the manhattan regional airport... home to tours for playgroup

so, this summer we have been participating in a playgroup with some people from church. once a week an activity is planned and we all get together. this week, we toured the manhattan airport. it was fun for the kiddos... they were allowed to go through security and taught about what makes the metal detectors go off... (metal, duh)... they were given official tsa badges that came with the responsibility to obey their parents all day... at least once during the day grace said, i am obeying my parents.



after they were informed about airplane security, they were take outside to view a private plane and get inside... i swear, there were like 20 kids in there at once, it was quite crazy.





raegan was quite intent on getting her seatbelt buckled... safety first.

after the plane tour (i'm surprised it wasn't broken after all those kids), we headed over to the manhattan airport fire station where they learned about the fire trucks specifically designed for airplane fires... yikes. while we were there, we were able to see the 11:30 flight come in and the kids were in heaven... all except for raegan who for the last 30 minutes of the tour mentioned how much she wanted to go home... every five seconds... and also, except for the extreme heat... i think it was about 105 degrees outside and the humidity was awesome... i mean awesomely awful. as soon as that tour was over, we shot out of there so fast...

thanks manhattan regional airport for a tour i will never forget...

kaw valley rodeo 2010

so, yes, of course when the rodeo comes to town we must go... on thursday night we headed over to the rodeo for some delicious funnel cake and horse and bull riding action. we went to the rodeo once in oklahoma and i thought it was great, so this summer we were excited to be able to go. it was military night, so there were lots of people there and we had a lot of fun. we went with some new friends, the chiara family. they have a girl that is grace's age, a girl raegan's age, and a boy jack's age... it pretty much works out perfect, especially since the girls get along so well. i know grace and raegan are excited to have two new friends to play with.

well, this was just too cute... all the girls (raegan, grace, gabriella, and gwyneth) just lined up watching the ponies go by... and begging for a ride.



they gave out free t-shirts, so all the kids got one and the girls just could resist wearing them... they served as great barriers between their cute clothes and the snow cones they would later consume and spill all over.



and jack... so content in his stroller... until 9:30 when he was in constant whine mode and we had to leave early... we didn't even get to see the bull riding... next time... perhaps jack will stay home.

good-bye summer ballet

grace and raegan were in a ballet class this summer and last thursday was their last class. it was the parents night, so we were able to go and watch their practice and then see the dance they have been working on all summer. grace was pretty good at learning the ballet movements and names, but she gets so shy that she doesn't want to perform in front of us. on a rare day after class, grace would come home and say something like, mom, i learned how to do a rond de jambe and would proceed to show me what that was.



raegan on the other hand was quite out of it... and i'm guessing this is how it was the whole summer. i was cracking up because sometimes she would just start doing her own thing, like twirling, and i would hear her instructors say, 'raegan, pay attention'. yeah, i'm pretty sure that is how she was the whole time.



they loved their class and their cute instructors and i think this is something we may continue!

18 month stats

jack turned 18 months in june, but i wanted to give an update since i took him to the doctor last week...

weight: 23 lbs
height: 31 inches
teeth: 15 (eight on top, seven on bottom... still waiting for those stinking canines to finish coming in)

about in the 25-30th percentile for height and weight. all in all... pretty darn healthy.

independence day

since we were in missouri for the fourth of july we were sure to have a spectacular show. my dad really enjoys fireworks and we always have a great show. we started out with the 'daytime' fireworks... pops, snakes, and smoke bombs. what fun. the kids loved to watch the snakes grow and the pops. the smoke bombs were entertaining as well, especially since jack was terrified of them. he needed to be snuggled all up while they were going and i was happy to oblige.







that night we met up with the roberts clan and unloaded our firework stash. i must say, we do a pretty mean show. jack was once again terrified (the norm... he is afraid of anything that makes a loud noise... i.e. the blender, the weed eater, the vacuum, and fireworks). he pretty much wanted to be snuggled the whole time. raegan made it through about 1/3 of the show before she fell asleep and settled in the car for the rest of the night... and grace, we she just keeps going and going and going.



at least at the end of the day, jack was still smiling!



the next day, we took some pictures of the spent fireworks with grace and raegan. what a treat it was to be able to spend the holiday weekend with our family.



and of course on the way home we have two zombies and a smiling jack. i swear the only time those girls tear their eyes from the dvd player is to say... 'mom, the movie's over.'

happy 30 to me...

*yes, i took no pictures at all... not because i'm sad to be 30, but just because when it is my time to be responsible for the camera i stink at taking pictures. this is something i am going to have to remedy when bryan deploys... it would be good for him to see our children grow while he is away.

fun with uncle aaron

so we were back in missouri for another weekend. yay! we had a lot of fun hanging out with aaron and nana and papa. the kids were getting used to the largeness of aaron again. raegan was pretty darn shy at first, but she quickly warmed up.

one of the funniest things about jack right now is his desire to wear shoes all the time. and honestly it doesn't matter whose shoes they are. he just puts them on and goes. as seen below, this is a pretty common sight... for him to put on very large shoes and walk around. he is actually pretty good at getting around now and hardly ever falls down.




so, we spent the weekend in jefferson city... and i turned 30 on the 27th. yep, no pictures... i am lame. obviously this is one birthday that will just pass and nothing too crazy will happen. a little sad since you only turn 30 once, but just being able to spend it with our family and aaron was wonderful.

we stayed in jefferson city until tuesday and since bryan was on call and couldn't be with us, aaron decided to come back to manhattan with us. he stayed for a few days and then we all drove back to jefferson city to spend the fourth of july weekend there. on the trip to jeff city, we made a stop at costco for some new tires... and some pictures!

