Kindergarten '10/'11

With the start of the school year only 2 weeks away, there's a lot to do before the big day. I know I'll need to have my camera and plenty of Kleenex handy! I've already been shopping for some of those basic clothing items like jeans, black pants, shoes and sweaters. Lauren has really jumped in sizes while Tara can still wear some of her old things and some of her sisters. Coordinating these two will be a little more difficult this year but I think it will work out just fine.

I'm actually really frustrated with their school district right now, though. I just found out yesterday who their teacher is going to be (got the one we wanted-yes!) but we still have no idea what day(s) of the week they'll be attending. We were informed in the Spring that Forest Hills was changing their Kindergarten classes this year and have eliminated the Morning/Afternoon M-F schedule. The girls will be going all day either  M/W/F(morning) or Tu/Thur/F(afternoons) and riding the school bus.

Their school in undergoing a massive renovation right now and has been closed all Summer. Thus, it has been impossible to get any information. We were told that we would receiving letters with all the information about the upcoming year during the 1st week of August...nothing. Second week....nothing. Finally got a letter from their teacher yesterday listing the things that they needed to bring when they have a little meet n' greet next week but nowhere in this missive was WHAT DAYS they're going to school! Tried calling the administration building yesterday twice and got nowhere. Called today and were told that they don't have access to the class lists and schedules and that we would have to wait for their school to open to get that info. Great...it looks like we'll have to wait until the week before school to finally find out when our kids are going. So frustrating...it's not like it's important or anything. Geez.

Up, Up and Away!

I love my children and their artwork, but let's be honest. Most of it consists of coloring pages with ripped corners`and torn edges, random blobs that we try hard to guess at and craft projects with too much glue and glitter.

This particular piece, by Lauren, really tugged at my heart, though. It's a picture of her lamb (which she has loved since birth) flying through the air with balloons. She even looked up how to spell the word "Balloons" so that she could add it to her drawing.

It was just so cute that I had to frame it and add it to our study. I love it....  :)

Signal Visits the States

A collage of photos that I took of a beautiful leather notebook embossed with "Signal the Frog", who is the official mascot for Geocaching. Each picture was snapped as we crossed into a new State or Province, and I was able to get most of them. The only ones that are missing are those that we crossed into while it was dark out - Oklahoma, Utah, Washington & Montana.

It was a fun little project to tackle. I originally had the idea of getting pics of the girls at each State sign, but the logistics proved to be too daunting. This worked out well and putting them all on one page really highlights all the places we were able to cover!

Homeward Bound: Day 16 & 17

Tara, Klara and Lauren @ The Galaxy Drive In

Roasting marshmallows....

Tara, Lauren, Klara & Lydia eating their s'mores!

Staying in downtown Minneapolis for the evening.

A typical view for the past 17 days...we're almost home now!

We took a really crazy route on day #16 in order to pick up a few more States. Woke up in Iowa, drove South to hit Nebraska, and then turned around and drove straight North through South Dakota and into North Dakota. We had almost 2 whole days of South Dakota driving and I think that's enough for now...

We then turned East and headed into Minnesota, where our destination was Minneapolis for dinner and sleeping. Our friends David and Kristin, along with their 3 daughters, live in the area and we were excited to see their lovely home and grab some food with them. David suggested that we try out a fun place that was right around the corner from their place - The Galaxy Drive In. We sat outside eating our yummy food and then David treated us to a s'mores making kit that the kids just couldn't resist. It was so cute watching the girls trying to get their marshmallows just right and the end result - deliciousness!

Kristin was able to join us too, which was an added surprise as she was working quite a ways from home that day. The daughter you don't see in the pics, little Rose (born on my birthday btw), was happily strapped to Dad the whole time. It was a welcome break from our usual routine and a chance to get caught up, never mind the fact that the girls didn't want to leave each other. Klara and the twins are only 2 months apart in age and they are still asking me when they can see Klara again because they had so much fun playing with her! 

We stayed in downtown Minneapolis that night and then it was the final push towards home. Our last day was the only one that we had rain off and on the majority of the day, which was ok since we didn't have any other plans besides getting back to Michigan. We made it home without incident and quickly collapsed in our long-missed bed. 

What did we just do? What a trip!