The 2012 Summer Video

Enjoy some of our favorite memories from the summer.  How many states did we pass through this summer?...15!

First Day of School

These four kids all started school this year with all new teachers (this only happens every other year in our multi-grade school).

What cute kids!

My three crazy girls all get to ride the bus together now!

Excited for school! 

Walking towards big change.

OK mom, enough pictures!!


Teyah started all-day kindergarten! Deciding whether to start her and where to start her has probably been my most difficult parenting decision yet. I know that sounds silly, but it was just so hard! I think I asked advice from every person I came into contact with in the past six months!

 I think we've made a good decision, because she's doing fabulous and loving every minute of school!

Her awesome teacher is Mrs. Franzen, who has taught Ellie the past two years and Aubrie one year before that! We know Mrs. Franzen well and love her to pieces.

This gorgeous girl started 2nd grade on a new team (grades 2-3).


Ellie loves her first-time teacher Miss Tobias so far because she is lots of fun.


Love this girl!

Kyler started his first year of Joy School! Because he has a November birthday, he's ready for preschool but is technically not old enough. So, going to Joy School one day a week has been a perfect fit for both of us. This picture is not very Kyler-like because he's usually always smiling!

How is this girl already a fourth grader?

Time just goes way too fast! Fourth grade has been a bit of a transition for her, but we all love, love, love her teacher Mrs. Bovee.

Apparently, in fourth grade, it's already not appropriate to take a picture with your teacher!

Welcome home sisters!! We've missed you! It sure is quiet around our house with only one kid at home during the day! It's been a long time since that happened.

Our Midwestern Paradise

Our tradition for the past five years has been to vacation to our mid-western paradise, the Blue Harbor Resort in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. So we concluded our southern trip, with a couple nights staying at our favorite place in the world. Over the years, some things have changed within the hotel, but the magic is still there. Somehow, this little town on the shores of Lake Michigan seems to give us our beach fix for the year.

Our kids were ready to have some fun at the beach.

We found this fun turtle sculpture.

The kids loved hitting the waves in the raft.

The waves this year were actually pretty decent and definitely "boogie board-able".

After cleaning off in the lake, it was time to get dirty.

Four little bodies in a sand pit ...what is next?

Daddy worked hard to make sure everyone would get a nice sand bath.

Before long, these little bodies disappeared and just little heads floated on the sand. I love this pic because it seems to capture the uninhibited emotion.

The finished product. As you can see, our more sensory-affected child started to lose patience!

Daddy did let these beach creatures out ... eventually.

As per tradition, Kyler enjoyed some flying.


Oh, how I love this little beach ... and hate leaving it.

For some reason, we always go to Sheboygan at the very end of the summer. It seems to give us a morale boost -- feeling like we squeezed every bit out of summer and can then start school and face the onset of fall.

Southern Hospitality

Our adventure south continued from St Louis to Memphis.  Reviews for this famous blues town were mixed. While Dave loved seeing the rich historical roots of the blues and Elvis, I was not so impressed with how rundown this southern city has become. Regardless, we were able to get a nice taste of Memphis with a quick visit to the Pink Palace museum.

The pink palace was originally a mansion built by the inventor of the modern "self serve" grocery store, Piggly Wiggly. The mansion has been converted into a museum with exhibits about the history of Memphis, Elvis, and civil rights. Our favorite exhibit was a replica of the first self-serve grocery store with inventory that replicated its original packaging. Who knew that early cereal marketers touted their cereals as "a natural laxative?!"

Dave wanted a sense of the music scene, so we strolled down Beale street for some afternoon entertainment.

On the way out, we stopped for some Memphis-style BBQ in the city.

As we ventured south from Memphis, we were amazed by how green and beautiful Arkansas, Tennessee, and Alabama were. Birmingham was our kids' favorite stop-off during the trip.  They loved the accents, big trees, and southern hospitality from everyone they met. While eating out for pizza, a 7-year-old girl walked up to us and introduced herself. "Hah, ahm Kailey," she said in her southern drawl. When we asked her what she recommended we could do for fun in Birmingham, without missing a beat, she said, "I would take yer kids to a store and give yer kids a quar-ter...they got machines with toys in dem, and they could get them--selves somethin' re-al nice."  When we asked for any other suggestions, she pointed out that we could go bowling... "On the Wii." We have been chuckling about this interaction ever since.

Despite Kailey's recommendations, we decided to bypass the toy machines at the local market and go to the city's science museum. This was perhaps the coolest science museum we have ever been to. The kids loved this exhibit which tracked your brain activity and moved the ball in the other direction based on brain-wave relaxation.  Crazy Ky did not beat anyone as his little brain is always bouncing all over the place!

From Birmingham, we headed to Nashville and made a stop at the Grand Ole' Opry.

The kids got a kick out of some of the country western characters roaming around.

The kids also loved seeing the "General Jackson" steamboat in Nashville.

As we exited "the south" we made one more stop at Churchill downs in Louisville, Kentucky.  The groundskeepers let us roam around the grandstands and the track area.

I love this pic of the girl's best "fashion pose" at Churchill downs.  Notice the individual "attitude" of Teyah, Aubrie, and Ellie.

Last stop on this leg: West Lafayette, Indiana, for a quick visit with my brother's family. We loved seeing the Purdue campus, sampling a peanut butter hamburger at the local burger joint, and relaxing from a long busy road trip.

Cartwheels across America

For two weeks this summer, our girls were enthralled with Olympic gymnastics and the US's run for gold.  Little did we know that Teyah, Aubrie, and Ellie would channel their inner "Gabby," "Jordan," and "McKayla" the rest of the summer as they then cartwheeled nearly everywhere they went.


As we traveled across the south, these girls were seen tumbling in St Louis, Missouri....

Lime Springs, Iowa...

Memphis, Tennessee (The Pink Palace)...

Nashville, Tennessee (Opryland)...

Louisville, Kentucky (Churchill Downs)...

West Lafayette, Indiana (Purdue University)...

Sheboygan, Wisconsin (Lake Michigan)...

and Birmingham, Alabama. Here's to cartwheels across America!