature was a "Family Raft" water slide - you start 10 stories up and all pile into a circular raft (can fit up to 6 people!), then plummet down the most amazing slide - wow. The first time was NOT fun for me, who ended up being the one riding backwards, or for Jack, who had his eyes squeezed shut the whole time and was just scared in general. We coaxed Jack into trying it again, to no avail - still didn't like it. So at that point, Mark got out the big guns and started bribing him with chances at the claw machine conveniently located in the waterpark (I know, lowdown and dirty, right??). That's all we had to do to get Jack tearing up the stairs, determined and ready to go. Sure enough, two more trips down and he was hooked, his contract with Dad was fulfilled, and he started doing it free of charge. :) Did I mention there was no elevator or chair lift? Just stairs. You have to climb the 10 stories every time - we figure between Thurs. and Fri. we climbed around 140 stories. Yep, the kids were a little tired. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this slide or the waterpark - it was just too big and I was too distracted. The best thing about it was that we all got to ride together and came out at the end every time just rolling in laughter. Definitely a highlight of the summer.

Friday morning was spent on the above-mentioned slide, and then we headed to Ikea, which we'd never visited, and have heard so much about. This store is so massive, we got lost a couple times, and in the end didn't really see what the big deal is about - but interesting nevertheless. We then headed to the Ridgedale mall - our old stomping grounds, just a short distance from our apartment when we were first married. The kids got their pictures taken at a favorite studio there, then after supper we headed to Willmar.

We've had a great time in Willmar - been able to spend lots of time with Mark's brother and his kids, which we don't get to do very often. Mark got in some golf with the men in his family and played some 1-on-1 bball with his cousin - we were all laughing about exactly where Jack gets his intensity from . . . it was very apparent today.

We took all the kids to a go-kart park this afternoon and oh my word, did the kids go nuts. The competition was intense . . . at least with Jack (see below). A few minutes into their second time on the kiddie go-karts, I had to stop watching - they were running each other off the track, running into empty parked go-karts - even pushed an empty one out onto the track . . . it was unreal. I decided this afternoon that neither Jack or Noah will be getting their driver's licenses. Ever. At least while they are living in our house. Jack just goes on a tear, with a dead aim on anyone close by, and Noah drives looking behind him the whole time. Uggh. I mean it - never.

Here's boy on a mission:

BOOM!

The three cousins . . .

Here's Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky . . . .

And his crazy-competitive brother . . .

The five Roisum cousins - I have the absolute cutest nieces on the planet.

We spend the day tomorrow journeying home and then have ONE MORE DAY of summer on Tuesday. I gave the boys their choice of what to do that day - and of course it's the pool. Uggh - it just makes my heart hurt to think that my babies are starting 1st Grade on Wednesday. I've been doing quite well at avoidance, but now the reality of it is staring me in the face and giving me the 'ol pit in my stomach. Don't be surprised if one day the four of us are gone, disappeared without a trace - off to hide on some mountain or beach to avoid the progression of time. I know, that wouldn't work either. My current plan is to just immerse myself in the many activities starting in the next couple of weeks and focus on some projects around the house. Bah humbug . . . . .

A Sure Sign of a Good Weekend . . .

. . . . is when you get in the shower Sunday evening and your hair smells like both campfire and chlorine! :) We had a very relaxing camping trip this weekend in Custer State Park - beautiful area, very cool but gorgeous weather, and NOTHING to do - other than play games and enjoy the outdoors. What a great feeling. Sunday when we got home, we unpacked and headed for the waterslide park here - one of those things I've been promising the kids we would do before school starts. We met some of our friends there and had a fantastic afternoon.

Here's the kids playing "Blongoball" at our campsite - Jack's a little intense:

Paddle boating on Legion Lake:

Sunday when we got home, we unpacked and headed for the waterslide park here - one of those things I've been promising the kids we would do before school starts. We met some of our friends there and had a fantastic afternoon.

Here's what I call the "death slide" - I went down this last year and thought I was going to die - it's so vertical that your body leaves the slide on the way down. Sure enough, Noah LOVES it - went on it repeatedly - by himself, too yet (Jack doesn't like it either). Here's Noah and Mark - racing - they're both at the top . . . .

And Mark is the winner . . . .

Today we hit the pool and then the fair when Mark got home from work - whew - the kids were exhausted. We're trying to capitalize on every remaining minute of summer - school starts a week from Wednesday. :(

Here's where we spent a good portion of August -
Two big achievements this summer - the boys learned to swim, and fell in love with the diving board . . . . . (here's Noah)

And Jack doing "the pencil" - what form!!

I've discovered I'm NOT one of those moms who celebrates the end of summer, anxious to push the kids out the door to school again. This summer will end with me kicking and screaming (okay not literally - but definitely pouting). I LOVE LOVE LOVE summer - esp. now at this stage in our lives when it means I get my kiddos back for 3 months! I love the lack of routine - no bedtimes, no schedules to hold us captive, no set meal times, lazy mornings, lunches and afternoons at the pool, weekends camping - just the general overall feeling of freedom!!! In a week, we'll be locked into a schedule again for the next 9 months, and I certainly hope I can find some peace with it --- and quickly!! :)

Our last adventure for the summer starts tomorrow when we head to Minnesota - first to our old stomping grounds in Minneapolis where we have a couple of fun things planned for the kids, then over the weekend we'll be at Mark's parents in Willmar. We'll get back home just in time for the start of school.

