Wednesday, August 6, 2014

College Roomies

My college roommates came to Des Moines to visit while in town for other engagements.  
It had been over a year since we have seen one another.  We'd just pick up in conversations as if we get together on a regular basis.  Our children all have grown since our last visit.
Adina and I
Adina has 3 beautiful daughters.


Then Kristi was in town for her son's baseball games.  Phil, Andrew, Clare and I went to watch the games.  Olivia and Ruthie were having fun at Adventureland with friends.

Roommate for 2 years.
Kristi with her family.


Shoe Shopping

With school around the corner...yikes..... I needed to get the girls some new shoes.  Ruth isn't a fan of tennis shoes.  I think she has only owned one pair in 5 years.  But I knew she would NOT be wearing flip flops to school.  Picking out a pair she likes is a challenge...too tight, not enough bling, too hard to get on, etc.  She makes every excuse in the books about why she doesn't want them.  But this time around, she knew she needed shoes to go to kindergarten.  She tried on 3 pairs...2 tie shoes and one with the elastic laces.  I was going for those since they'd be easier to put on for her but she was liking the ones below in the picture.  Clare is showing her how to tie her shoes in the store.  Ruth was so cute trying on the shoes.  She'd run around in the isles to see if she can run fast, ha.  Out of the 3 shoes she tried on, she took the blue shoes below.

The next morning, she put her shoes on and asked Phil to help her tie.  After a couple of times, she had it mastered!!!  I couldn't believe it!!!  We haven't worked with her at all with it earlier...4th child syndrome, sorry Ruthie.  I underestimated your ability to tie your own shoes.  Your teachers will LOVE you for this, and PE teacher too ( so Aunt Sara says).

So proud to be able to tie her own shoes.

One-Step Closer

Olivia is one-step closer to getting her driving license.  She finished Driver's Ed last week and only May 2015 needs to get here to be able to drive without mom and dad.    She took the class with her good friend and drove with her too.  My teaching friend also is a driving instructor so he took the girls driving to complete this portion of Driver's Ed.  We had curb service because he picked the girls up at our home each night to drive.
Last time driving, final testing.


Adventureland 2014

About a month ago, my cousin Michelle and I planned for us to go to Adventureland before school starts up again.  With everything going on with our kids, we found 1 day for us to go.  It was a perfect day weather wise...sunny but not intense heat and lines were only long for a short time in the afternoon.  The kids are troopers for staying in the evening too.   Here are pictures from our day.

The Cousins
My cousin and I


Almost ready to ride the Raging River.  This was the longest wait of the day, at least an hour.  Ruth wasn't liking this.

My aunt, Michelle's mom came up for the day too.
The new ride at Adventureland is the Storm Chaser.  Clare and Natalie are waiting to try it out.

Waaaay up there they are.

While the big kids rode the big kid rides, Ruth and I had fun riding the smaller rides.  I prefer this because rarely there are lines.
We are spinning in the Tea Cup.  Ruth is lovin' all of these rides.





More Tea Cups with Natalie
My nephew taking Ruth on a spin on the Bumper Cars.  


Another successful trip to Adventureland.