Go Vikings!

Payton and Carson survived the first week of school and both love their teachers!  It was also nice paying my daycare bill this week and having it cut by 2/3!

Friday the kids didn't have school so they went to Ellen's. It was also the start of city wide rummage sales in Lakefield.  I got off of work and headed out with my friend Nicole to look at a few rummage sales.  My big purchase was 2 metal baby gates that actually have the swing door.  I have been looking for these so I didn't have to order them and found them for $10!  Way excited!

I went to Ellen's to pick the kiddos and helped work the rummage sale at her house.  I had put a lot of stuff in this year and couldn't beleive how crazy it can get!  I was very excited though b/c before the sale had even started I had already made over $200 in pre-sales!

I got up early the next morning and headed back over.  We started cleaning up around 11 and then I headed home to get ready to go to the cities.  We stopped by Mike's sister's house first.  She was watching Aidan while we went to cheer on the VIKINGS!!  We headed to the mall of america and let the kids run in to American Girl and Lego Land.  I was impressed with their quick shopping!  We then headed out to catch the tram to the game.

The game was awesome and our seats were incredible!  We were 18 rows up from the field and could see everything!  We did leave the game early as the kids were getting tired.  We stayed at Mike's sister's house and headed back home this morning.

Here are some pictures from the weekend!

The Loot!  :)

Getting ready to go in!

Biggest Fans!

Right before kick off

#4...the only reason I watch the Vikings!

The smile says it all!

First Day of School

Both Payton and Carson had a great first day of school.  They were pretty worn out when they got home.  It cracks me up a little bit b/c they would play hard all day during summer but put them in a classroom and they get TIRED!

We started the morning by me waking each of the kids up with the video camera.  I have done this since Payton was a baby.  The morning of any special event / holiday, I show up with the video camera and tape the kids getting up and talk to them on video.  We had a quick breakfast, posed for pictures and headed off to drop Aidan at daycare.

Mike and I walked the kids into school and they could have cared less if we were there or not.  They just wanted to run and find their friends!  Oh how times have changed!! 

I picked them up today and they both love their teachers and were full of stories of the day!  I always write down what each kid said was their favorite part of the first day.  Today's results:

Payton: I loved my new teacher
Carson: I loved playing with my old buddies!

Here are some pictures of the big first day!

Back To School Night!

As hard as it is to believe, school will start on Monday.  Tonight we had back to school night at school.  The kids got to take their school supplies in to their classrooms, find their desks and meet their teachers.  It was so cute to watch them skip...literally...into the school. 

We stopped in Carson's room first.  He is in the same room he had last year and will also have the same teacher.  He was so excited to find out his teacher assignment.  Since there were two kindergarten classes last year and they needed two first grades this year but only one kindergarten class, his teacher was moved up to teach first grade.  He found his desk and put away his supplies and then we were off to Payton's classroom.

Payton will also have a new teacher this year.  Her name is Mrs. VanEpps and Payton was SO excited to learn she would be her teacher this year.  Mrs. VanEpps was an aide when Payton was in Kindergarten and now will be her teacher!  Payton also found her desk and put away her supplies.  After more pictures we headed down the hall to find the kids' lockers.  Carson was thrilled to learn he would have a locker this year!

PTO was selling subway sandwiches so we stopped in and had a nice subway dinner and then let the kids play on the playground for a little while before heading home.  Aidan got to play too but he was SUPER tired!  We had to come home and get the little one to bed!

Here are some pictures from our night!

Very Busy Weekend!

We really decided to "live it up" now that Aidan's party is out of the way and we can do things other than working on our house!

Friday I picked the kids up at swim lessons.  It was the last day and they were both excited b/c they passed to go on to the next level!  I am so amazed at how much they learn in a few weeks!  Just last summer they were afraid to put their heads under water and now they are doing cannon balls off the diving board!

Friday night Mike and I took all three munchkins to the county fair in Jackson.  We walked through all the animal buildings (stinky ones too!) and the kids loved petting all the different animals.  Of course we had to have dinner at the fair too!  Corn dogs just don't taste the same unless they were made at the fair!  We played a few games and looked at all the GREEN machinery!  Aidan did pretty well until then end and he was just ready for his own bed.  We headed home and got the kiddos ready for the next day.

Saturday Mike's company had their annual outing in Spirit Lake.  We headed to the Barefoot Bar around 3 to catch a private party boat at 4.  We sailed around the lake for a couple of hours and then headed back to the Barefoot for dinner.  It was a lot of fun and nice to have some adult time!

Sunday we got up and got our things around and headed to the lake.  Mike bought his Grandpa Rickey's fishing boat and we wanted to take the kids out in it.  There is also a zip sled that we got with the boat.  It is a pretty old sled but is amazing and sturdy.  We got to the lake around noon and played on the beach making sand castles and swimming in the water.  Aidan and I stayed on the beach and Mike took Payton and Carson out on the boat to zip sled.  They both did great and got up to their knees but didn't go all the way up!  We sent video clips to Mike's Dad and he was able to show Grandma and Grandpa Rickey last night.

We were all worn out and spent the rest of the evening having a family movie night.  We were able to enjoy both the Aristocats and Beauty and the Beast before heading off to bed!

This morning we were all very saddened to learn that Mike's Grandma Rickey passed away.  She was an amazing womoan who was very loving and caring.  There are no words to describe how much she will be missed.  We are so glad that she got to see the video of the kids on the zip sled!  That zip sled has been around many years and has many memories to go with it!  We love you Grandma Rickey and will miss you so much.

Here are some pictures of our weekend: