Back to school...

The girls are back in school and really enjoying it!  School here starts a bit later, both in the day and the time!  McKenna started 2nd grade on Tuesday, September 4th, and Adelyn started Kindergarten on Wednesday the 5th.  School here doesn't start until 9:20!!  Very different from my "be at school by 7:30 or earlier" schedule from last year!  And I have to admit, there have been a few mornings where we still seem to be running late, maybe because we don't get enough ready the night before!

Anyway, Kenna is in Mrs. Bulver's class, and it is a multi-age 2nd and 3rd grade classroom, so we are on a learning curve with this one and are interested to see how she does!  She was very excited on the first day - especially to ride the bus!  She woke me up early and was already dressed and wanted braids in her hair!  :)  From her American Girl 'McKenna' set these are her 'beautiful braids'...

Waiting at the bus stop!

 Our bus stop is the last in the neighborhood, so they literally have less than a 5 minute bus ride to school!  Our neighbors have a 5th grader and 2nd grader so the first day there were only 3 getting on the bus...

Wednesday:  Adelyn's first day of kindergarten!  

The girls ready to go and Jackson cheering them on!

5 at the bus stop now including Adelyn and our other neighbor's kindergartener!

Adelyn is in Mrs. Russo's class - Russo's Radiant Stars!

Here's a class picture from the second day - looks like a fun bunch!  :)

Quotes from the girls about what they like at school:

"I love making pictures at the art center and double recess days... magnetic stuff in the math center is cool too!"   --Adelyn

"Recess, library, and riding the bus." -- McKenna (wow... tough crowd for the teacher I guess!)

:)

Looking back...

So much has happened since last October when my blogging well, started bogging, but I wanted to post some of my favorite things since then!

Go Sparklers!

 Both girls started playing soccer - only 1 season in and Kenna loves it!  Adelyn, well she wasn't a fan of running in the heat, so maybe she'll be more up for it here in Minnesota :)  Being a soccer player and a mom it was hard sometimes to just sit back and watch and try hard not to be the coach!  Kenna played goalie mostly which is a position I never played, so it was fun to watch and see how she learned that position :)

Go Stryke Force!

In January we had the best bike riding day!  McKenna got a new bike for Christmas, leaving Adelyn to move from her balance bike (which she still loves!) to Kenna's old bike without ever using training wheels!  

Fossil Rim

This is another trip that it's so hard to post pictures from because we got so many good ones!  With Uncle E as our driver, we toured the wildlife park from the back of the truck and got up close and personal with lots of the animals!!

The girls :)

Uh, he was a bit scary...  

Twiga!!  I mean giraffe... We were trying to decide who had longer eyelashes, the giraffe or Adelyn!  I took this shot while feeding the giraffe (which Adelyn wanted to have nothing to do with!) - so cool!  

The zebra checking out Everett in the driver's seat :)

Grandad, GrAnne, and the girls!

One of my favorite pictures of my kids - candid but cute!  Taken in my parents neighborhood down near Lake Travis...  My kids had been dying to see bluebonnets before they went away again so we found this awesome patch while taking a walk!  

Jackson turned 1!!!

 Had a great party at Uncle Mackey and Aunt April's house in Austin to celebrate Jackson's 1st birthday and cousin Linda Grace's 2nd birthday!  It was a washer pitching, crawfish eating, cake-eating, bounce house filled day!

So many other moments I haven't shared, but maybe with our new adventure in the northern U.S. I will slow down a bit and remember to enjoy the little moments too... and hopefully share some with you!

Disney!

The highlight of the summer was certainly our trip to Disney in June with Adelyn and McKenna!  Jackson got to hang out in Austin with my mom and dad and get some good grandparent time in :)

It's hard to post all the good pictures from Disney (should just put a link to my Facebook page), but here are some of our favorites!

THE Castle...  My kids will forever be able to say they've seen the Disney castle in person :)

Tinkerbell!!  Kenna was happy to see her, despite the face shown here...

Dining with Mickey and the Gang!

Rapunzel (Adelyn's favorite!)

And Adelyn's best memory is her 5th birthday on Thursday during the trip!

We got to eat with all the princesses for breakfast that morning, and she had her very own princess wand and t-shirt!  I can't remember how many times she got to say "It's my birthday today"  :)

I think Buzz Light Year and Toy Story rides were some of our favorites!

LOVED Hollywood studios and lots of the shows there!  Mickey's Philharmagic in 3D was awesome, and the girls kept looking in the park for the magical brooms, and we finally found them - out front!

McKenna's favorite :)

Argh... it's me 3rd birthday cupcake this week!  :)

Parading and twirling with Aurora at the princess breakfast!

And one of my most vivid memories of going as a kid was the cool water drops that would jump from hole to hole... my kids liked them too!

I hope it's not much longer before we get to go back, but we had an awesome time and the girls are still talking about it!  It truly could be the world's happiest place...  :)

We've moved!

Goodbye Texas, Hello Minnesota!

If we haven't gotten the message to you, we have moved!  Joel accepted a new position with Jostens and we now live in near Minneapolis!  Was a crazy few summer months but all went well and we are getting settled in the new house.  Here is the last picture in front of our NRH house (taken by my parents who helped us with the last day of cleanout!).  I hope to get a fall picture in front of our new house (our profile picture certainly does need updating :)

So if you are ever up for some cooler weather in the summer, or some skiing in the winter, or just a trip to the Mall of America, let us know!