friends forever!

we're still trying to get into our school year grove, but one thing that is for certain is that after school, we all love to see each other! these kids love to come home and just play. they actually ask to stay home most of the afternoons, because they just miss being home! i find that to be the best request ever:) i love these kiddos so much and i just adore their love for one another! siblings make the best friends.

first day of school....just a little late on this

as im sitting here in my quiet house crossing off the last few tasks that i would like to get done before i go collect my children, i am now just realizing that an entire month has already gone by. where did all that time go? wow! and here i am remembering the first day of school.....oh, what a day:)
both kids started new schools this year. ryder heading to 3rd grade and quinn heading to kindergarten. they were both super excited and super anxious all morning....and so were we (the parents).
ryder made pancakes for us, this is his specialty, and then we had a dance party (like last year), dancin to our favorite tunes on the summer mix!
jesse drove ryder to his school, and quinn and i walked to hers. the first day was not the easiest, we actually had a few "seriously" moments with the schools, but we managed to get through the day!
our new routine is still a work in progress, but every day gets better.
it's so hard to let go of summer, and transition into the school year, where we all feel the burden and stress of being disconnected. so we are finding our new grove, finding ways to stay connected, finding ways to be with each other, having quieter afternoons, family time, lots of hugs and snuggles, and lots and lots of stories of "what happened today at school".

the last little bit of the summer sun

just trying to soak up the last little bit of the summer sun at olbrich gardens. we love cruising through this botanical paradise and discovering all the wonderful colors nature has created for us:) and it's super awesome when we discover a ramp on the walkway......1 2 3, JUMP;) 

ps. this may be the first time some of you have ever seen ryder's neck (due to his gorgeous mane hiding it before!). he decided to chop it off this year, and he hasn't been disappointed by his decision at all, when he's ready for a change....he's ready!

pope farm

 
some of our friends told us about this gorgeous sunflower farm, just a few miles from our house, so it didn't take long before we packed up and went to check it out. well, i guess it took us a little too long, because when we got there all the sunflowers had went to seed already. so, these tall giants were not very perky, they were on the droopy side....but, the farm was still absolutely gorgeous, and the kids had so much fun collecting the seeds, so we found beauty in these flowers after all.

farmers market

oh, how i love our farmers market, especially in late august-october, there is just so much beautiful produce! the kids come with me, ryder handles the money transactions, and quinn gets to pick the produce....both very important lessons when purchasing food! my absolute favorite thing to see at a booth, is an entire family (kids and all), proudly selling their goods, it's just so wonderful!

cooling off at the lake

lets go fly a kite

we took a trip to devils lake for, a day at the beach. it was a bit chilly for swimming that day, so we did a hike, had a picnic, and flew our kites! it was a perfect day to fly kites!