Eva's first day of 5th grade. Last year of elementary school!
Third grader Travis.
And the newest Hanson elementary school attendee....Luke the kindergartner! I know, I know. They are the only kids in the US of A that did not get a new outfit for the first day of school. I'm sure I'll hear about how I ruined their childhood some day.
What we did this summer..........
I did Hard Charge in June with Tiffany Scheel and Jamie Sylling and her friends. It was so fun! Join us next year!?
We went to Ian Althoff's graduation and stopped by the American Girl Doll store for dinner.
We also went to the zoo that weekend. So cute to dress Marie and Halle the same, even with the grumpiest Marie face. This is my every-day of the summer around 11am when people are so hungry for lunch they can barely function. My being pregnant with them and being hungry as a bear must've come from their enormous appetites even in utero.
Buckhouse grandkids.
Fun day at the zoo; In the rain. My husband is so cute sometimes! Not so much when he snores.
We went boating and swimming with the Hoffmann's. The only life jacket I had at the lake that fit him was this Hannah Montana one. It went perfectly with his tighty-whities he swam in. Luke doesn't care at all about wearing girl stuff......
....or riding a girl bike. He loves this "heart breaker" bike. We have a boy one the exact same size, but he likes this one best. He says it's faster. And the basket is actually a "boy basket" I purchased on amazon. Really.
Marie and Luke took care of Toni during the storms.
Minecraft is the hot game at our house. I don't think Luke is supposed to play on one of these worlds?
We did a field trip day to Detroit Lake's beach one day. A very cold day. We still burned an entire day and they spent an hour here trying to figure out how to best spend the money they had brought. A goose next to a pop machine was also a highlight. Pretty exciting stuff.
Eva and Luke played together... ONCE. I had to document it. Travis was gone, Marie was napping.
The Luke and Marie destruction stage of life has finally ended. All that's left is "cuddle fun." I have finally convinced them to just take the top blankets and not the fitted sheets and mattress pads off every bed.
They were very obnoxious at Costco pretending that this was their house. A house of loudness.
I decided to make my summer a little easier by having sandwiches more often. Travis was not impressed.
Genius way to play the drum even though the strap is broken!
Eva and Travis went to Neesodak Bible camp where Chris worked for a few summers. They found his name!
They went to Grandparent camp at Neesodak with Clint and Lois. They LOVED it. One of their favorite things ever.
Eva jumped in the lake first thing each morning at Neesodak and at camp Cormorant where she went for an entire week. (Can you say EXPENSIVE?)
These two love each other. Marie is very sad at daycare without Luke. Luke says he wishes Marie could come to kindergarten with him. Marie was in a time-out the other day, crying and screaming. Luke went and got a blankie and stuffed kitty to take to her. I said "you can't go in there, she needs a moment." He said "I can help her mom!" and he started crying also. She is such a spoiled baby sister!
We headed to Leech Lake to stay at Chuck Evens aunt's cabin. It was a great time. You can see Toni in the back guarding the door. If we do this again, Toni needs a xanax because between bugs, fireworks, their puppy Lily, and the inability to see the door and the van at the same time, she was a nervous wreck!
Why is this kid still so delicious to me? My greatest summer feeding idea ever: Salad bar! Kids will eat anything with bacon, cheese and ranch on it.
Sue had a brilliant idea to have the kids put on a play. It was terrific! The teamwork was unbelievable!
Chuck and Chris took the boys on a fishing trip.
We also went camping with the Buckhouses near Brookings, SD. Luke made this clever little bench/table.
Travis "perched" to make hot dogs. I think they call this "owling?" We call it perching. He has at least stopped sitting on the toilet like this for BM's.
The children's museum at Brookings is actually better than the one in the cities. Worth a drive for sure.
Halle and Marie played in the grocery store for hours.
They served Grandma Tree in the restaurant.
Look! Luke managed to barely get wet in the children's museum water area. This is a big change from the time we went in the cities. I was pumped!
Travis' favorite thing to do was to deliver the mail. He kept checking the post office like it was his paid occupation.
I was pumped too soon. He swam in the ponds outside. Well, so did two other people (who we did not know) so why not?
I got to do fun things also! Ginger took me to Washington DC with her where we stayed at the super fancy Mandarin hotel, got to see Heidi preside over the Senate, drank many adult beverages on a rooftop bar overlooking the city and had a great time.
And Ginger came to Fargo and we went out with Ingrid and Jen and all the hubbies downtown. Such a fun night. Laughed and laughed, just like the good ol' days.
