Toy Story 3 on ice

This week, we went to Toy Story 3 on ice with friends. We all enjoyed it!

Tyler said that his favorite part was the aliens skating to Star Wars music.



I also kept telling myself not to take pictures, because it would never do it justice...but I did anyway. AND I posted them. Ha! :)

Labor Day Weekend

So, last weekend, Mom and Dad came out for the Miller reunion. I took Friday off so that I could enjoy a little more time with them. That afforded me the opportunity to take Tyler to school for the first time since he started 1st grade. We walked in with the herd of little people (his school has only kindergarten and first grade classes ). By "we," I mean that Tyler and I walked in...followed closely behind by Mom and Dad, both carrying their video cameras. I carried my camera. I think it is safe to say that the start of Tyler's day was thoroughly documented.

Here he is choosing what he wants for lunch on the Promethean board.

Here, he gets to work...flanked by paparazzi. :)

Saturday and Sunday (and most of Monday) was the Miller reunion in Partridge, Kansas. For those of you who attended the Yoder reunion a couple summers ago - we were at the same place.

Eating breakfast on the first day.

Monday, Aubrey, Tyler and Dad took a little ride with Ellis on the tractor to do a little "work." ;)



We had a great visit!

I'll part with a couple of random pictures that just make me smile. :)

Aubrey loves chocolate. And is a little goof. And has a snotty nose. (She is saying "cheese" and really isn't about to attack, like it looks).



squirt

double click to enlarge pictures

Shoe

After we got Tyler off the bus today, I took off Aubrey's socks and shoes. She succeeded in putting a shoe back on.

She is still quite the independent, silly love. :)

First Grade

It has felt like a bit of a whirlwind around here. Between getting ready for and presenting in-services at my school, changing offices, etc, and getting Tyler ready to start school, his open house, etc, both kids have been sick. Things have just been a little "off."

Monday was Tyler's first day of first grade. He had been sick all weekend, but he was well enough to go to school. I was nervous about the change from 1/2 day kindergarten to all-day school. But, other than stomach aches - he had a "great" day! (And he quickly learned - it took only the first day - that he needs to eat when he has the chance). :)

We were all ready to greet Tyler off the bus that afternoon. Aubrey was cracking herself up while we waited.

Welcome home, Tyler!

Every day, Tyler has good things to say about school, which helps me not to worry. And, thankfully, as of today, both kids are healthy...at least for now. ;)

Indiana Visit

We packed a lot into our 9-day visit to Northern Indiana. We loved spending time with friends and family - which was the whole reason for going. We also fit in a trip to the Elkhart County 4H Fair, a trip to the Indiana Dunes, the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, flying and a whole lot of other fun activities close to Mom and Dad's.

At the fair, I got to enjoy an Elephant Ear for the first time in ??? years. It was just like I remembered...I just felt a little more guilt this time. :) Tyler "won" these super sweeeeeet shades. 

Dad took us on a ride in the Cessna.

And Tyler got his first power parachute ride. He loved it.

After Tyler's ride, Wayne and I got to participate in a candy drop for a big family reunion. That was a lot of fun. Seeing the kids get so excited to catch candy falling from the sky was so fun!!

We were glad that both Wayne and I got to visit our Grandparents.

We visited Grandpa Stuckey in the hospital. I wish we would have taken more pictures - can't believe we didn't get Grandma Billie or Uncle Max in a picture! :(

Grandpa Henry and Grandma Polly came over for dinner on our last evening there.

Our trip to the Dunes was fun. The sand was hot, and climbing the hill was hard work, but the water felt terrific!

Tyler loved the chance to play with Brennan. They are such good buds. I wish they could see each other more often!

Tyler and Aubrey "helping" Grandpa with chores.

Giving Aubrey a scooter ride, Wayne suggested riding this way as it seemed safer for Aubrey. Mom said this is how they rode in Cambodia, so we thought Lynette and Rusty might appreciate it. Mostly, Wayne made me laugh with the silly song he sang while we tooled around...something about me holding onto his love handles.

