Phew….another super long post!! Hang in there as you make your way to the end. I'm caught up now so maybe I"ll be able to stay more on track!! Enjoy! Side note- the spell check icon isn't working so I wasn't able to spellcheck. I did my best!
Maddox and Kennon at the Bettendorf Library
Kennon getting his spring soccer participation trophy from one of his best buddies- Coach Corbin. We just signed Kennon up to play with this same league in the fall. We continue to be impressed with the skills and techniques Kennon is learning.
Maddox's dance recital was back the beginning of June. She did a beautiful job and danced on stage all by herself at the beginning of her routine. She really loves ballet and is going to be in ballet again this fall at the museum.
Priya was in her class this year which made for two matching beautiful ballerinas right next door to each other the day of the recital.
Maddox is the furthest to the left on stage.
Maddox and one of her good ballet friends Kaylin.
Post show pictures.
The Knowles family made the trip down to watch Maddox and the rest of the ballet performance. Have to expose those Knowles boys to a little girly stuff now and then :) All the boys did a good job of sitting through the sort of slow moving show. Trying to get a picture post the recital….always a fun challenge.
Love those proud smiles!
The afternoon of the recital was just a perfect, cool, sunny day. Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Jay had come for the recital celebration from Indianapolis and brought each kiddo a squirt gun. The kids had a grand time shooting balloon targets and each other all afternoon. I don't have a photo of Cashin but he was a happy kid just playing in the bucket the big kids came to every minute or so to refill their guns. He is a water loving kiddo.
A little family volleyball game.
Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Jay also brought Kennon a fun birthday present called Pie Face. The cousins had a fun time playing the game Saturday night. You can get the gist from the pictures….whip cream on the little hand and then the hand comes up and whacks whip cream onto your face if you happen to hit the 'magic' number of turns on the dial. Just look at their faces….so fun!!
So thankful our kids are close in age! I think they are going to grow up to be good buddies.
Waiting in anticipation…is it going to fly up???
YEP!!
Sunday morning after the recital we celebrated Kennon's 5th birthday dino style at Monkey Joes. We just did a small party with cousins and two of Kennon's best buddies from Our Savior and Priya of course whom I just count as party of the family :) The kids always have a great time and it is nice to leave the clean up to the Monkey Joe's workers.
Everyone is smiling….except Cashin…..
Cashin looks great but Kennon has a total stoogy look and Reid has his hand up……
Well….we almost got it…..Cashin is smiling he's just looking down. Darn it..!! It is like a workout getting these kiddos to all smile at the same time but I love the challenge at each family event!
I looked back at the pictures from last year's Monkey Joes party and I can't believe how much they are changing…
Kennon's 4 year old Monkey Joe's party
This year - Reid 3, Carter 5, Kennon 5, MJ, Maddox 6, Priya 6, Nathan and Caleb 5 ( Kennon's preschool buddies)
So I aksed Kennon these questions on his 5th birthday……
1. What do you want to be when you grow up? A digger man ( i.e. construction worker)
2. What is your favorite color? Green
3. Who is your best friend? Nathan ( one of his buddies from Our Savior Preschool)
4. What is your favorite food? Pizza Mac n Cheese Broccoli Watermelon
5. What is your favorite thing to play outside? Frisbee with dad
6. What do you like to play inside? Dinos and puzzles
7. What is your favorite movie? Regular Planes and Planes Fire Rescue
So I aksed Kennon these questions on his 5th birthday……
1. What do you want to be when you grow up? A digger man ( i.e. construction worker)
2. What is your favorite color? Green
3. Who is your best friend? Nathan ( one of his buddies from Our Savior Preschool)
4. What is your favorite food? Pizza Mac n Cheese Broccoli Watermelon
5. What is your favorite thing to play outside? Frisbee with dad
6. What do you like to play inside? Dinos and puzzles
7. What is your favorite movie? Regular Planes and Planes Fire Rescue
Last year's responses........
1. What do you want to be when you grow up? A PIRATE
2. What is your favorite color? BLUE and GREEN
3. Who is your best friend? 'YOU Mama!'
4. What is your favorite food? Pepperoni Pizza ( although I have to disagree...he always requests black olive!!...but does enjoy pepperoni too)
