Camp, camp, camping, and more camps.

I booked June heavy with camps and it has been loads of fun. 

Sully started out the month with Rec Camp at Augie (basically gym camp), followed by Spanish camp with Greta at school with his kinder teacher. Greta did so well and I'm hopeful it will eliminate some of the major drop off anxiety when it comes to her first day of school this fall.

Sully has been at Leif Ericson while the girls spent the mornings last week at Ooey Gooey Science camp at the Washington Pavilion. Everyone had loads of fun and for the most part, no tears at drop off (except one day). Next year all three will do Leif Ericson, or some variation of it and fingers crossed, everyone gets on the bus like champs and loves camp. 

Sully comes home dirty and exhausted every day, hymn haws camp songs in the evening and never lets his luster lace out of his site. He is rocking camp, he hardly even has time for a squeeze and a kiss when the bus arrives in the morning, so bittersweet for me as I seem to always have one clinger. 

We also snuck in a quick camping trip to Newton Hills over the weekend. We had high hopes, but the rain put a damper on the fun. We did have time for a great hike and a campfire dinner and s'mores but had to pack up around 8:30 as the rain came- fast and furious. We were all glad to wake up in our own beds with an open day on Sunday. 

Next up- California dreaming for a whole 8+ days and we can't wait! 

Campers ready for the first day of fun. 

Post camp fun- Catalpa tree photo op. 

She blooms! Three weeks late this year. 

Rainy day pick up. 

Greta at Science camp.

Sweet Piper- there is still room in the carrier for my babe. 

The hiking crew. 

Greta and Anna- and Sully, way up on the hill.

Water break and rendezvous point with Maggie and Isaac. 

Piper, so grown up.

Sully.  

Searching for rollie pollies. 

Greta girl. 

Reunited. The fab five. 

xoxoxo

Maggie takes the carrier over, she is getting ready to climb the stairs. 

The family photo. 

Father's Day Weekend 2019 #dadisrad

We finally put together a commitment free weekend and it was glorious. We did have commitments, but they were all family friendly and after a month straight of a fun and exhausting social life, it was a welcomed change of pace.

On Friday evening we went to the grand opening of the Levitt Sioux Falls which is a free concert venue. It was really fun, the weather was amazing and its a really exciting thing for our community. Downtown was buzzing and it was fun to have the kids out to see the excitement.

Saturday was low key, garage cleaning and organizing and a burgers on the grill sort of evening. Dave and I always have these grand plans to stay up late and have a few cocktails after the kids are in bed, but it never fails, we fall asleep with them, and although it isn't always the plan, there is something so comforting and basic about being together and having an early night.

Finally, Father's Day. Everyone woke up ready and excited to celebrate Dave. He is basically the family celebrity with the kids. I think its because he works a lot and when he is around, he rarely says no or puts the kids off, which is amazing. "Push me on the swing daddy!" "Color with me!" "Read us a story!" "Take us to the park!"  or "Mama wants DQ!" Which he 90% of the time replies with "OK!" rather than me who is usually in the middle of something. I'm so glad they get that side of him, it makes life better for all of us.

We started the morning off showing Dave our new tattoos and then doing a Father's Day treasure hunt. Everyone had the best time. Especially when I had the kids be the last treasure on the map and hide under Dave's Oak tree. That was a tear jerker for Dave, never fails. He is so proud to be their daddy.

We finished the day with a picnic with my family and a really fun kick ball game at Sherman Park. All in all it was a great day to be with family. We had perfect weather and fun all around, even if Dave didn't get his boneless ribs ;).

Look tuff with your tattoos!

#dadisrad

Kickball in the park. 

More kickball fun- participation was mandatory ;). 

Fire Alarm fiasco.

To start this entry off on a positive note, Ill start with the fun part. Last Thursday, Dave and I had the best date night. We went to The Goodnight Theatre Collective cabaret after dinner at Bread and Circus and had so much fun. The show was called Dudes Sing the Divas and it was so entertaining. It is definitely going to be on our to do list next year.

We got home from the show around 10 and hit the pillows hard after a few glasses of wine. Much to our surprise and panic, our fire alarm went off at midnight. Unfortunately, our control panel in our bedroom wasn't working, so the only way we could silence it was at the panel by the garage door which is downstairs. I immediately popped up and told Dave to get the kids while I ran downstairs and when I got down there I heard him coming down and the kids upstairs screaming so I ran back up and reminded him to get the kids. Because there were no immediate signs of fire, I went into my room to put more clothes on as I knew the firemen were on their way. While I was putting sweat pants on I heard this massive thud, and then Sully's screams. Dave had slipped in the mad rush to get everyone to safety and the commotion woke Sully up. We made our way outside and the firemen came and gave us the all clear and we chalked it up to a false alarm. Needless to say, we were so angry and tired and the kids were terrified and that was when Dave realized he was in so much pain and that his fall (down the stairs) resulted in broken ribs. It wasn't until the next day that he realized he had also broke a toe.

We laid back down for bed with the kids piled on me and Dave in the other room so he could hopefully get some rest and within a few minutes the alarm started to go off again, and again, and again. It was maddening. I finally called the alarm company and asked them to get over here to shut the whole thing down, which happened around 1am.