On our last night, we took a long Gator ride and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

Ending with the Essenhaus "quilt."

We had such a great time. It's always hard to leave once I'm home. We felt loved and so very well taken care of!

Click here if you'd like to see more pictures from our visit.

H & R Visit

A couple weekends ago, Hollins, Rachel and Jillian came for a weekend visit.

It was fun to watch the girls negotiate playing together...and gave each other lots of hugs and kisses!

It has been a scorching summer, and this weekend was no exception. We enjoyed a trip to a hotel pool, the YMCA water park, and the splash park in Hesston.

The girls enjoying a bedtime snack at Grandpa and Grandma's.



You can check out more pictures by following this link (though I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked) or you can click here to see Rachel's blog post.

18 Months

Some things I don't want to forget about this stage...

Probably like most kids her age, Aubrey loves to climb.

She likes to try to stand in her high chair during the entire feeding time, unless it's something she can feed to herself. That seems to keep her on her bottom for a little longer, anyway. Several times, she's managed to climb onto her tray. She has quite the upper body strength and is determined. A dangerous combination. :) She likes to jump off the ottoman. If she jumps into the pool, she doesn't mind if her head goes under. As Tyler says, she's "fearless." As a result, this fearless Love has also had a few fat lips and bruises and other such minor maladies.

Aubrey is opinionated. When it comes to food, all kinds of cheese are her friend. A girl after my own heart. :) She lets me know what she wants, and if she is uninterested, will say "no" and turn her head away. Like many things, Big Brother can get her to eat bites of things she refuses to eat for me. This compliance for Big Brother is not only with food, but with other things as well. For example, if she refuses to hold my hand in the parking lot, she will hold Tyler's hand. Squirt.

 

She has some favorite books. When we read, she squeals and giggles to share her enjoyment and mimics the emotions of the book.

One of her favorites is So Big! (An Elmo book). This week, I introduced her to a CD of Elmo songs. Now, every time we get into the car, she asks for "Mamo" and happily bops along.

Of course, she still loves those off-limits items. Sometimes, she goes after things and gives us a mischievous look, peeking at you out of the corner of her eye with a sly grin. The other night I let her play AlphaBaby for quite awhile. Basically, all she has to do is touch the screen and numbers, letters and shapes appear. They are named when they appear and can be manipulated. She squealed with delight over and over.

Happily Playing AlphaBaby

Love her.

Botanica

Thursday evening, I took the kids to check out the new Children's Garden at Botanica while Wayne played frisbee golf down the street.

It was amazing! We had a great time. We also enjoyed the other gardens, and the butterfly house, along the way. Even though the high was in the 100s that day, there was plenty of shade and nearly all of the exhibits included water somehow - fountains, misters, etc. We'll definitely be going back.

Click here to see more pictures from our visit, if you're interested.

a little catch up

We've been busy with a little of this (working, painting, swimming at the YMCA, going to the park) and a little of that (a fun July 4th party with friends, taking the kids to the Sedgwick County Fair by myself, date night)...but have I taken pictures or written about them? No. Sorry Grandparents who live far far away.

Here's a small tidbit from today, only because I'm already writing...with not much else to say. :) At 12:30 pm, I not-so-wisely but full of enthusiasm, headed out for a walk. It was WAAAAY too hot. When I had to take a break so that I wouldn't pass out, I was feeling quite pathetic. I was taking A Break. From a Walk. Wow. When I arrived at home, separately, both Tyler and Wayne strongly suggested that I take a shower. Apparently I smelled about as good as I felt. :) .

Random side note: Today I thoroughly appreciated this article explaining that mysterious "outside smell." Wayne and I have discussed what this is for a long time. (And really, had no clue what it was).

It ended up getting up to 111 degrees today, so Wayne and Tyler enjoyed swimming and later running in the sprinklers to try to keep cool. I felt quite dizzy again later on - don't know if it was still from the heat, but I'm going to blame it on that. Ha!

Time for this heat wave to let up!



That's it for now. :)