5. What is your favorite thing to play outside? 'My squirtgun'
6. What do you like to play with inside?
7. What is your favorite movie? Regular Planes and Planes Fire Rescue
Kennon has grown so much in the last year. I'm pretty sure he weighs more than his big sister and is extremely coordinated and strong. His love of sports has grown and he will say 'YES' to any question that starts with 'Kennon do you want to play……' just insert sport. He continues to be a soccer player and tried his hand at basketball this past winter. He is becoming a fish in the water almost mastering the freestyle stroke and is pretty good on the tennis court too. He is a hard worker and I mean blue collar, labor type worker!! He loves to help me in the yard and will shovel and or move dirt and rocks for hours on end sweating his tail off. His attention span is crazy long and he is smart, almost scary smart, analytical and witty. His current love for toys is anything dino related and puzzles. The kid is a puzzle machine and he will work endlessly with little to no intervention from Eric or I. Aside from the occasional ( or maybe frequent at times depending on fatigue level) fit and extremely loud crying or screaming ( like plug your ears loud ugh!- The Kubalsky's can testify to that I'm certain) when he is upset about something he is typically a very sweet, compassionate, kiddo and a super snuggler. He still hasn't quite mastered staying dry at night but he is working on it. He is an absolute veggie and fruit lover and generally isn't too picky with much of any food although does have his dislikes of baked beans and zucchini!! He will attend 5 year old preschool at Our Savior with Mrs. Beardsly, whom he already loves, this coming year and will go off to Kindergarten in the Fall of 2017. We love you to pieces Kennon and can't wait to see what you are going to achieve in the next year. Mwwah!
If you are thinking…hmmmm that doesn't look quite right…you are correct!! This dino cake was amazing…until we transported it to Monkey Joes. I was so sad when I opened the lid to find it collapsed on one side. Oh well…at least it was the tail and not the head. Bummer though that I didn't get a pre-destruction picture.
Happy jumping kiddos….!
Play date with one of Maddox's good friends Avery and her little sister Brooklyn.
Since it's summer we've been trying to take advantage of the great activities in the Quad Cities. This particular day was EXTREMELY cool so we decided to hit the zoo. We had a great time as always. Maddox on snowflake.
Kennon on…..??? Can't remember… too long since we've been there :(
Strike a pose Maddox….
Kennon is a dino loving boy right now. Grandpa Jim and Grandma Jean found him this large 'put it together yourself' dino replica for his birthday Kennon had a fun time fitting the pieces together with a little help from Eric. I should put a sign on the van that reads 'We Brake For Dinos'!!
A few Friday's ago we met one of my best college friends, Katie, and her kiddos at Blackberry Farm in Aurora. Blackberry Farm is this fabulous historic farm that has unlimited pony rides, train rides, paddle boats, a petting zoo, caroseul, zip line along with several education buildings within the park with staff dressed in period clothing describing how things were in the 'olden days'. Oh and a water park across the street. Phew… It was barely crowded and we really had a ball. Mackenzie and Maddox really hit it off but the boys had a good time as well. Mackenzie will be in Kindergarten this year and Evan in 3rd grade.
Learning from the blacksmith.
Mackenzie and Maddox getting ready to take the plunge on the zip line.
Katie, Kennon and Evan paddle boating. I had the girls in my boat. Other than the sweaty lifejackets the paddle boat experience was really nice…breezy and not too hard to pedal and get somewhere.
On the train ……again….!
Ironically the particular day we were at the park it was this burro's birthday. The park held a special birthday party for Paco at 1pm which we decided …'what the heck…we should go right'…although I will admit I felt a bit odd singing happy birthday aloud to a donkey. But they had games for the kids with prizes, a piñata…in the shape of donkey of course, limbo and cupcakes. Paco was quite friendly and allowed the kids to get near and pet him. Happy Birthday Paco….. !
Post bath picture of Kennon after the sort of hot and sticky day at Blackberry Farm. Not sure what's up with the wide eyed expressions in these past few pictures.
We kept the June trips rolling by going up to Dubuque for the weekend. Eric and Uncle Scott, his brother from Minneapolis, were participating in the TOMRV bike ride and Dubque was the overnight stop for day one. We got a hotel room at Grand Harbour Resort and the kids enjoyed the water park immensely!! Eric and Scott did a great job riding 68 hilly miles on Saturday to Dubuque and then another hilly 50 miles back home on Sunday.
While we were in Dubuque we checked out the National Missisippi River Museum right next to the Grand Harbor Resort. It was SO SO cool. I highly recommend it. They have a large salt water building with animals that live in salt water since the Mississippi empties into the salt water Gulf of Mexico. Then they have a fresh water building as well that showcased all the animals that live in various parts of the Mississippi. What caught my eye at the museum, while I was out for my morning run, was that they were also showcasing a special Dino exhibit!! Like I said…'We Brake For Dinos'. The kids loved the dinos. They looked super real, moved, and made lots of noises.
Kennon practicing catching a catfish by noodling…. Maddox wasn't so psyched about sticking her hand inside the fish's mouth…as you can see by her crossed arms. It sort of clamped on and then you pulled it out from under the rock! What do you think Uncle Tyler??? does he have the right technique….although I know you typically like to fish with a rod instead ;)
Getting up close and personal with some sort of turtle…I can't remember the variety…the down side of getting behind in blogging.
