First Field Trip and Bus Ride

Thanks to my boss for giving me the day off and my sister for watching Kayla, I was able to go on Alexis first field trip with her and her class! We went to an apple orchard and road the bus for the first time...

Alexis was very excited to get on the bus..
Once we got to the orchard, we tried to get the kids together for a picture.
They waited patiently (well most of the time....) for instruction on what to do next..

They enjoyed walking through the orchard trees, but not so much listening to the teachers telling them all about the orchards.

Alexis with her adorable friend... her friend wanted to hold my hand, Alexis was to fond of that idea. Since I was on the field trip, she pretty much just wanted to be by my side. I didn't get to see much interaction with her and the other kids, she acted very shy.
Looking very sleepy and thirsty!
We got to see how they sort they apples and make apple cider.

The kids loved when they were able to go to the play area to play finally....




Alexis finally opened up a little and even didn't sit with Mommy on the bus for the ride home.
We got back to school where the kids ate their doughnuts and apple cider... I think everyone loved them!

Especially Alexis!

Block Party

A neighboring town had a block party last weekend. Alexis and I went with a neighborhood family. They had fun looking at the different animals... there was a kids parade - where the kids decorated their bicycles, trikes, and wagons and paraded through the street. Maybe next year the kids will have more interest in that!

Then they both got solid chocolate suckers shaped like fish! Alexis thought it was the greatest thing she'd ever seen!

Girls and Home

Alexis has had a fascination with watching the sunset for the past couple of weeks....

Waiting patiently for the sun to go down...

Alexis tried to take a picture of the sunset, but couldn't get the camera at quite the right angle!We saw these wall quotes when we were in Galena for my Birthday, and I found them online for a fraction of the cost! The one above the pantry is a little bigger than I would have liked, but I still like the concept...I really like how the one in our bedroom turned out.

First Day of Preschool

Waiting patiently after Breakfast for her first day at PreSchool... she was very excited to go!

Of course Mommy had to take lots of pictures for her scrapbook!
Standing outside the School. Her class is pretty small, on Tuesdays there are 8 kids and Thursdays I think 5 or 6 and her Teacher seems very nice.She retrieved her "tool box" and name tag and selected a place to sit, next to her friend that lives down the street from us.

The boys jumped right in to start playing....Our neighbor, Alexis's friend was ready to go. He has a brand new baby sister and seems to be adjusting very well!
Alexis made a new friend also... of course they wanted to play with the kitchens! We picked her up from school and the teacher said she did very well and got to be the line leader today! She was very excited and loved her first day.

Weekend in Kansas

Our weekend in Kansas consisted of a long car ride, which the girls were very well behaved for, a party on Saturday evening for my Brother in Laws Birthday and Retirement, a Celebratory Mass for my cousin Sister Rosemary's 25 years with the Sisters of Charity (which is where Kayla got hurt), and an 80th Birthday gathering for my Dad.

Kayla smiling nicely for the camera with her movie star glasses on at Breakfast..
Some of my nieces and nephews... 14 of my parents children were in attendance along with 24 of their grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. Alexis still has that cheesey face!

Above is my sister, Dad and Uncle singing at Rosie's Mass... They sounded so beautiful, this is all the video I could get with my digital camera though!

Alexis dancing a polka with Mommy at the reception for my cousin Rosie's celebration...
Auntie Amy dancing with the girls...
Mom and Dad still looking great!
Me and Amy dancing with Alexis and Emily...

There was a professional photographer available to take a family photo... we couldn't take photos of the final posing, but were able to get a few before hand..

Me and Louise...

Alexis and her cousin...

14 siblings with Mom and Dad...

Just the girls with Mom and Dad...
After the family photos, we had another gathering for my Dad's 80th Birthday (doesn't he look great!) We gave him several awards for his achievements: King of Junk Food (always feeding the kids chocolate, starburst and ice cream), The Holy sock award (buys new socks and cuts holes in them for air conditioning), The Recycling Award (very conscientious about making sure the garbage is separated properly for recycling), The Stubborn Mule Award, The Over-Achiever Award (15 kids? One of my sisters found a shirt that was perfect for this - it said "Who are all these kids and why are they calling me Dad?") The At Home Wheel of Fortune Award (my Dad is notorious for solving the puzzles as the boxes go up on the wall), The Crossword and Sudoku Award (I don't think he's missed doing the Crossword puzzle in the newspaper since he was in the hospital unconscious and now is King of Sudoku too!) Many other awards were given to represent my Dad. It was a fun party and a great trip!