AHHHHHH ,,,,,,first day of school!!!

well...it's official! Kaed had his first day of kindergarten! I know he doesn't look excited...but trust me, he was! He gets a little shy at first! He said he had a lot of fun, and can't wait to go again tomorrow! He's so grown up now! :)

Here they are as we were about to leave the house. We also had a meeting to meet Violet's teachers so as you can see...she has her backpack on and ready to go! Poor poor Merce...she totally thinks she is going too...all ready to go with her backpack too..and posing with a cute smile!

And here is Kaedyn with his cousin Titus, and Auntie Gretchen and Uncle Eric. They were so kind to take Kaedyn to his very first MN Twins baseball game!

New Beds!

So we bought these loft beds for the kiddos, planning to assemble them once we've moved to WI...but Daddy, and the kids, couldn't wait that long! They are sooooo excited about them!

MN State Fair....Here we come!!!

Today we had the pleasure of taking the kiddos to the fair, along with the Ulferts Family! Here are the three eldest on the bus ride to the fair..which is probably the highlight for them!

...gazing out the window in wonder!

Trying to get a pose of all the kids together...it's really difficult with 5 of them!

I love Kaedyn's pose here...he looks like a bored teenager!

Tried to get a Kelly family pic...as you can see, no one wanted to be in the picture with us!

mmmm....sweet corn!

Merce even wanted to go on the rides...however, she is too small, so of course mommy had to ride along! she laughed so hard when this car whipped around the corner! It was pretty fun!

Observing the animals in the birthing center. As you can see, violet was a little stand-off-ish! It was kind of weird...she wasn't real fond of the animals! When we got to the cow barn, she would have nothing to do with it!

Our dear little Violet has finally turned the corner and is now willing to go on the rides! Woowoo Violet!

I'm pretty sure I should get super mom award for this...we build little wood toolboxes at the Home Depot corner. I had Merce on my back..which weighed a ridiculous amount...plus violet in front of me as I helped her hammer nails into the wood! I even lifted her up for some of it so she could hammer it easier! whew..that was exhausting! Thank goodness Gretch helped Kaedyn!

Awe...Violet even got a ride in the backpack...thanks Daddy!

Here we are at our limits...no nap means mommy holding Merce and her getting her nuk!

...one of my favorite pics!

Merce enjoying the view from the bus!

What a day! It was a lot of fun. Even as we left...the kids cried that they wanted to stay longer, as us parents cried that we wanted to go home!

Half marathon 2011!

In preparation for my full marathon in October, I signed up with some friends to run this half marathon again! It was a lot of fun!

Guatemala!

My wonderful hubby surprised me with a vacation to visit Hannah and Sam!!! I was there for two weeks and it was sooooo much fun!!! Her and Sam were great hosts! I got to see beautiful parts of Guatemala and be a part of their everyday lives! Thanks Hannah and Sam!

Here we are at the zoo! It sure beats the zoos that we have here in Minnesota! It was absolutely gorgeous!! Here are a few pics with the animals!

Sam's father is a pilot...so we got to eat breakfast one morning at the Aeroclub. It was so amazing to eat on a deck right next to the runway! I've never been so close before!

This was the most amazing night ever!!! You would probably never guess where we are right now.....this is the VIP movie theater! Yes that's right! they have these lazy boy chairs that you sit in and then you can order food and drinks. We ordered crepes with nutella and carmel corn! It was the best thing ever! oh yeah...and we watched captain america, which was fine....the experience itself was much more entertaining!

Here we at lunch at a restaurant in Antigua. Isn't this the biggest nacho plate you've ever seen? It was sooo delicious!!

Here are two ladies that live with Hannah and Sam, Julia and Laura! We made the most delicious dessert!!

One day we went to visit Sam at work

us at the mall eating lunch (this is Joseph, Sam's younger brother), he did most things with us because he was on summer break from school! We had a blast! He showed us around and helped me brush up on my Spanish!

Here is a soccer field that Hannah and I ran on to keep in shape for my marathon training! It was so hard to run here, the bumpy grass and elevation definitely had me working hard! thanks Hannah!

Here we are eating lunch on their balcony! It was gorgeous weather...even though it's considered rainy season. It was beautiful all day and rained a bit in the afternoon!

Guatemala!

We got stuck in traffic one day because of this landslide...it completely covered one side of the road so they had to shut it down and reroute people! ...thank you rainy season!

Joseph turned 16 while I was there so we took him out to celebrate!

We drove to the ocean one of the days, and it was beautiful! They have black sand, and the waves were soo powerful! I've never seen anything like it!

Out for dinner at San Martin for Joseph's birthday!

Guatemala!

We went to Antigua a couple different days, these are pics from inside an old cathedral. It was stunning inside!

Good Times!!

Violet and Titus enjoying the slip and slide on a hot day!

I told Merce to put her arm around Mackenzie for a picture...and this is what she gave me! haha not quite what I was looking for, but none the less! fyi...Mackenzie is reaching for another cracker!

No...Kaedyn is not trying to get a tan. He's waiting for the girls to come over and bury him in the sand!

Weekend Fun!

we didn't get many pics from our weekend in okoboji, ia....but that doesn't mean we didn't have tons of fun! We spent tons of time in the boat and swimming in the lake! Couldn't have been a better weekend!!