Louisburg KS; gotta love small-town America! Oh how I love going to the Louisburg Cider Mill during the fall. Ciderfest is such a fun community activity. They make their own cider on location and cider donuts. We have actually never been to the opening day of Ciderfest so this was a fun day for our family. Lots of craft booths set up, live music, food, shopping, corn maze, inflateables, and so much fun.
Sorry this was so dark. Forgot our camcorder and had to use the camera. MT Drill Team performance during half-time. Savannah is the back row on the left in the middle.
First night game of the season. Was loads of fun! Close game but we pulled it off by the end of the game. And did I mention I REALLY LIKE these 8 minute quarters in middle school football as opposed to the standard 15 minutes!!!
I just had to make a comment on My Fitness Pal tracker to your right. I really wish it said ** lbs gone. I have NO INTENTION of ever 'finding' these 'lost' pounds again!
It was supposed to be 72* today for this race. Not even. This is the first annual Runnin' With the Wolves 5K. Mike registered to run and Savannah and Drill Team volunteered throughout the route. We had to be there at 7am which was a little too early for little Haylie.
The fam was up at 6am this morning to get ready for fun. Got to downtown Olathe early to nab our seats for the parade. MTMS drill team, band, and cheerleaders were one of the entries.
First drill team performance at football game half-time! We didn't stay for the entire game but we were up 14 - 6 at the half. Go MT!
What an awesome holiday weekend! From my previous post Mike and I went to the Royals game Friday night. Saturday was a day of football. USU vs Auburn 42-38 but it was a GREAT game. BYU vs Ol' Miss hanging on by a thread 14-13. Sunday was church and Savannah had her friend Heather sleep over. Also had a spontaneous block party that night. Can anyone say hot dog? I bet we had about 50 people show up. This does not however take the place of our annual Halloween Block Party so stay tuned for more pictures later. Monday morning our ward had a 5K run and pancake breakfast. Mike's friend Ryan from grad school was actually out in the area on vacation from Utah and decided to run it with him. Mike came in #4 out of all 50 entries. Later that night we had our good friends the Whites over for a BBQ and back yard games. Just total loads of fun this weekend!
Two weekends, two sports. I LOVE living in a city where there are two major league teams! However, we did lose both games but thats ok. The fun is in just being there! Kansas City Chiefs vs St Louis Rams 14-10
So Haylie, having a February birthday has never been able to do something outdoors for her birthday. She has always wanted a swim party. So this year we bagged a friend party in Feb and just went to Shogun as a family. So the year progresses and we still are aiming for a swim party. Well, August rolls around and she is now 9 1/2 and she decides she wants a party at this place. We could have done this indoor party during her actual birthday! Everyone had fun though. She had a couple of girls from church and then a bunch from school. We even ran into her 4th grade teacher on the way in! They got to play all over for an hour then it was pizza, root beer, cake and ice cream.
Haylie started 4th Grade on 8/15/11 and Savannah in 7th Grade 8/16/11. Have a great year ladies!
Because the girls had so much fun at the fair before the Nauvoo Pageant, they REALLY wanted some stilts. So a trip to Home Depot, $120, and 4 hours later this is the result....
If any of you are Disney fans like our family is, then you should know about this place. This was Walt Disney's boyhood home. On every trip to Nauvoo we have to stop on our way home. The "dreaming tree" and barn are on private property but they still allow visitors. You can sign your name with a sharpie inside the barn. We couldn't remember where we did a couple of years ago so we did it again and took a picture this time. Nice, quiet, little place.
We decided since it had been a few years that we needed to take another drive to here. We were worried about the weather because our July had been so hot. But it really wasn't too bad. When the sun went down it had cooled off and made for an enjoyable pageant. We also drove out to Carthage to see the jail. We love eating at this place. It is YUMMY! I got our room down the street so the girls were close enough. Mike and I were FINALLY able to go to a temple session together! Very convenient having a live-in sitter these days. We took our normal route home to experience my next post.
That is short for My Fitness Pal Non-Scale Victory. I try to keep my family blog and fitness goals separate ( until I post a final blog with end results). But I was so happy with a Non-Scale Victory that I wanted to post it. I see my OB/GYN every September. In 2010 when I went; my BP was borderline Prehypertension at 138/??. Can't remember what the bottom number was. Since starting my fitness goals 18 weeks ago I was curious to know what it is now at my current weight. We have a personal BP cuff at home so I had hubby take my BP. Totally excited. 122/77! If you weren't aware; anything less than 120/80 is normal. SO happy. Can't wait to do it again in another 18 weeks.
Saw this great exhibit today at Washburn University Mulvane Art Museum in Topeka. Nathan Sawaya out of NYC makes sculptures completely out of LEGOS. This was only a small sampling of his work, but I'm glad we took the girls out there to see it. I'm sure it doesn't compare to LEGOLand but this was pretty awesome.