The following morning, someone from the company came over to restart the system and couldn't find any reason for the drama. Back to normal we go...until 5:20pm when the darn thing started alarming again, over and over and over again. We had another visit from the firemen who did a once over since they were here. And wouldn't ya know, they found it. We had so much condensation from the humidity in our attic that it shorted out a smoke detector. Seriously, all the commotion and drama and we did get to the bottom of it, but we haven't figured out how to remedy the problem quite yet, hopefully this week...

Dave is on the mend, although it has been a long week for him. The kids have been playing 'fire alarm' on multiple occasions this week. One of them does the siren while the other says 'fire fire fire' and the other one says, 'lets get out of here!'. Its actually pretty funny. Piper asked the day after the drama when the firemen would be coming that day and wanted to know if I thought the firemen would like the outfit she picked out. Oh, and then there is the gouge out of the wall on the stairway where Dave's phone caught the wall and then slid the entire way down. My initial thought was to get our painter over here to repair it, but now that we have some distance from the incident, I think we will keep it, its a good reminder of some of the things we go through together. Fingers crossed for a quiet rest of the summer.

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the drama, it just goes to show how dramatic it actually was since I didn't have a chance to pull out my phone ;). Im just thankful we are all ok - someday we will get a kick out of all of this.

Sully is seven, whoop whoop!

Wow, Sully turned seven and we definitely celebrated. I think this is the first year Dave and I have been able to sit and enjoy an evening while the kids take off and play, and let me be the first to tell you, its amazing. I did the math, and its been, well, seven years since we have had that sort of freedom. We took full advantage.

We had our usual family party on his actual birthday with qdoba and cake and amazing weather. We had a lovely turn out and Sully was a pleasant guest of honor with good spirits and even better manners.

We topped off the fun with a friend party at SkyZone on Sunday. This was my first experience with this sort of madness and it was just that. There were so many moving parts and so much noise, we were happy for all of the fun, but so happy when it was all over ;). Then came the 'thank you' cards... all 14 of them. Slow and steady, we checked them all off, but it definitely took persistence and patience.

At both parties, he left one candle lit and when I injured about a girlfriend, he proudly proclaimed "Annika!" It melts my heart.

He was so gracious, a kind brother to his sisters and a polite gift opener at both parties. When given the choice, he would always choose to play soccer with is friends and family before gifts which makes me happy. He just loves it. I hardly even see him and I don't even need to worry about him because for the most part, he makes the right decisions. I so proud of the confident and kind boy he is.

And last but not least, his gift of choice this year was a tank top and he was so excited when he received one.

Birthday breakfast. 

The candle was Greta's idea. 

Annual birthday balloons.

Sibling photo.

Family photo with the sweaty soccer birthday boy. 

Tank top :).

Friend party. 

The birthday boy with Dave and I.

Celebrating Dave's birthday.

Dave turned 57! We celebrated it right in the middle of a holiday call weekend. Yes, you read that right. Dave was on call this Memorial Day and also had his birthday. Ooftah, needless to say, it was pretty low key.

Fortunately one of his partners offered to cover for a few hours so we were able to walk downtown for dinner and family fun. Regardless of the circumstances, the kids loved to have a day to celebrate Dave.

We are thankful for Dave's young heart and energy and his mega love for all of us. He is the youngest 57 year old I know.

Easy stroll downtown ;).

Dave and the kids in front of MacKenzie River. 

And finally, the 5 of us the day after his birthday,
during a very small gathering with friends and his favorite cake. 

Kinder Graduation

Sully graduates kinder!

I am so proud of him and so proud of all of us for making it through our first year. I can distinctly remember his first week of school and how terrified I was. Like, I couldn't stop crying all day every day because I was worried sick about him. A lunch visit and helping in the classroom were definitely big players in my adjustment phase. He is learning to read in both English and Spanish and he improves each time we sit down together to learn. Its actually quite amazing how the Spanish is coming easier for him than the English. He made so many new friends and was always a good sport about going to school, which in reality, is what saved me. The principal said it best on his graduation day when she said "you should be proud of these kids, they started a new school in a language most of them didn't understand and they have all succeeded."

We love you, Sully.

Sully's first day.  

Sully on his last day.
Three inches taller and with front teeth :).

So big and brave on his first day.

Grown up and too cool for photos on his last day ;).

Graduation ceremony. 

Proud graduate. 

K03 with Sra Langle and Sr Fernandez

Family photo op.

Hallway meandering. 

Sully's art. 

Last day- tres amigos.

Greta Graduates!

Our sweet, spunky, silly, go-with-the-flow, pajama wearing, ketchup eating, treat loving 5 year old is officially a preschool graduate and we are so excited for her. She loved everything about being on stage with all of her friends and being the guest of honor. The most anticipated event of the year was getting to go to the toy store with grandma after to pick out a special graduation gift. We are so excited for her to start kinder next year at Sonia Sotomayor, what a difference a year makes (those kinder butterflies are long gone for me- yikes, I had so many emotions last year).

We love you, Greta girl.

Front door- first day. 

Front door- last day. 

Drop off spot on our first day. 

Drop off spot on our last.

Preschool photo. 

Greta with her teachers, Miss Tiffany and Miss Heather. 

Receiving her diploma.

Family photo with the graduate. 

Isaac and Anna came to support the graduate. 

So proud!