The big move

We moved into our new house on October 10th.  Thanks to Jeff and Juston, along with the help of families, we moved in pretty quickly.  Alena liked playing around the waterfall.

School is just under a mile walk.  On the way home we stopped at Bever Park to play.  The girls wanted to pose in the new Bocce court.

I needed to escape the stress of the move, so we went back to Marr Park for a camping trip.  They had the Halloween hike with jack o lanterns and luminaries set up all around the lake's trail.  Grandpa offered to sleep with Nora.  She was so wound up she refused to settle down, even though she was tired.  She left his side of the camper and then we didn't hear her.  She wasn't on our side and she wasn't on Grandpa's.  We were really confused when Daddy located her sitting against a sleeping bag, sound asleep.  The next morning we found her wedged up in the corner.

Ta Da! with Grandpa.

The girls show off the new kitchen.

We have a great new climbing tree.  Uncle Andrew had to show off his climbing skills while Lucie and Nora played in a leaf pile.

Camp Wapsie

When Daddy was young, he was in a YMCA group with his dad called Indian Guides.  Now it is called Adventure Guides, and Alena and Daddy joined along with Tillie and Uncle Andrew.  There was a campout at Camp Wapsie.  There were a lot of fun activities, and Alena did a great job of participating.  There was a pumpkin carving contest, tug of war, bingo, a scavenger hunt, and a campfire.  Her favorite activity was using a stick to pull algae out of the lake.  It was a cold weekend, but the cabins were nice and toasty. 

September

Alena and Nora like to make a pillow pile to watch tv in.

We went to the Kernels' baseball game.

When we were in Wisconsin we visited Kirstin.  We went to a restaurant where the waitresses brought food on roller skates.  The girls decided to recreated the experience at home.  I got to relax in the shade while they prepared and delivered food to me.

Nora's favorite color right now is...Pink!  Grandpa Ed gave her an ear of field corn and she loved it so much she had to sleep with it, even after we got home.

Grandma Diane made Alena a cheetah costume for Halloween.  She likes to wear it often.  Maya came over to play and Alena shared the head with her.  Alena's love of cheetahs began this summer.  She saw The Lion King and loved it.  She pretended to be Simba for awhile.  I checked out a movie at the library about a real lion and a real cheetah.  She decided after the movie that she preferred cheetahs and gave up on lions.

August

 Alena got new swim goggles after completing another year of swimming lessons.

We went on an Ossman family trip to Door County, Wisconsin.  On the way we stopped at the Dubuque botanical garden which had lots of pretty plants and waterfalls.  While on our trip the kids enjoyed some time at the beach.  Unfortunately it was cold and rainy but that didn't stop them from jumping some waves!  We had to drag them out of the resort because they didn't think anything could be more fun than hanging out there. We went to a fish boil to top it all off.

When we got home it was time for us to buy a house after many, many searches.  We found one just in time for Alena to start school!  She is a kindergartener at Erskine Elementary!  Buying a new house and having her start school at the same time was very stressful to me.

July

On the Fourth of July we went to Grandma Diane and Grandpa Steve's house.  Grandpa found a bag of giant marshmallows.  They were so big Nora had trouble fitting them into her mouth!  We enjoyed the fireworks at Elmcrest.

Alena is a great decorator.  She really improved this spiderweb with glitter and flower petals.

My uncle Doug turned 50 and had a big birthday party at the Marr Park campground.  The girls loved camping with Grandma Dee and Grandpa Ed.  Grandpa put up the lollypop lights that we had on our camper as kids.  The girls had fun with the Graber cousins collecting rocks and cleaning them in the campground sink, playing in the sprinkler, playing on the playground, and taking Aunt Renee's dog Libby for walks.  There was a big thunderstorm that sent the party running for their campers just after supper.

Daddy applied for a grant for the Ceramics Center and recieved it from the Riverside Casino.  He had to be present to collect the money.  Here he is with his novelty check.  The girls hung out eating sweetcorn with their grandparents while we were at the presentation.

Grandma Dee and Grandpa Ed celebrated their 41st anniversary.  We made a cake and the kids decorated it with bride and groom barbies.

Isn't Nora cute when she sleeps?

June

.  We enjoyed our last walk to the balloon glow at Brucemore and plenty of picnics in my backyard with "perfect shade."  The weather continued to cause trouble and a big storm blew part of the neighbor's tree onto our swingset!  Daddy and a neighbor quickly got it taken care of and the swingset was spared. Alena graduated from St. Matt's four year old preschool.  Mrs. Bates presented her with a nice certificate following some songs sung by the class.  For Father's Day we met Grandpa Ed at the Raptor Center and had a picnic.

May

The girls and I walked over to Brucemore and picked a lot of dandelions which we made into a cool heart.  Daddy was helping with a fundraiser called "Cereal Saturday."  Lily and Finn came over and spent the night so we could go the next morning together.  Alena and I made a lion pinata and we had fun breaking it in the backyard.  

We decided to sell our house so we could get off of the busy street and get away from the flooding basement.  But first we put a sump pit in.  Yes, after years of a flooding basement we decided to fix it for the next family.  Grandpa Steve and Daddy dug the hole quickly and the sump pump was in for the 6 inch rainfall we got the following week!