Made it to the Corporate Woods Star Spangled Specatacular. They always put on an awesome show. Bob & Janet's family met us there too. Lots of people to watch, the weather was just perfect, and the show was good. For some reason though it wasn't choreographed to music this year like is has been for the last 7 years. That was kind of disappointing and it took us a lot longer to get out of the parking lot than before. Good thing Mike was called off of work though so we didn't have to feel in a rush to get home.
One of our vacations this year we decided to do a road trip to Colorado. This was literally less than 24 hours after we had arrived home from camping at Bennett Springs. I had just enough time to get all the laundry done and repacked Sunday afternoon before we left for CO on Monday morning. We drove straight through (which only took us 8 hours) and stayed at this quaint little place called The Rainbow Lodge and Inn in Manitou Springs. We had stayed there before and really liked it. Its not the Marriott or DoubleTree by any means; but a fun little touristy inn to stay at. Girls went swimming in the pool and we had a yummy dinner at The Mason Jar.
Tuesday we drove 2 hours through the mountains to Mt Princeton Hot Springs Resort. We did horseback riding, swam in their pools (one was 105* - absolutely divine) and ate at the lodge. Our room was one of the poolside rooms which overlooked the Upper Pool which had a 300 ft slide. The girls totally dug that.
Next day was the main reason we went. Whitewater rafting! We chose River Runners as our guides. The water was freezing cold as it was still spring runoff. We suited up in wet suits, booties, jackets, and helmets. Mike and I have done river rafting out of Jackson Hole WY before, but this was Savannah and Haylie's first time. Other than being a little cold I think they liked it. At least we have the pictures to prove they have smiles on their faces! It was a 9 mile trip down the Arkansas River. We had so much fun we may come back in the winter and take them snowmobiling!
After two days at the resort we drove back to Manitou Springs and did the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. We could have just driven on the road to the top ourselves but this was a lot more fun. We grabbed lunch at the cafe to take on the train to eat on the way up. Pikes Peak is 14,110 feet high. And after being acclimated to an elevation of only 1019 feet for the last 8 years; my legs were a tad wobbly.
Drove through Garden of the Gods which looks A LOT like St George UT. Mike went back the next morning to run through it.
Our final day in CO we spent the day/night in Denver. Went to the Heritage Square Family Entertainment Village. I couldn't tell if they were in the process of expanding or if it had been around for a long time and they were refurbishing. There were maybe only 5 shops that were up and running, one place to eat, a little amusement park most likely geared for kids under 7 and then their Alpine Slide. THAT was awesome! We each got three rides down and was the highlight of Denver. Lunch was at a little place called Casa Bonita. It was a fun place. My lunch was fine (I had heard the food wasn't something to write home about). The cliff divers were pretty cool and the girls liked watching the entertainment. Our final meal however was at good ol' The Old Spaghetti Factory. This was a staple when we were living in UT but the closest one now is in St Louis. There used to be one in downtown KC but they closed up shop in 1998. We email them on a regular basis to come back.
June was so busy with drill team camp, church girls camp, camping, and Colorado trip that it is SO nice to be home and relax for awhile. We've got grandparents coming out for a visit and Haylie's swimming lessons but that is it. Time to catch our breath.
I think its been a couple of years since we've gone camping. This time we went with Bob & Janet Whitmore and their two kids to Bennett Springs State Park. It was about a 3 hour drive from home to central MO. Passed through funny little town called Tightwad. Do you think they lock their doors? We took Lacie with us but I don't think she likes camping. Mike took the girls trout fishing and Savannah caught two! It isn't a place if you want to get real rustic. We went swimming in the pool, ate at the restaurant a couple of times and took advantage of the showers. It was a lot of fun. Bob & Janet are going again in September and we may go with!
Savannah wanted to have another swim party for her birthday this year so we tried Black Bob Bay. She invited 12 of her friends with a mix from both church and school. We picked up a platter of Jimmy Johns sandwiches, had some chips and drinks, rented a shade shelter for 3 hours and let the girls have at it. The weather was perfect after a major thunderstorm the night before and one came through again at midnight after the party. I am mostly looking forward to having her as our built-in babysitter now! Woo hoo!
We had to trade vacation weeks in order for Savannah to attend mandatory drill camp. However, she still has 3 practices that she will miss while we are gone. She had a great time. They learned 6 dances in 3 days and she says her legs hurt. REALLY? One of our local Hy-Vee grocery stores catered their lunches everyday and there was also a BBQ/Pool Party for the girls and their families. Nineteen girls made it onto the team for the upcoming year. I think she is going to TOTALLY enjoy 7th Grade!
Two days after Savannah's birthday she was able to go to girls camp. She complained all year how she didn't want to go. She is having a blast! This year they chose Camp Bob White at Knob Noster State Park. I had to drive a to and from camp (twice) so she could attend drill team practice and pick up her uniforms so it made for a long day. She says they've jumped in the swimming pool with their clothes on, stayed up late, got up for optional exercise and having a ball. She missed out on rapelling but the hike was Wednesday. I knew she would like it as much as I did at Oakcrest.
