Parent's Weekend

We drove up to visit Spencer last Saturday and headed to the Badger football game. It was great to see him for a few hours and enjoy a meal. He is settling into a routine, learning his way around and enjoying the college experience so far. It was great to catch up and all be together.

 We stopped and got both kids Badger shirts on the drive up. Claire told us she looked like a teenager wearing hers. She was also super excited to show Bucky (the mascot) her outfit. She knew he would love it.

Claire asked to sit next to Spencer all day. She held his hand and slept on his lap for part of the game. She sure misses her big brother.

Claire is 4!

It's hard to believe but Claire is 4 years old today. Our spunky little princess has an amazing vocabulary, big ideas and the most contagious smile. We did a 4-year photo shoot a couple weekends ago and I love the results (thank you Lucian).

Claire zoomed around on her balance bike in the studio. I'm amazed at how it's taught her to ride a two wheeler.

She was very cooperative that day, posing any way we asked and coming up with some of her own.

We even got Kyle to sit still long enough to make it into one of the shots (but just barely).

On Saturday we hosted a birthday party at our house with family and close friends. Claire requested a Brave cake and actually enjoyed it when we sang happy birthday to her this year.

Since it rained most of the day we had to do the piñata in the garage, but the kids didn't seem to mind.

Labor Day & School!

We had a fun-filled long weekend swimming in the pool, going out for breakfast, catching up on yard work and errands. We even took Claire to a movie (Disney's Planes) while my parents watched Kyle.

Monday we made it out on our friends' sailboat for the first time this year. Always enjoyable, but a little more complicated with our growing brood.

 

And then it was over:( The long weekend. Summer. This fall, however, we had an exciting event, Claire started school!

Tuesday was Claire's first day of Pre K. She was so excited. She has been asking to go to school for weeks now and carrying around her supplies in her backpack.

Her friend Sydney ran up and hugged her and led her away instantly. I expected a little more trepidation, but Claire was off and running. We're getting great reports from her teachers and she's excited to go back next week.

Go Badgers!

We dropped Spencer off at UW Madison last Wednesday. He is officially a Badger! I must say, they have move-in day down to a science. We parked our loaded van only a few feet from the entrance to his dorm. He is on the second floor, so hauling his stuff was pretty easy. And they had designated helpers that informed the boys of different furniture configurations and even helped carry the futon from the car. Not too shabby.

Spencer and his roomie Austin

Lucian did very well. It was an emotional day, but we couldn't be more proud of Spen.

A panorama of his room

After unpacking, we took Spen out for lunch on State Street. They have this lovely badger statue he graciously posed next to. What a good sport. We plan to head up in late Sept. for parents weekend, but we've had reports he's enjoying things so far.

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.