BUSY, BUSY, BUSY....

....I'm starting to feel the panic of the last couple weeks of summer setting in. I've really enjoyed having both girls home all summer. I dread the quickly returning days of early bedtimes, early wake ups, school and schedules :( I could use a couple more months of summer!

Last week was Bible School. The kids LOVE it, but it's totally exhausting. This was the first year Gracie was old enough to go.  Maggie was in my group, she wasn't very happy about it. Almost every night on our way there she would ask me to switch with another group leader so she didn't have to be with her mom :( I thought it would be years before she was too cool for me!

The first night Maggie got to do the closing prayer, she was so excited.



Gracie was always right in front!

 Crazy Hair Night!

 We had about 170 kids this year. What an undertaking! What crazy people give 170 kids bucket drums and drum sticks???? Do you have any idea how LOUD that is???



Pajama night!

The last 2 weekends we've been camping. Trying to figure out the new camper. So far we've been enjoying it....except for a little mechanical difficulty on our way to Omaha Saturday.


2 weeks ago we camped in Pierce and the Ries' came to visit.

in case you were worried, Reagan has found a comfy bed in the new camper! She wishes
we'd move the pillows and unfold the bed, but for now this will do.

Last Friday night we camped at Camp Merrill, it was really hot & humid, so instead of staying all weekend we headed for Omaha. Before we left we had a visitor....

(see his legs?) He wanted a little air conditioning!

He ran off and then came back for another visit. Maggie got really close to him. It was a
neat opportunity to see nature up close.

Unfortunately we blew a belt on the way home and had to call a tow truck. We've been reassured several times that it could
have happened to anyone and that the people we bought it from would have had NO way of knowing it was going to happen....the timing was still very frustrating (especially for Arnie who spent 7 hours waiting for a tow truck). It's in Omaha
being fixed now, hopefully we will get it back tomorrow and have a couple of days to get ready for our trip to Wisconsin. 

One day last week the girls and I made a quick trip out to camp to visit Grandma. We did a little playing while we were there....

American Ninja Warrior Maggie & Grandma addition :)

Maggie stayed in Omaha this week for a few special days by herself with Grandma and Grandpa. She's been looking forward to it for weeks and I know she's having a great time. I can't wait to hear about it when she gets home. Gracie keeps reminding me that she gets her Grandma & Grandpa days as soon as we come home from "Wins-sonsin". I've been waiting several weeks for the bike shop to have my bike ready (it's nothing special, they are just REALLY slow), it just so happens Monday was the day. So Gracie and I have been taking advantage of our days without Maggie to go on some long rides. She loves it. She sits back there and sings and counts and giggles. It makes for an entertaining ride. We have a great bike trail here in Norfolk, I have a feeling we have lots of fall rides in our future while big sister is at school.

Gotta be stylish, no matter what you're doing!

This morning she took her breakfast along. When we finished she told me her "little legs were tired from all that pedaling." She does have pedals but she spent most of the ride pedaling them backwards......tomorrow we'll work on going forward!

Just a side note, whoever invented glitter....should be hung by their toes, covered in glue and then rolled in glitter! I think I dislike it almost as much as sand.

Golf, Softball, the County Fair and whatever else I forgot....

I saw some pictures today and realized I forgot to blog about a few important parts of summer....
Maggie did 2 weeks of junior golf in June....

 On the last day she had a special guest coach :)

 There has been some tractoring....

Daddy let her drive, all by herself....yikes!

Softball season ended a couple of weeks ago. Maggie had a great time with her team. She got to play catcher a few times which she thought was exciting.

Last week was the Madison County Fair. It's a big deal around here. I had a meeting Thursday so Miss Lauren took the girls all day to watch the 4H horse events, then we all went back for the rodeo that evening and the next morning the girls and I headed back for more horse show....I think next year we are just going to take the camper and stay there. The unseasonably cool temperatures made being there all day much more pleasant then in years past.  

Gracie loved the little cows (I suppose that would be calves).

After the fair Gracie decided to run away. I'm not sure why she was taking a stroller, she only made it about a quarter of the way up the driveway, then she came back. I don't think she was mad, I think she was just trying to push my buttons (surprise, surprise!)

CHICAGO!

Arnie had a meeting in Chicago yesterday and today, so the girls and I decided to ride along. Maggie has been asking for a trip to the American Girl doll store for a long time, so this seemed like a great opportunity.

We landed and headed straight downtown. I wish I had a video of the girls as we drove into the city. Maggie has made several trips to Chicago with me, but I'm not sure I've ever taken her downtown. They couldn't believe how tall the buildings were and how many there were. I don't usually think of them as small town girls, but they sure sounded like it :)  Driving down Michigan Avenue they were in total awe of their surroundings. It was fun to experience with them.

We checked out the store (it's HUGE) and looked around, then headed for a special lunch with our American Girls. Their babies got special highchairs and their own plates and cups. Maggie and Graice both really enjoyed it.

Oh Gracie!

After lunch we headed for the doll hair salon, the babies needed a little sprucing up :)

 

After the salon, we did some shopping. It was pretty quiet when we got there but by the time we were done, it was a ZOO. I think it will be awhile before we go back but the girls LOVED it, so that makes it worth it.  It didn't take Gracie long to fall asleep once she hit her car seat.

After we left downtown we head for the Offenbacher's. We haven't seen them in almost 2 years so we were really excited to get to visit. The kids had a great time and it was really nice to catch up!

Tucker and Gracie were making ant soup....

....apparently Gracie didn't like the soup :)

Maggie loved helping Maeve.

Gracie got soaked from the ant soup, so we had to borrow a sweatshirt from Tucker....Her daddy wasn't
very happy about her selection!

Snack time (looks like Tucker was tired of all the girl talk).

These 2 were quiet a pair. They told us several times that they got married....uh oh!

Once Shawn was done working for the day, we headed out for dinner. It was a really fun day. We can't wait 2 years to do it again.

Once we got back to the hotel Daddy stopped by to help us carry all our prized possessions upstairs. Then the girls finally got to play with their new things.

About 6:45 this morning, Gracie opened the curtains and said "it's daytime"....and that was then end of our rest (I expect an early wake up call from Maggie, but I can usually count on Gracie to snuggle back in.)

 We decided on an early morning swim.

Then after breakfast and a trip to IKEA (Mommy's American Girl store), we met Daddy at the hotel. Last week we decided to buy a new camper, that happened to be located in Illinois, so the people we bought it from delivered it to our hotel. The girls hadn't seen it yet, so we gave them a few minutes to check it out....

....then the girls and I headed for the airport. Arnie and a very nice man who works for him are headed home with the camper as we speak. The girls were totally bummed that we weren't driving with daddy, but Jeff really wanted to make the trip and has A LOT more experience driving something that big then I do, so we promised them a ride tomorrow. Hopefully they will roll in about 10PM tonight.

The girls have been playing dolls since we got home. They just came upstairs and told me they were dressed for dinner.....

.....I'm not sure where they think we're headed for dinner????