Labor Day Weekend 2016

Hey Everybody!  Ellen Here!  

We had a super great long weekend at Grandma Carolyn and Papa Tim's house for Labor Day Weekend!

One of the best parts of going to the Lake is getting to see Great Grandma Joan.  She hasn't been feeling well lately so we got to visit her at a different place.  She made sure to make it feel like home by bringing pictures of us.  While we were there we color pictures for her too!

We went to a new restaurant this weekend and I learned that my new favorite dip is Blue Cheese!  I wanted to dip everything in it, but Mama said just my cucumbers...Papa gave me some french fries too.

The weather wasn't that great this weekend so we had to find other things to do besides playing on the lake.  We went to Casey's Amusement Park and had a blast!!  Linden's favorite was the bumper boats.  She and Daddy SOAKED another little girl on a differnt boat!

I loved the go-carts, but I wasn't big enough to drive one on my own, I got to go with Mama!  Linden got to do the mini-go-carts and she loved that too.

While Linden was on the mini-go-carts Papa let me ride on the merry-go-round a LOT of times.

They also have mini golf there.  Mama said we weren't keeping score, but I want it to be known that I totally beat Daddy and Linden.  They only wanted to get thier golf ball in the hole...it is much easier to get lots of points if you put everybody's ball in the hole too...

The weather on Sunday wasn't much warmer so we decided to go to a local apple orchard and check it out.  They had delicious apple cider, and blueberry doughnuts.  They also had a huge blob for us to jump on!  There were all sorts of places to climb, and fun corn mazes to wander through.

I really loved the big corn pit.  It was really hard to walk through, but it was fun to dig in.  Linden liked pouring corn down the slide and sliding after it.

 Even though the weather wasn't great, we made the best of it and had a great time!

Have a great night!
Ellen

Kindergarten, Here I Come!

Well Folks, today is the day!  I didn't even need to look at our family calendar to figure it out, today is the day that I get to go to SCHOOL!!!  I am so excited!

Mama made us this family calendar a long time ago and I have been waiting for this special day to show up forever!!  (Do you see the cute butterfly in the corner?  There will be more about that later...)

Mama did a pretty good job this morning.  We made sure we had my first day outfit picked out.  And she made me this cute sign that we finished filling out this morning!  Too bad it was raining and we had to take pictures in the garage...

Walking into school for the first time was AWESOME!!

I have heard a lot of great things about my teacher, Mrs. Hozerland, I am certain it is going to be a great year.

I was super excited to find out that I got to be the FIRST classroom helper!!  That means I was the line leader, I got to shut off the lights, and I got to be a big help for my teacher.  Having a last name that starts with two A's isn't all bad...

Did I tell you that it rained, all day...?  We still got to have gym class, and do a couple projects, and I had all sorts of fun stories to tell Mama and Daddy afterwards.

I think the most exciting part of the day was waking up to see that my butterfly, Nyla, was ready to come out of her chrysalis!  When we met my teacher yesterday we asked if we could bring it in if it was a school day that she came out, and turns out, today was the day!!!  My silly butterfly was shy so she waited until we were all at lunch, but when we got back we had a big surprise!

After school once Daddy was home it was time to let her go.  I named her Nyla, and was super excited when Mama told me that she was in fact a girl.  Nyla wanted to hang out a little bit more on my hand...

Buy eventually she was ready and flew away to find her butterfly friends.

Today was amazing! I can't wait for all of the new adventures that Kindergarten is going to bring!

Linden

Being Great is Pretty Great

Having a Great Grandma is one of the Greatest things in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!  

Great Grandma Joan loves to get to see us, and loves when we come visit her.  I don't have much else to say, but these pictures were just too cute to not share  :-)

Happy Monday!
Linden

Wrapping Up the Resort Season

Ladies and Gentlemen, resort season has come to a close.  And that means, it is time to put things away.  I thought the best part of the water trampoline was getting to jump on it, but I think deflating it was even better (I biked over to the resort and was too busy to take off my helmet).

It was so squishy, and fun, and amazing!

The end of the resort season wouldn't be complete without some tubing, and now I am a pro so I have all sorts of fancy tricks.

Have a great night!
Linden

Let the Games Begin!

Do you know how much we love the Olympics in this house?  If not, you CLEARLY don't know my Mama!  The past few years we have had Art Parties, but this year Mama planned an Olympic Party!

I really wanted to do a craft, so we made Olympic hats to keep the sun out of our eyes while we were competing.

 Some of the adults tried to make up a competition, I don't know how it turned out, but I do know that no gold medals were awarded for either of the participants.

One of the most popular events was held at the swimming pool.  There were lots of fancy jumps, swimming, and splashing!

I just knew that all of the events would cause some pretty hungry competitors, and since McDonald's didn't sponsor us I decided that we should have Red, White, and Blue cookies for a snack.

 Everybody sure loves decorating cookies!

 And eating them even more!!!!

After our snack it was back to competing.  We had hurdles...

Long Jump...

Balance Beam...

Javelin Throw...

Archery...and so much more!!

No party would be complete without body paint, and the little kids REALLY loved it.  Especially Ellen.

Ellen was so proud, she went to Mama and said, "My Orange, Ellen Orange!"  Turns out, she had a little tiny spot of orange on her hand.  Silly Girl!

 Look at those sweet babies!

The body paint wasn't just for the babies, us big kids loved it too.

We didn't really have a good reason for water balloons, but they are so much fun that we just had to do it.

Who doesn't love water balloons?

I am pretty sure everybody had a great time.

Our fantastic party must have attracted all sorts of rare Pokemon because towards the end the boys took off and began their hunt.

To end our Olympic games we were all given Olympic medals for having such a great time.  

Sorry Caden...Not real gold...

Off to watch more Gymnastics!  Have a Great Night!
Linden

The Girls Will Play!

Hey Everybody!! Ellen Here!

Daddy decided not to come home from Chicago to hang out with us, so we only had one choice...Play. Play! PLAY!!

We decided to go to the movies and see Secret Life of Pets.  Sissy and I thought it was great.  My favorite part is getting my own little popcorn box and drink.  

Sissy loved the movie and wants to go see it again. The pets were all really funny and we had a great time.

CHEESE!!!!

We liked the movie so much that we didn't even notice that we missed supper.  Of course, Mama had us covered, she brought PB&J sandwiches in case we got too hungry, instead we ate them in the car on the way home!

Instead of going straight home we decided to stop at the park and play for a bit.  Sissy wanted to play follow the leader, but she didn't understand that I was the leader...the leader is not supposed to follow somebody else.

Another great night!
Ellen