First Day of School 2011

Ezra is on the night shift this week. He got off work this morning in time to join us for breakfast and even brought donuts! The whole family walked to the bus stop - one house over.

Annabelle is starting 4th grade, Jonah is starting 2nd grade. Grace is starting Kindergarten this year!! She put on a serious face to mask her feelings. I know once she gets to school she'll be fine. But she's nervous about the bus and getting to the right room.

 

neighbors: Ella and Carter Johnson (mom is Anne Johnson), Meagan and Dani

Grace said the other kindergartner's were rowdy and Mrs. Knupp had to be stern. Mrs. Knupp has a loud voice! I think it scared Grace.

Grace got on the wrong bus after school, but Annabelle found her and helped her on the right bus and came home safely. Annabelle and Jonah found old friends and made some new. There were bored with reviewing rules and such.

While big kids were at school, Olivia and I read books, painted nails, and made brownies. Finn tagged along, too. I also babysat baby Addalyssa, who slept a lot.

Waterloo, Anniversary, Ames Creek Trek

On Saturday we met Lizz's family, Arne, Susan, Justus and Emmeline at Lost Island in Waterloo. All the kids Schafer and up went on the family water slide. There is a roller coaster water ride, too. Grace said, "I did not like that one one bit." Saffi screamed and cried. We stayed there five hours! Jonah still is not tall enough to go on the big slides like Annabelle. Em and I went on the red straight down slide! Olivia loved wearing the life jacket in the wave pool in deep water.

After, Arne and Susan took our kids to their house for the weekend! Lizz and David and kids will be there, too. Ezra and I went on a date to Linn Street Cafe downtown Iowa City, and watched Rango at home. This is our anniversary date.

Sunday it was weird going to church without kids - just Ezra and I. It is nice that we can talk to the kids with Facetime. This is fairly new. The kids were all in dress-up clothes and make-up, They also did an obstacle course in the backyard. Ezra left for work around 5:30pm. I had the whole quiet house to myself. Even Izzy and Lily whimpered for their playmates. They miss the kids.

Monday, Arne took the kids on an adventure walk to a creek. The kids went in their swimsuits so they could get in the creek this time. I hear they had a marvelous time! Those kids have wonderful, wonderful grandparents!

Annabelle's Sleepover Party

Little Things

July 20, 2011
We had a slow start to our day. But after naps when we decided to go to the pool, the chores got done quickly. Olivia likes to jump off the side of the pool, climb out, then jump in again - over and over. Jonah somehow managed to pass the swim test! So he went off the diving board, then the high dive!! He loved it.

July 21, 2011
Finn says "No, No, No" and "Mine" loud and clear. Other than that he still doesn't say much. I mean I can't understand anything he says. I need to teach him more signs.

July 29, 2011
Jonah got to go out to a restaurant with Dad since he completed 2 math books this summer. He chose to go to Old Country Buffet. He walked out holding his stomach, stuffed too full. We also went to the pool and movies today. Great day!

July 30, 2011
I made the kids clean all evening. Annabelle and Jonah were in charge of sweeping and mopping the kitchen. Water was everywhere! Finn had fun splashing around on his hands and knees. Then they set towels out to soak up all that water. They set the towels as winding paths to walk on.

Busy Day

This week we each picked a mammal to learn more about.

Annabelle learned about elephants, the largest land mammal. Jonah learned about bats. At the library this week their was a special program for school-age kids all about bats. We learned that bats fly differently from birds. Bats can't take off from the ground. They have to climb up a tree/post/wall, then jump off in order to take flight.

Grace learned that killer whales can't breath under water. They have to come up above water every so often to breath through their blowhole. Olivia learned about dolphins. Dolphins and killer whales are in the same family.

This week we went to the library with some friends on Monday and we all picked out research topics. On Friday we got back together again and shared reports with each other, then had lunch together and played. That was fun.

Today was a busy day. We got up early and visited the big farmer's market in downtown Iowa City. The kids enjoyed seeing the huge variety of vendors. Then we went to the church for a ward pancake breakfast followed by pioneer games. We came home and cleaned a bit, had lunch, napped. Then we went to a local Blues and BBQ family outdoor event. There were several activities for kids - bouncy house, huge slide, some other big blow-up bouncy things, duck pond, fishing in the real pond, and a petting zoo area.

At this event there were live bands and several BBQ vendors. Fun evening.