Addison turns 6!

Our little girl sure doesn't seem so little anymore....she is 6!!!!! We celebrated her birthday party at Spirits Gymnastics and had a great time with 19 of her friends/cousins. It was a lot of little kids and I am pretty sure they all had a great time!

All the kids being patient and waiting to get started on the beams.

She loved it. She would love to take gymnastics but she is enrolled in 2 dance classes this year so that will keep her plenty busy.

The bars and pit was a big hit.

Even Bob joined in on the fun!!!

The birthday girl getting some special attention.

All the kids received a medal at the end of the party which was fun!

All the kids sporting their medals!

The cake.

Our big 6 year old.

On Addison's actual birthday we enjoyed some time at Monkey Joes and then she really enjoyed 2 servings of ice cream....why not, right?

First day of school!!!

This was an important first day of school this year....Addison started Kindergarten. It was a long time coming since she has a September birthday and we were all so excited when the day finally came for her to start "big kid school." She had zero worries about leaving for school and getting on the bus. She is only in half day kindergarten (am) so it is a pretty quick 3 hours or so that she is gone. She loves her teacher, doesn't mind the work too much and has already made some new friends.

Here are the first day of school pics. She is all ready to go in the outfit that my Mom got her.

Her friend Erin is in her class and at the same bus stop which is great.

So excited to be on the bus.

Lucas also had a big first day....he is in Pre-k now and we made a very big deal about how he is in the "big kid class" at school. This was his first year going without Addison and he has done great so far. He was so excited to see his friends from last year and is happy to be back.

End of summer fun at the ozarks.

Every year near the end of the summer we spend about 5 days at the Lake of the Ozarks with Bob's parents at their condo. We love all the time we get to relax, get out on the lake and just spend quality time together. This year was especially important because shortly after getting back from our fun lake trip, Addison was starting kindergarten. We took in as much fun as we could and had a great time.

Here is a pic of me and Lucas on one of the beaches when we stopped for lunch and some fun.

Addison left the beach for some daring fun with Daddy.

Bob got his thrills too and did some skiing. He is the best once-a-year skier I have ever seen.

I am pretty sure this was Addison's first solo trip tubing. She wasn't so sure of the big waves though as the ozarks is a MUCH bigger lake than my parents lake.

Lucas took a turn with Bob.

We also got in plenty of relaxing swim time. The weather was perfect and the water felt great!

My handsome boy on the boat.

We took a quick trip to the strip.

Bumer boats was a lot of fun.

Here is our annual lake of the ozarks pic. Can't wait to come back next summer.

Friends at the lake (Part 2)

We went back to my parents lake house a few weekends ago (again) and this time my friends Becky and Venessa and their families joined us....so 6 adults and 6 kids. It was a full house and boy did we have fun. I guess we spent too much time having fun for me to pick up my camera much but here are a few shots below.

Addison and her model pose.

Lucas (and the other little boys) all fell asleep on the boat at the same time one afternoon.

While they were sleeping, their sisters were off being big adventurous girls and went tubing (with no adults). They all loved it!!!

Us adults got plenty of time to relax in the water as well which was fun!

Can't wait for all my friends to come down again next year for more lake fun!

Friends at the lake (Part 1)

We love that we get to enjoy my parents lake house and it is so much fun to invite friends down and enjoy the fun as well. Marina and Corey and their 2 kids came to visit (for the 1st time) and Pam and Ryan. This was the first of 2 weekends at the lake as we have more friends coming to visit this coming weekend.

We basically went boating, swimming off the boat, tubing, and lots of swimming off my parents new dock. Oh, and some drinking and fun adult time once the kids were finally asleep...and then very little sleep for everyone but it was worth it! Oh, and it was my birthday on Sunday so sharing it with my friends as well as my family was so great!

Corey enjoying some swimming with the kids in the very very warm lake water.

Pam and Maddox on the boat.

Maddox got in on the swimming fun too (with Marina and Addison).

Ryan and Pam

Addison enjoying swimming in the lake for the first time without her life jacket on.

A not-so-great pic of me but I have to prove I was there.

Corey being crazy on the tub and standing up with no hands.

Pam and Ryan's turn.

A girl pic.

The boys.

Weekend no. 1 at the lake was a success. Now onto the next......

Bob is an Ironman!!! (ok, well a half ironman)

It is official....Bob is an IRONMAN. We joke about it because he completed a 1/2 Ironman (70.3 miles) so really, he is half of an Ironman (ha ha). But really, this was a HUGE accomplishment for Bob. Just 2 years ago he started to train for his very first triathlon. It seemed like such a big task back then and who knew that just 2 years later he would have completed such a big race. The 1/2 Ironman consisted of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and a half marathon (13.1 mile run). He took on this race in Racine, WI and we joined him up there to cheer him on as well as our good friend Pam.

The kids were very excited because the course was right along a great beach. Who knew that such a beautiful beach with such soft sand was in Wisconsin along Lake Michigan.

Ok, back to the race. Here is Bob starting the bike after a great finish on his swim.

Pam starting the run.

Taking a break from the race to enjoy the beach again!

Marina and her family came too!

Becky and Venessa couldn't miss the race either. Don't you love the Pam signs!

Becky made some for Bob too and the kids were modeling them here.

After a long 5 hours and 52 minutes the race is over for Bob (8 minutes under his goal time). Oh, and did I mention the heat index was 100 degrees!!!!!!!

Bob's biggest fan (and biggest supporter of many months of training).

IRONMAN!

Congratulations Bob and Pam!!!