an unexpected visitor

so, we all know that my brother aaron is serving his mission in peru. he has been out since november 2008 (just a few weeks before jack was born). the tuesday after we returned from the lake, my mother calls me and tells me that aaron will be coming home from his mission early. aaron hurt his back in peru at the beginning of june and was unable to move and get out of bed and was in a bunch of pain. he traveled to arequipa where he had many mri's and tests done on his back to determine the extent of his injury. aaron has a history of back pain and problems that started before his mission. well, as they are doing these tests and conferring with the doctors in salt lake, aaron was sent back to tacna, the area he was serving in when he hurt his back. a couple of weeks later, his mission president, president davis, came down to visit and told aaron that he would need to return to the states in order to have treatment on his back. aaron was pretty discouraged about this, but he understands that this is the best for him right now. i decided that i would return to missouri with the kids so we could be there when aaron got back. bryan was unable to go with us since he was on call that weekend and had to stay in kansas. so, here we all are... at the airport in columbia, mo waiting for his arrival.





and finally he arrives!



jack had never met aaron, only seen pictures of him and on mothers day we were able to skype with aaron in peru and he was able to see jack... i may have mentioned before that jack loves men... not so much women... but is not afraid at all of men. so i knew that right away he would love aaron. and it was true... i walked up to aaron and gave him a hug and i was holding jack and jack practically jumped from my arms for aaron to hold him. it was very sweet. here they are with caroline.



on monday after aaron arrived, he met with the doctor and had an injection (which he had been having for several months before his mission). dwain roberts (a radiologist) was able to compare aaron's mri from peru with the mri he had taken before his mission and it looked like aaron's back was going to be okay. the doctor said that after two weeks, he would meet back with aaron and give him another injection and see how he is doing, but he felt like it would be possible for aaron to return to peru to finish out his mission in the near future. what a blessing that is for aaron and we are so proud of him and love him so much.

all good things must end

it is true, our trip to the lake only lasted a week, but we had some great memories and a wonderful time. here is jack, as he cleans up the floor in preparation of leaving. what a hard worker




in fact, he works so hard, he is exhausted. this is a sweet picture. he loves to snuggle up with his little forest friends stuffed animals and night, but usually he throws them out of his crib before he falls asleep. however, the night we got back from the lake, he held them tight and when we checked on him later that evening, this is what we found.

and our adventures continue

besides the lake and the boat, we love to visit the pool. usually we can go and be the only ones there! the kids love to be able to swim with their goggles on and dive down for goodies. plus, this year we taught the kids to play marco polo. they loved it. the best part was when grace told caroline that bryan had made up the best game... called marco polo. i think we all laughed pretty hard and that one. she is sweetheart and getting so good at learning to swim. raegan is doing well with her swimming as well, but like the added comfort of the floaties. and jack... well, he just loves the duck floatie. i think he really enjoys being able to float around and relax.




so, maybe rachel will not be too happy with this picture we snapped of her, but i think it is a perfect example of rachel. and the reasons why i love her. she has such a sweet smiling face and loves to have fun. i miss her already!



of course, aurora and grace had the best time swimming together. they loved jumping into the pool together! they are cuties and i can't believe that they both will be starting kindergarten in the fall.



all in all... our trip to the lake was a safe and fun success! we love the roberts with all our hearts for allowing us to stay in their lake house and have such a wonderful time. i know that my chicklets will forever refer to it as 'caroline's lake house'.

p.s. more pictures to come with the rest of the family... i mean, where are nana and papa... and danny too? do they even exist. yes they do, we just stink at taking pictures. lame.

the trip to the lake

well, each year we take a trip to the lake of the ozarks for a little family fun. this year was extra special since it was the first time since... wait for it...

2004

that bryan has been able to go with us! yesssss! i tell you... we had a great time. it is always fun for us to see the devine family and visit all together since our whole family get togethers are few and far between. here are the girls... grace, aurora, and raegan out one the deck.



they have so much fun together and we love to see (and hear) them playing together. they are so sweet.... speaking of sweet... check out this little guy. as his first time to play with the big kids (last year he was only 6 months old), he had a great time. jack loved the lake, the boat, and the pool. i think i remember telling bryan that i was so glad that all of the kids were finally okay with wearing a life jacket the entire time they were on the boat. usually, that is a major complaint with my kids, but this time it was great! yippee!



and here are sweet raegan and handsome ty (aka squlish)! i just love ty. he is so adorable and i can't get enough of his squeezes. ty and raegan love this swivel chair at the lake house! it is just too fun to watch them wind it up and spin around.

uno anyone?

after a few attempts to play with actual people, grace resorts to playing on her own... with her stuffed animals

birthday fun

for raegan's birthday we took a trip to build-a-bear. raegan and grace had a great time and loved creating their animals. raegan made a bear that she named sprinkles.



grace made a bunny she named libby.



and jack made an owl we named hoot.



i think the most fun they had was picking out their animals clothing. there were so many choices!



after lunch we headed up to the carousel for a ride. jack was quite frightened and held to nana tightly. all in all, a successful day! we had fun and much love and thanks to nana for meeting us at build-a-bear!

4 years... and what do we have to show for it?

a beautiful raegs!



raegan turned 4 on 07 june! happy birthday to her! we love raegan so much. she has the best personality and keeps us laughing constantly. she makes up words all the time... she and grace have their own little language practically! she is so sweet and cuddly and loves to snuggle up with her 'coldy blanket'. i am so happy that she came to our family 4 years ago.






raegan asked for a butterfly cake for her birthday, so i was glad to assist. auntie rachel found a quick and easy recipe for marshmallow fondant and we experimented and came up with this. a big cake for her party and a little individual cake just for raegan.





happy birthday raeg raegedies.