Zoo Class Trip

I was able to join Claire's class on a trip to the zoo yesterday. The weather was great and the so were the kids. I rode the bus with the group and "supervised" Claire and her friend Sydney primarily. They are learning about wild animals this week, so the trip was a great lesson.

Claire and Syd on the bus

Elephants

Giraffes

The whole class

We had lunch at the zoo. There was even a sack lunch for me.

And then we headed back.

It was great to share the time with Claire. She will be starting K4 at the public school soon, so this might be one of her last trips for a while. They really have a great program.

Weekend Update

We broke in the house with a birthday gathering for Spencer and Aunt Sarah. We have a lovely great room with seating for a crowd. I suggested everyone unpack a box before they left, but everyone just laughed.

Saturday we brought lunch to the park and played for a bit.

We happened to run into Claire's friend Sydney while we were there. The girls begged to have a sleepover that night. How could we refuse?

Sunday morning, I met Mimi to do a 5k at the lakefront. I haven't run in a few weeks, so I was a little nervous. The cooler temps and breeze off the lake made for a great run for me. Mimi however was hobbling on a hurt ankle when she arrived at the race and had to drop out:( Turns out she has a stress fracture.

She did wait around to cheer to to the finish. What a nice sister.

And just a random shot of Kyle talking on the "iPhone". The previous owners left this phone and I realize we have never had a home phone, so all phones are iPhones to the kids. Technology snobs, I tell ya;)

We've Moved!

We closed on our new house last Friday. Here is an entire family selfie the morning of our closing.

Lucian and I made a quick stop at the new place before we met Lucian's brother to do several U-Haul trips. We love the house and are happy to have a bit more space.

Our "what did we do" face.

We brought the kids over Friday after school & daycare. Claire loved it. Kyle loved that his bikes were in the driveway.

Saturday we enlisted professional movers. Best decision ever.

And now we are on to the monumental task of unpacking. I'm happy to be in boxes for a little while longer and do some fun weekend activities before summer is over. I feel like we missed out on so much because of all the packing.

We have made good progress though. The play set is up and the kids room is unpacked. The kitchen is pretty well arranged and I'm so happy to be cooking again instead of eating take-out because our dishes are packed!

Claire & Aunt Mimi Day

Last weekend Claire spent a day with Aunt Mimi having a girls' day that has become an annual tradition. They packed in the fun visiting the children's museum, taking in a movie and sharing some ice cream. A stop at Costco even resulted in a new Cinderella dress! Claire had a fantastic day. To be honest, I am a little jealous. Perhaps I'll suggest a Sarah and Aunt Mimi day as well?

Hanging Outside

In between packing sessions we've managed a bit of swimming fun. The kids love their pool time, especially Kyle. It's impossible to keep him dry if the pool is set up in the yard.

What's New

I had a very early TV shoot last week (dawn to be precise). It was a little rough on my sleep schedule, but made for a beautiful view over Lake Michigan. I had to shoot until sunset as well, so I was one tired girl after that.

Me standing in for our yoga talent.

Aunt Mimi picked up the kids for us that day.

Claire is adjusting to her Kindergarten classroom. She was very excited to show me her dolphin project from their ocean lesson.

I also got to watch her complete a journal entry when I picked her up the other night. They have to write out the full date on each page. I was impressed.

In other news we are moving in a couple of weeks. Luckily boxes are very entertaining to small children.

And when boxes won't cut it, big brother Spencer is a big help:) Happy to have him home this summer.

Backyard Camping

Claire really likes the idea of camping. I don't love it to begin with, but camping with a 2 and 4-year old isn't especially exciting to me. So, we appeased her with some backyard camping. We made a small fire in the little Weber grill, perfect for s'mores.

They were a hit

Then we set up the tent and hunkered down for the night. We actually watched Frozen on the iPad until Claire fell asleep (ahh, the comforts of wi-fi). But Mr. Kyle had a tough time settling down with the four of us in a tent. I think around 10pm, we threw in the towel and brought everyone inside. We all slept much better and Claire still got to try it out. She told us in the morning that we could have left her out there alone. But I'm pretty sure she would have freaked out... and maybe I would have too.