And of course we're in the midst of the wedding countdown - two weeks from Saturday my brother will be a married man! Today I take the boys in to be measured for their tuxes - I absolutely can't wait to see how they are going to look - and they are so excited to be ushers, I am constantly getting a barrage of questions from them about their "jobs." All too soon, they'll be getting measured for THEIR weddings - can you imagine??? Uggh!

More Tales from the Claw Machine . . .

Friday night we went out to eat with some friends of ours at a restaurant that, much to our dismay, happened to have a claw machine - tucked away by the bathrooms - that we were previously completely unaware of. Had we been aware of it, we probably would have avoided the place. :) When our friend mentioned he saw a claw machine by the bathrooms, our little addict grabbed his brother and his buddy and went dancing through the tables to conquer it. Mission: his 16th claw machine animal. Now, the interesting thing about this particular claw machine encounter is that Jack and Noah's buddy had NEVER experienced a claw machine. As they excitedly yelled out instructions to him, I stood by, feeling horrified that we were influencing an innocent child to take a step down the path of no return - a claw machine addiction. And sure enough, wouldn't you know, the little guy managed to get one out! We couldn't believe it. By the end of the evening, all 3 boys had a new stuffed animal under their arm - they each managed to get one. Mission accomplished.

Now I just hope and pray this doesn't become an obsession for him like it has for Jack. We would be responsible and I would feel awful! It sure was fun watching the 3 of them, though - they were all pretty cute.

Other accomplishments last week -

• Mark bought himself a car, got a heck of a deal, so we were really happy with the outcome. He's like a kid with a new toy and isn't real excited about sharing with his wife. Hmm, a good example for the kids? I think not. :)
• We got the school shopping DONE - all in one day, too yet! It was a torturous process picking out backpacks and lunch boxes, though - Jack is Mr. Decisive and had this all figured out inside of 5 minutes . . . . Noah, on the other hand, about lost his mind trying to decide. Took him 20-30 minutes, no joke. Jack was ready to strangle him by the time we were done.
• Noah developed a new phrase - tried it out on Daddy the first time, telling him to "keep his shorts on" when Mark was trying to hurry him along. WAY funny, we were just rolling.
• Both Jack and Noah got individual "alone" nights at Grandma and Grandpa's, which is great for all of us. They both got some fishing in, some 4-wheeling and some general taking advantage of Grandma and Grandpa . . . . :)

This week we'll be at the pool as much as possible!! Our days are numbered!! Friday we have our home visit from Jack and Noah's first grade teacher, so we're anxious to learn more about her - she's new this year. And we finally get to go camping again this weekend, we're so excited. We haven't been out as much as we'd like this year, so we're going to try and squeeze a few weekends in this fall. Where did this summer go?

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Tonight for our usual Sunday night "dinner and movie night" we watched home videos from when the boys were 3 1/2 . . . . .OUCH. Oh my word, it's almost painful for me to watch those videos and they are now only 7!! They were so stinking cute - yes I know I'm biased - I just wanted to reach through the TV screen and hug them and it was killing me. Fun to watch, but oh so hard to accept that those days are gone forever. Where do they go?!? And why at such lightning speed? And what in the world am I going to do when they are seniors in high school? The mere thought truly terrifies me. And now (possibly as a result of the movies?) the familiar pit in my stomach has returned - the one I had at this time last summer when it really hit me the boys would be in school full-time - - the schedule doesn't change this year, but just the fact that they will be in 1st grade already is a little too much for me to wrap my head around. Uggh - I hope I don't feel this way all month! (Or actually 3 1/2 weeks - that's all we have left of summer!) :(

Okay, enough of the pity-party - we had a great week last week. Barely unpacked from our Arizona trip, on Tuesday morning the boys and I headed up to the Big Horn mountains in Wyoming with my mom and dad. We have family friends that have a great cabin in the mountains, and they invited us up for a couple days. I grew up in Sheridan, WY, so I had spent considerable time at this same cabin when I was little - so it was REALLY fun to go back and show it all to Jack and Noah. They had a blast - they loved the cabin and the loft they got to sleep in; had fun on the home-made teeter-totter;

and seriously bonded with our friends' dog named Pippa.

This dog was AWESOME - she loved the boys as much as they loved her and the 3 of them were inseparable. She doesn't shed, she's sweet as can be, she was a literal shadow to Jack and Noah - we loved loved loved her. She's a Kerry Blue Terrier, and I researched the breed when we got home, but found they are VERY difficult to find. Hmmm - the perfect pet escapes us again . . .

The other cool thing about this little trip was that there were two giant moose basically living in the yard - they were there nearly the whole time we were. It was amazing to be so close and so fun to watch them . . .

Here's one crossing the road right in front of us:

Thursday, back at home, we hit the pool with some friends - ended up staying for 3 1/2 hours, not getting home till after 6:00 - but it was great. We'll be doing a lot more of THAT before school starts!

Friday my brother, his fiance and her little boy came over for the night - got a babysitter and us grown-ups got to go see a grown-up movie!! It's been a LONG time since we've done that - saw Hancock, which I thought was good, but then I probably would have thought anything was good because it had been so long since I had seen a non-children's movie! They stayed over and then left after lunch on Saturday, at which point we went car shopping for Mark. UGGHH. Have I ever mentioned I HATE car shopping? Ick. Mark's car is 10 yrs. old and he does really need a newer one, so we tried to buckle down and get it done, but by the end of the day we (or at least I) was really crabby and we hadn't made much progress. Stay tuned.

This week? We have a lot of NOTHING. Yeaaahhh!! What a great feeling. I love our family trips, excursions and adventures, but I also dearly love our downtime. Especially now as summer is winding down . . . .