Maddox and Kennon by the T-rex.
Riding the bikes to pump the water up to the clouds and then watching it rain.
Thank you Dubuque!! We'll be back. A fun little city!
By this time we are through the first half of June. We continued to pack the activities in all the way through the 4th of July! The weekend of Father's Day I completed my first triathlon since Maddox was 9 months old!! I was super happy with my time and how I felt during the race other than getting a little panicky during the swim. I came in just slightly under my time from 2010 which I was super happy about given the fact that I am 6 years older and have had even less time to train. I had quite the race support from Aunt Diane and Uncle Brian who graciously offered to come up from St. Louis and take charge of the kids and even brought them out to the event. Then my good neighbor friends Katie and Kim also came out to cheer myself and the other participants on. It was a beautiful morning and the race went off without a hitch ( Eric is in charge of putting the event on!) Thanks to all my supporters for the encouraging words!
Maddox enjoying a cone from Whitey's…white chocolate raspberry. She earned this cone for staying in bed all night for an entire week. We hit a bit of a bad stretch back in May of both kids getting up frequently in the night and 'needing' to be put back to bed. Kennon is still struggling with it and hasn't earned a cone yet but Maddox hopped on board at the prospect of ice cream and has been doing great…several cones are owed to her by this point! Way to go Maddox.
My best buddies from the hood Kim and Katie! I have a sneaky suspicion there will be some additional Century Heights participants next year ;)
Kennon and I drove over to see Grandpa Jim on Father's Day! It was an especially relaxing day playing outdoors, driving the golf cart, and spending time out in Grandpa Jim's buildings with his endless amounts of 'toys'. We got to see how Grandma Jean is doing with her progress after her knee replacement surgery as well! Certainly it's no surprise to me, but she is doing fantastic! She was getting around really well that particular day and even went for a drive up to the ice cream stop with us on our way out of town. Happy Father's Day Dad!!
The kids participated in tennis lessons the last two weeks. It was a beginner type lesson designed for those that had never played. The kids both did well. My coordinated sport loving Kennon connected with almost every ball thrown at him and with good technique. Maddox wasn't quite so loving of the sport but if she engaged herself she too did well. Those long arms and legs could be helpful in this sport :) Kennon is requesting more lessons which would take place at the end of the summer…Maddox is saying 'no more thanks!' although I"m trying to encourage her as I think it is a good sport for her. She is my ballet performing girl and will actually be doing a two week long theatre camp the next two weeks.
Along with tennis lessons the kids are back at Kim's pool getting lessons from Miss Tara much like they did last year. They have improved leaps and bounds from last year. Miss Tara is SOO good with them. Maddox has almost mastered the freestyle including breathing to one side. Kennon is nearing that and both are starting to work on the breaststroke.
The Knowles family gave Kennon the coolest birthday gift!! It is this block of well I don't know what the material is but you basically use these special tools to dig away the debris to find the parts of a dino. It is very tedious which is PERFECT and both kids have been engaged by the activity several times so far. We've found a head at this point I believe. Super fun activity for my dino loving kiddo. Thanks Knowles family.
Alina turned 1 a couple of weeks ago!! I can't believe it…time sure does fly. Alina is a super mellow, happy baby who loves to crawl about with an adorable grin ( although I didn't manage to capture one in this picture….too busy with that cake!). Elisha and Carl invited us over to celebrate her special day. We enjoyed a yummy summer supper and of course cake! Happy Birthday Alina…..thankful for good friends who live next door.
We hosted the neighborhoods' first Flamingo Friday celebration a couple of Friday's ago. It was a perfect night…cool and not too humid. We had a great turn out. I'd say probably 20-25 kiddos and about the same number of adults. Flamingo Friday is designed to be a low key, relaxing, social event for the neighborhood kids to play outdoors and the neighborhood adults to socialize a bit. Everyone brings their own chairs and drinks so it is super easy to host and encourages more participation.
We put out all our outdoors toys including the volleyball net and I think everything got played with. So fun!
The men of the The Planning Center minus a couple …Eric, Matt, Andrew all partners and Tyler a co-worker that is working on getting his CFP.
We dressed up for the wedding of the daughter of the founder of The Planning Center. It was a fun time catching up with the wives of the firm….and the cake was delicious!! ;) It's all about the cake right!
Like I said above we have been trying to take advantage of the endless fun activities to do right here in our backyard. This day it was a trip over to the Quad City Botanical center which just added this great splash area. We picked up our buddy Leo and headed over to Rock Island. I had to PRY the kids out of the river themed splash pad to get home before dinner.
Maddox, Kennon and Leo exploring the grounds of the Botanical center before hitting the splash area.
Thanks for joining us Leo!! You are such a great kiddo.
