Preschool Melody

With a week and a half of preschool under her belt, Kate has become well-versed in storytelling and singing. I often hear her singing bits of songs that they sing in class, and tonight I asked her to preform for the camera while we were at the playground. Towards the end, Andrew decided to show off his talents as well.

First day!

Today was Kate's first day of preschool! She came running out of her room at 6:15am, fully dressed including shoes & monkey backpack. 

 Showing her smiley face that I drew on her hand in case she got nervous while she was at school. 

 And a super sweet shot that daddy took when he dropped her off at school. Jason said Kate was so excited to see the "school park" that she practically ran off without a hug (she goes to the before school program, so she gets an extra recess).

The report from the day was that they sat criss-cross applesauce, got 4 recesses, all went potty together, had a great lunch, read a story called The First Day of School, and got to clean pieces of wood to help her teacher out. I can tell the adventure is only beginning!

State Fair

On our last day of summer we took the kids to the last day of the State Fair. It was a beautiful day, and though we only spent a few hours there, we had a great time. 

The best part was the little hands farm, where they had lots of farming & chores for the kids.

 First step: planting a seed.

 Next, picking a just-right apple to place in their baskets.

 On to the next stop...

 ...gathering eggs!

 Next was pulling a hay bale in the tractor.

 And finally, milking a cow.

The kids then took all of their goods to the farmers' market, where they received a "little farm" dollar. They got to spend this at the general store, where they each picked out a Popsicle.

It was then on to lunch, which featured traditional fair food: lemonade, corn dogs, and pork tenderloins.     

 Kate rode her first carnival ride, which she loved. 

 Andrew stood on the side in tears because he was inches too small. 

 But was cheered up when he got to drive a big tractor. 

 We then rode the city bus back to the capitol, where our car was parked. 

A perfect end to an Iowan summer!

Girls Day

To celebrate the end of summer and the start of a new school year, Kate and I had our annual girls day. We started off with breakfast, which featured the best kept secret in Des Moines: a delicious cinnamon roll that was bigger than Kate! We shared it & had lots to bring home for the boys!

 Next we went to the pottery place where Kate chose a bowl to paint.

 She worked really hard on it & I can't wait to pick it up to see the finished results. 

 We then went to Target to find some jeggings that fit (the ones I got her kept falling off her little peaches), and then took daddy to his eye doctor where he got his eye touched up from last year's laser procedure. While this wasn't the most exciting part of the day for me, Kate was fascinated as she watched daddy's eye on the TV while they worked on it.

We finished the day with a quick swim in the pool before picking up Andrew. This girls day tradition has quickly become one of our favorites!

 One another note, when we picked up Andrew that day our babysitter informed me that he had climbed out of his pack & play and so has graduated to the nap-mat. (This new trick has unfortunately translated to home as well, and while I was typing this post he climbed out of the crib for the second night in a row....not.good.) 

Fingers crossed for better sleeping nights now that school is about to start!

Preschool Open House

On Wednesday, we got to visit Kate's preschool classroom. She is SO excited, and it was great that she got to check out the place before the first day. Here she is finding her "locker".

 Playing the drum set in the room (which in my opinion is a questionable item to have available to preschoolers on a regular basis, but she sure liked it!).

 Sitting in a reading chair.

 And standing out front of the school.

While this mama gets pretty emotional thinking that her baby girl is already in school, I know that she is going to love every minute of it, and that makes it easier to choke back the tears!

Here Comes Trouble...

After watching the following video, you will see 2 things that almost-2-year olds should not be doing...

If you said:

 1) pushing his sister in the pool (and cackling afterwards) 

2) jumping in without a life jacket (which he does over & over)

 then you are correct!

Alone Time

Last week, Kate spent a fun-filled 5 days in Sioux City with Grandma & Grandpa Vogel. This gave Jason & me some rare alone time with our little guy. We spent a nice afternoon at the park and I was able to snap some sweet photos.