Evan's First Day of School

Ever since Evan got to attend kindergarten round-up at St. Paul's he's been eagerly awaiting the day he got to go to school (Thank you, Mrs. Free!) We talked about school and what he'd do there, we went school shopping, picked out a new shirt to wear the first day, his teacher came for a home visit, we put all his school things in his classroom at orientation, and, today, he FINALLY got to go. After seven hours at school he's back home now and exhausted but eager to get to do it again tomorrow. Hi-ho-hi-ho-off-to-kindergarten-we-go!

SD Company

Over the last few years my dear friend Denise has repeatedly endeared herself to the kids. Things like hiking, kayaking, trips to Burger King, buffalo roundups, and making a campfire just for the sake of toasting marshmallows all helped along the way. We joked that she was my assistant teacher for home school preschool. As you can see the kids completely agree. This picture was taken within five minutes of her walking in the door. As new book had come in the mail that day and it needed to be shared with Mrs. Smith.

Denise's kids go to Luther Prep in Watertown, WI so she used the trip over to WI as a convenient reason to visit us. It was a special treat for me since she was here for my birthday. :) We look forward to getting to see her throughout the school year as she visits her kids.

Laughing with Lyd

A. bundled up joy

B. insatiable curiosity

C. so, so silly

What is Lydia?

Picture 1: "Take my pictuey, Mommy. Cheese!"

Picture 2: Since we don't have a sandbox at the house in Oshkosh sandbox deprived kids had a ball.

Picture 3: What Daddy and Hans built, Lydia decorated. Marvelous feathers.

Picture 4: Her bravery in the water was equally proportional to the grip Daddy had on her hand.

Excited Evan

Evan would choose adventure over ease anytime. He loved everything about the beach. He was the first in the water (pic. 4), first to climb to the top of the nearest dune (aka: sand mountain), he made sand angels (pic. 1), collected shells (pic. 3), found dry bones, and even got small dragonflies to land on his hand (pic. 4). He saw the whole day as a opportunity for adventure and that's exactly the kind of day he had.

Happy Hans

These are a few of my favorite shots of Hans from our day at Lake Michigan.

1. CLOSE-UP of Hans with Dad and Lyd in the water.

2. Exploring the dunes around the beach.

3. The waves were bigger than the kids expected and once they were used to them they had a blast jumping in them, racing around them, and being knocked around by them.

4. The great sand castle architects, Dad and Hans.

A Day at the Beach

After seven years in SD (the land of the drought and few lakes) we are enjoying being near water. We haven't managed to get on the water in a boat or canoe yet but we've been in Lake Winnebago and around creeks, rivers, and lakes that are found throughout Oshkosh. Saturday we headed to the biggest lake the kids have ever seen, Lake Michigan. While looking into state parks we found Point Beach north of Two Rivers, WI. It's about an hour and a half and well worth the trip. The day was in the low 80s and only a few clouds brushed the horizon. We spent hours in the waves, on the sand, and soaking in the sun. Since school started for Evan today and Nathan's already been at it for a week, it was a nice farewell to summer.

1. The kids were still smiles even at the end of the day. Here we're at the end of the lighthouse trail above the beach.

2. The lighthouse and keepers house.

3. One thing that I didn't realize I'd miss about SD was the wide open space. Looking out at the lake like this was the first time I felt like there was open space to be seen here even if it was over water.

4. Where we were.

Back in Class

Much to his delight, today is Nathan's first day of school at Fox Valley Tech. College (FVTC). Since every other first day of school has been well documented I figured there needed to be a picture of today, too. It's just another step in this ongoing adventure of ours.

Good Ol' Days

Saturday we attended an annual event at the EAA grounds. Unlike the previous pictures of Airventure, Good Ol' Days, is a kinder, gentler gathering. It is held at the Pioneer Airport which is a fully working 1920s airport. On Saturday there were lots of vintage aircraft that are still airworthy and some reproductions, there were volunteers in costume, and an hanger full of kids activities from days gone by. Much of our time was spent playing tinker toys, marbles, jacks, coloring, stamping, and learning how typewriters work. There were also short talks and demonstrations of the different airplanes. We had only planned on being there in the morning but after much, much begging we gave in and went back after lunch.

1. Tinker toys with Dad.

2. Evan was the only one of the kids brave enough to participate in the sack race and the egg in spoon race. He's easy to spot in the cowboy hat.

3. A Ford TriMoter was one of the featured planes. This is what I know about it: it was one of the first airplanes to carry passengers but was also used for cargo such as mail, it looks like a flying box, and Clyde Ice (the Spearfish airport where Nathan flew out of in SD is named after him) flew one around SD back in the day.

Hitting the Wiouwash

Last week on a quiet evening we loading bikes in/on the van and found the Wiouwash State Trail. Eventually the trail will be 60 miles long, currently the piece by us is about 20, and we used approximately four of them. Nathan was pulling Lydia in the trailer and I had the tag-a-long bike hooked up with me so the boys could take turns peddling by themselves and getting a break with Mom. Evan spent most of the time with me since for the five minutes Hans was on with me he screamed in terror. The tag-a-long has some wiggle in the joint and Hans was sure he was going to crash, fall off, or die and let all within ear shot know it. Evan was fine with me since we could go faster and he's a fan of the wind in his face. We set our expectations low since although they love riding bike, the kids have never been on a trail. We were happy to make it as far as we did with them and look forward to trying to get farther next time.

Before and After

The boys both had their first haircut at age one. Lydia made it to two and a half before I got out the scissors. Her hair was just getting unmanageable and she hated having it brushed since it was always full of knots from her twirling. As of this afternoon she' s lost about six inches and is sporting a bob. Chop-chop.

The Unexpected at Airventure

While visiting any large gathering of people there are always special sights. Here are a few from Airventure.

a. Do you feel like dancin'?

b. Mm, chocolate.

c. Apparently they didn't outgrow that ability to fall asleep anywhere.

d. One of the jewelry vendors had his crazy ex-wife show up which was in violation of the restraining order. After Nathan "took care of it" the grateful vendor gave Nathan this beautiful specimen to share with me. Now I've got airplane bling.

More Airventure

One of our favorite things about Airventure is the daily airshows. I don't know much about airplanes but it's still very impressive. The kids all liked the "regular" planes, the blimp, the helicopter, and the sky divers. Evan was the only one who liked the "noisy" airplanes. We got to see a demonstration of the F-22 Raptor which was one of the most amazing aircraft I've seen fly. Hans and Lydia both hated it because to call it deafening is an understatement. I had them crying on my shoulders with their ears covered the entire time. Evan on the other hand was standing in the wagon so he could see better and grinning the whole time.

a. Evan in the foreground and the Raptor in the sky.

b. The F-22 Raptor and a P-51 Mustang doing what they call a Heritage Flight. It's a tribute to the armed forces past a present and although it's just two planes flying with the F-22 flying as wing man to the P-51 it's actually kind of emotional.

c. Just a snap of the great aerobatics we saw.

d. Not actually at the air show but we checked out the Seaventure sight and got to watch a float plane land. I love the farm in the background, gotta love WI.