The Early Bird

Rise and shine at our house comes at 6am. We will often bring the kids into our bed on weekend mornings in hopes of lounging just a few more minutes... or even dozing off once again. Most days, however, Kyle is ready to go.

There is one advantage to getting up this early on the weekends, however. If we want to go out to breakfast, we can easily beat the crowds. Saturday we tried a newer place that we've heard has long waits to get in. Apparently, not at 8:30am. We got in in just a few minutes and enjoyed a delicious meal.

We headed to the zoo after that and took in some sights until lunch time.

With the weather heating up, we filled the pool and took (one last?) dip. Lucian had a fabulous time out there with the kiddos while I grocery shopped child-free. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more.

Little Things

Kyle now navigates our swing set with great confidence, mostly while giving me a heart attack. The weather has allowed us to be outside frequently, which is great.

Mimi and I ran another 5k last Saturday morning. It took place along the lakefront and ended at Irish Fest with a beer. A good choice if you ask me.

I arrived home to a chalk greeting from my cheering section.

And some big excitement at our house Monday morning. A crew showed up to demo and re-build the retaining wall near the creek in our front yard. Kyle loves trucks and machines. He probably would have stood there all morning.

Playtime

Spencer turned the big 18 this month. Hard to believe.

I took the kids to my parents' for an overnight on Friday. They did pretty good in the car. Kyle is now facing forward, so he could see the movie screen and Claire only had me stop once for a bathroom break each way.

Here is Kyle in my childhood high chair. Now both my kids have been able to use it. Nana made them eggs for breakfast, a crowd favorite.

We spent Sat. morning at a kids' museum. There was plenty for them to do and enough adults to keep track of them. Kyle is go go go right now and tough to wrangle. This outing was perfect for him.

And on Sunday, Claire had a playdate with her cousin Lydia.

They visited Nana Kathleen at work and tried on some shoes.

The Fair

On Friday we made a visit to Claire's new school. She just misses the cutoff for K4 at the public school, so we've been on the hunt for the right program. We really feel like she'd benefit from a learning-centered environment. We were happy to find a spot at one of our top choices, where her friend Sydney currently attends. Sydney happily showed her around and sat with her for circle time. We are excited for her to start in Sept.

Claire wrapped up her final swim lesson on Sat. and Sun. we headed to the WI state fair. This was my third visit ever. It's filled with crazy food, lots of animals, some rides and huge crowds. Going early was the key. We all had fun.

"Fried Oreos for breakfast mom? The fair is great!" I'm pretty sure that's what Kyle would have said could he use full sentences.

He could say "airplane" though and point at the circling planes pulling banners.

We saw lots of animals. Some real...

and some not.

We tackled the giant slide

 and the trampoline

And a pony ride. Everyone was exhausted that night.