{Visits from grandparents}

The beginning of autumn in Sioux Falls brought a visit from (nearly) all the grandparents and a major case of spoiled little boys!

Over Labor Day my parents were able to come out for the long weekend.  

We kicked off the month of September with an early birthday celebration for Calvin (who pretty much has the idea that his birthday now lasts the entire month- haha!)   He loved being spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa - including eating all of Grandma's banana bread - as much as his tiny body could handle!

We visited the kids museum which is one of our favorite places to go with the boys.

the "shadow" room

mind puzzles ... they kept grandma and grandpa busy!

Wesley like spinning the tops and actually got pretty good at it by the time grandma and grandpa finished their mind games!

wheelchair races

Grandma & Grandpa got them these bubble machines which were a huge hit!

Wesley's first day of pre-school!  Grandpa got to come in and see him off

We dragged them into our ward family feud night

Our Sunday walk around the outdoor campus trails... almost everyone enjoyed themselves the whole time! ;)

A few weeks later Grandpa Jim also came for a visit -  the boys really loved having him around (his visit was on Calvin's actual birthday- so of course more birthday parties for that little guy!)

We took Grandpa on a walk around Falls Park - one of our favorite places!  Calvin had "Barkley the Beaver" from his preschool since it was his birthday week.  He was quite pleased to take the beaver on all our adventures.

Grandpa also got to come to church with us!  He got to see Calvin's primary and part of Wesley's nursery for the singing time!

We finished off the week with Calvin's birthday party (again).  Grandpa even came to Calvin's pre-school and got to go into his class while we read Calvin's favorite book! 

We were pretty excited to have our grandparents visit - although we missed Grandma Marianne this time.  

Happy Birthday Calvin! :)

{Best of Summer - Part 3} August

The conclusion of our summer chronicles is bittersweet!  I feel like this was one of the most enjoyable and sweet summers of my life.  

I also really love the crisp air and the back to school structure that has become part of our routine. . .

I read that quote sometime at the beginning of August and really started to feel a little pressure to enjoy these lazy summer days I get to spend with Calvin and Wesley - next summer with a new little one in tow I'm sure things will be a lot different!

This was our big news for August!  We found out we were expecting.   Really exciting news (next week at my appointment I *might* be able to find out the gender)!  This is another reason I was feeling particularly lazy for our last summer month - just the exhaustion that first trimester brings was a little overwhelming. I've felt it before BUT keeping up with two energetic boys at the same time - now that was quite the challenge. 

I took this picture as I was getting ready one morning in my room and turned around and saw Calvin and Wesley laying down facing each other.  They get along really well and I hope they are friends throughout their entire life!

The next succession of pictures was taken visiting our friends in Iowa- Sam and Rachel Hauptly!  I wanted to go see a composer who was presenting for piano teachers in a small town in Iowa - and we decided to make it a family trip. Mike entertained the boys while I went to see a Dennis Alexander seminar - then we drove out to Dunkerton to see Sam, Rachel, Frank and Tommy!  The boys really love the farm and Calvin is still talking about driving the tractor with Sam!

Rachel is showing Wesley their bunny - "bun bun"

tractor rides! The highlight of the trip for Calvin

Cute Franklin and Calvin playing outside together

This was when we met their baby goats - Twinkie and Wonder

The marble tower toy was something that amazed Calvin and Wesley

"The nest" -  my boys lasted all of about five minutes in the nest but I really love the movie Ferdinand :)

It might sound strange but one of our favorite places to go as a family is Scheels! On this particular trip Mike scored these sweet mudboots.  The boys love the escalator, cafe with ice cream, jungle gym, mini bowling lane and the monster truck display.

The Outdoor Campus is at least in the top 5 of the favorite things to do in Sioux Falls! It's fun because their are some inside toys and outside toys as well!  AND a beautiful nature walk that makes you feel like you are in the woods its right in our neighborhood.

One Sunday afternoon we went for a family walk in a park called "Japanese Terrace Gardens" I really loved the little bridge.  The boys mostly loved playing at the park at the end of our walk (shocking, I know)

I wrapped up an "Intro to keyboard" class I had been teaching at First Presbyterian.  Lovely Marcus and Adeline were so sweet and fun and at the end of the summer put on a recital where they were the two performers.

Playdough time is beloved by all!  It takes great restraint for me to NOT freak out when they mix the colors.

Sad face Wesley - impossible to not get a kick out of his lower lip jutting out.  ESPECIALLY because he is the most over dramatic turd of all time sometimes.

Some really cool people in our ward cater to the box at the Sioux Falls Canaries games.  They got some free tickets and invited a ton of people from the ward to come tailgate and enjoy the game.  It was a really cool evening to see a ball game and enjoy the company of some great people!

Wesley met Cagey the Canary and was very unsure about a giant bird mascot

Mike and Calvin enjoying the ball game

I had to walk around the stadium with Wes to keep him entertained. Baseball was really not something that interested him at all

Calvin and Daddy <3

Of course we had to go for the BYU fifty prize this year!  We did not win it but enjoyed chasing it anyway.  Plus some really cool people in our ward won it - so that was awesome!

Back to school - meet the teacher night!  The boys got to see their classrooms at Central Baptist Pre-school and enjoy a train ride together too!  They were awfully disappointed when they showed up the first day and there was no train.

Calvin's first day of pre-school

Here is Wesley in the t-shirt we forced him to wear to announce that he will be a middle child.  This baby has the same due date as him so we will see if they share the same birthday in August!