This & That

Brushing buddies. Fresh out of the tub - getting ready for bed.

Don't ask. 'Cause really - I have no idea. Apparently it was entertaining.

Saturday morning at the Farmer's Market downtown.

We came home with some serious loot! It seems I can't go more than two weeks without kohlrabi anymore.

Beeeeautiful! For meals and snacking.

The blueberries were fair. The peaches were delicious.

Kohlrabi and fresh marjoram. Never used the latter before. It was tasty!

Sophie loves to pretend she's heading out the door, probably with some important business to attend to. Not sure if this stems from seeing mommy and/or daddy leaving for work and saying "Goodbye! I love you!" But she will sometimes tell me "See you later, mommy!" while stepping into the mud room off our kitchen. I play along with "Okay, Sophie! Have a good day!" She'll walk out and stand still for about five seconds and then pop back in with "I'm back!" or "I'm home!" Often, this pretend play involves her putting on Craig's or my shoes if they're left near the door. This day she found Craig's flip flops and grabbed our farmer's market basket as she waved goodbye to me. :)

Dora and Sophie share accessories.

Playing outside after dinner one evening.

A couple beautiful evenings found the kids and I reading bedtime stories on the front porch after bath time.

It's been a really long time since we last took a bubble bath! Sophie is having to get re-acclimated to the idea all over again. She hated it at first when they were first introduced and then she grew to like them. Will always likes them. Sophie's not so sure.

Haha! Not really wanting to sit down in the bubbles yet. ;)

On Sunday, August 14th, Craig, Will & I attended the dedication ceremony and open house of the brand new elementary school that will be opening it's doors to the upcoming K-5 students in our area this school year. The ceremony was originally planned for outdoors, but inclement weather moved us into the middle school gymnasium. (The elementary, middle and high schools are all together on the same campus as of this year!) Then everyone walked the short distance to the new elementary school and waited in the drizzling rain for the ribbon cutting before touring the new building. It was packed! And the dedication ceremony was heartfelt and enthusiastic. I LOVE our community and feel so lucky that our kids get to be a part of this school system. Will will start kindergarten there next fall!! Wow!!!

Will took this one of Casey and my mom and I waiting in line.

I took only one picture indoors because it was just too crowded and we were trying to move as quickly through the halls and classrooms as we could. So this is one angle of the library!

Will and I heading back to the car. He had missed nap for this occasion (Sophie was home with a sitter for nap time) and he crashed on the short drive home and even stayed asleep for an hour and a half into the early evening. Oddly, Sophie took an exceptionally long nap too. So they both woke up just before dinner. :(

Because of the weather and lack of time, we hadn't had a chance to scope out the playground behind the elementary school during our open house visit. But Will could see it through the windows and kept asking to go out there. So I promised him I'd take him back that week after work one evening and we ended up going right back the next day. They were still finishing up on the big toys with the slides and such (workers were there, in fact) so we just played on everything else. It seems pretty cool! You probably can't tell from these pictures, but the playground is divided for the younger and older students. A fence divides them and the younger kids area is completely fenced in.

This is the older kids side. Lots of climbing and spinning toys!

Here's one of the spinning toys. They stand in the center and hold onto the bars and it spins like a merry-go-round.

There are LOTS of tether ball courts and Will thought these were awesome!

And on the blacktop behind the older kids playground (where several basketball hoops are set up for courts and picnic tables are located under a roofed, open area), there is a painted map of the U.S.A. So cool! Craig and Will took turns standing on different states and announcing which state they were on.

Remember: West is his "favorite direction because it starts with a 'W' just like 'Will'".

Another spinning toy. This one with ropes on the sides.

And one last one that is super cool, though dizzying. The platform is tilted and, with more than one person on it, the weight of each child propels it to continue spinning. They loved it and laughed as it kept going. I am predicting a lot of young children will be losing their lunches on this playground if they eat before playing on all these spinning toys!

Daddy's new post-bath trick with the kids... He wraps them up in their towels and flies them around the house like a "jet" while making all sorts of plane noises. They both squeal for more "rides" every night.

Craig and I were away this weekend and I have so much blogging to catch up on! Can't believe school is starting for the older kids already! We still have a couple weeks before Will's preschool begins, but we went to orientation last Wednesday and Will fell right back into place with his buddies from last school year. Several of them we've seen over the summer here and there. The second year of preschool (for the 4 & 5 year olds) is a M,W,F week and the hours are still from 9-noon. The calendar of lessons looks like it will be another interesting school year and I was excited to sign Craig and I up for six "helper days" to be a part of the school day. My first one will be September 26th and I will also be giving a mini nutrition lesson to the students that day as part of their "healthy living" unit. I've done that in the past, but never for Will's class, so I'm looking forward to that.