Bye Bye Binky

In the midst of Connie visiting  and our summer we got rid of Asher's binky.  He ended up going cold turkey and didn't even get to say goodbye to his binky.  Asher always handed over his binky when he woke up in the morning so I could put it up.  I usually put it on top of the book case.  I remember him handing me the binky but I don't remember what I did with it.  When it came time for his nap we couldn't find it (he was down to his last binky).  I turned the house upside down looking for it but it was gone.  After many tears he finally fell asleep that afternoon for a short nap.  After the nap I warned him that we still hadn't found the binky and he would probably have to go to sleep that night without it.  I was dreading the night but when bedtime came to did great, he talked about it but still went to bed without tears.  And since then he has been great although he has giving up an official nap.  Most days I can still get him to nap if I put on a movie or we are in the car around nap time he will fall asleep.  About a week after the binky was gone we found where it had been hiding.  Greydon had snatched it from wherever I had left it and stuck it in the pocket of his pants.  It all worked out in the end, the binky is no longer needed and the experience wasn't too traumatic for Asher.  

1st Day of School

Thursday August 14th was Leila's first day of school.  Since there were boundary changes this summer she was also at a new school.  Luckily one of her good friends was also moved to the new school, they have been in the same class for kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade.  Leila has Ms. Gillum this year and we have heard wonderful things about her and so far she has been pretty awesome.  Leila always wants me to drive her on the first day which I'm happy to do.  I'm happy she still wants me around:)

Greydon's first day of 4 year old preschool was August 25th.  He also moved to the new school but was able to keep his same teacher from last year, we love Ms. Emilee and many of the same kids are in his class again.  He was so excited for the first day and wouldn't even let me walk him in to his classroom, he just took off and didn't look back.  

Visit from Connie

We had been looking forward to Connie coming to visit all summer long.  The kids had been counting down since school got out, we were so excited to see her and show her a little of our home.
Leila begged to stay up and go with me to pick Connie up at the airport, her plane was scheduled to arrive until 11 PM and then it got delayed to around midnight.  We took Connie all over the place and a had a busy 10 days.

Friday we went to the park, got Leila to gymnastics, the boys played with Connie and then we went to eat at Tasty Taco and out for ice cream at Snookies.

 Snookies Malt shop, this place is the perfect summer ice cream shop.

Connie spent a bunch of time just playing with the kids and teaching them things like chopping vegetable

Saturday was spent at the Farmers Market and then we had a fire in our back yard.  

Sunday we went to church and then went to the High Trestle Trail Bridge

On Monday we went to the Playscape park and then stopped for pizza at a little shop in Polk City. Leila went to gymnastics and then me, Connie and Grey went and picked corn.  

On Tuesday we went to the Iowa State Fair. We could have spent several days there since there is so much to see and do.  

The kids had to try out all the tractors, I was shocked at how much some of these cost, some cost more then my house.  

Next up was little hands on the farm, they enjoyed some of this but skipped a few things, they mostly just wanted their free treat at the end.  

We got to see all the new baby animals, this is my favorite building at the fair.  Baby animals are just so cute.  

The kids couldn't wait to show NeNe the butter cow.

We ended the day with some fair treats.  Leila got a funnel cake, Grey got a root beer float and Asher got a Fair Square (rice krispy treat on a stick)

We then had to rush home to make it to Meet the Teacher night.  After meeting their teachers and exploring their new school they then needed to try out the new playground.  They liked it a lot but Leila was disappointed that there were no bars or monkey bars.  

I can't remember everything we did on Wednesday but I do know we went to the pool.  It was nice having extra adult hands to help out,  I was able to take the boys on the big twisty slide about 20 times, they were in heaven.  

Thursday morning was the first day of school for Leila.  She was excited to have her grandma there to take her to school.  

We celebrated the first day of school by going out to dinner at Zombie Burger, I think its our families favorite place to eat.  

And Leila refused to look at the camera for a picture.  

On Friday Paul had to go back to work that day for a resident retreat day.  It was raining so Connie and I took the boys to see Planes Rescue and Fire.  Paul and I went out on a date that night to a yummy Latin restaurant and the kids had a movie night with grandma.  

Saturday I think we walked to the park, Leila went to gymnastics and then that evening we went to our ward sweet corn festival.  After the dinner we then went to Heritage park to ride the carousel.

On Sunday we went to church and then that afternoon we celebrated Connie's upcoming birthday.  I can't remember what we did that evening, maybe went for a walk?

I also can't really remember what we did on Monday.  Leila went to school but I'm not sure what we did with the boys.  After school Connie took Leila out for frozen yogurt before she had to go to gymnastics.  Tuesday morning we had to say goodbye.  We had such a fun visit with Connie and loved having her here at our house, its always sad to say goodbye:(