I can't believe it has been three years since mom passed…June 27th. We still think of and speak of her daily and miss her like it was yesterday. You never get over the loss just start to finally get used to the 'new normal'. Love you Mom!
More Quad City fun….this time at the Putnam museum over in Davenport. We explored the more sciency museum in comparison to the Family Museum in Bettendorf and then saw a 3D movie about Humpback Whales. The kids LOVED it!! Super educational….. did you know that when you see the big whales jump out of the ocean as if to do a trick ( like on the commercial for that insurance company- Pacific Life) it is likely a male! The females don't tend to do much jumping as they are in the depths of the ocean in a pregnant state or caring for their young.
Last week we went on a pretty big Road Trip to Colorado to see family and attend Emily, Aunt Kathy's daughter's, wedding. We had such a good time!! It was so nice to see everyone, the wedding was a great event and the Colorado scenery was beautiful.
We tacked on a day before the wedding to do a bit of sight seeing. After recommendations from both Uncle Tyler and the maintenance man at the hotel :) we headed up to Boulder, specifically Chautauqua Park near the flatiron mountains in Boulder. Chautauqua was having a children's music performance and fair that morning. The full sized orchestra played 4 musical pieces and then afterwards there was a drum circle activity, face painting, a fun park to play out, a few booths to visit and wait…is that the Knowles family?? The Knowles family met us in Boulder!! How fun!! They were there for the wedding too but it was fun to hang with our cousins in a state other than the normal Iowa and Wisconsin.
Reid getting a little love from Maddox after he got a boo boo on his foot. Flatiron mountains in the background. So majestic!
Yikes!! Snakes and cousin love! I think that is a great picture of the boys ( 2017 calendar worthy Brooke?? :) Hah..I just noticed I forgot to crop out your phone on the right.
After getting some pictures of the flatirons we loaded up in the van and headed up to the 'wedding center'…IE Aunt Kathy's house in Frederick, Colorado about 30 minutes NE of Boulder. The kids took a much needed nap after a couple of selfies.
Selfies!
Aunt Kathy has moved since we were last out to see her. She and her husband David have a great ranch home with a finished walk out basement which was a perfect spot for the wedding reception. Her landscaping is amazing and there was a lot of space for the kiddos to run. I'm not sure what Aunt Kelly is telling the kids right now?
We got our first glimpse of the bride on Saturday….Emily, who looks just like her beautiful mama Aunt Kathy……
….and we got to meet her fiancé Cameron!! He was super friendly with the kids and even started calling Kennon 'Cobra' on account of the snake on his face. Kennon loved that! Maddox had been looking forward to this wedding for quite some time. She had never been to a wedding and was excited to dress up and spend as much time with the bride as possible.
Aunt Kelly was at the house prepping for the wedding and reception festivities so we were able to get a few hugs!
After checking in on the pre wedding festivities up in Frederick we headed back to Boulder, specifically Pearl Street, which is a pedestrian mall populated with street performers, small play/climbing areas for kids and lots of places to shop and eat. The atmosphere was super fun.
A street performer getting a little help from the crowd to get INTO his straight jacket. It was an entertaining show and something we had never seen before. Not too many street performers on the streets of the Quad Cities.
Posing on Pearl Street
The wedding day finally arrived on Sunday. It was a hot one but we had pretty colored parasols to shade us from the sun during the outdoor ceremony. Aunt Kelly made Maddox a special bouquet of flowers.
Here we go….another opportunity for a cousin picture!
Maddox confiscated the princess crown from the photo booth that was set up at the reception for the wedding quests ( imagine that!). But it did look pretty cute on her especially standing next to her handsome Uncle Tyler ;)
Reid and Maddox getting some loves from Aunt Kelly.
Emily had a shadow named Maddox all afternoon. Maddox adored Emily in her beautiful lace gown pretty hair piece, and compassionate smile. Every time I looked over, Maddox was perched below Emily's elbow waiting for Emily to address her. Emily did a good job of catering to her presence yet still taking care of and greeting her wedding guests. Thank you Emily! Emily and Cameron are now touring Japan!! Wow. Safe travels Emily.
After a full day of wedding activities, from the ceremony, to yard games, to just running around being a kid…oh and add in a sugar crash from the wonderful brunch, cupcakes, and Aunt Kelly's cream cheese mints, the kids needed a little down time late Sunday afternoon. Aunt Kathy's master bed made for a perfect spot for a few episodes of Paw Patrol. So cute that Gracie, Aunt Kathy and David's 14 year old dog hopped up to join them.
Colorado buffalo on Pearl Street, Boulder.
My sweet, beautiful, wanna be bride…… ( and Uncle Tyler's fancy suit and shoes!)
….and her adorable little brother. We had such a fun time at the wedding. Although I didn't seem to get any pictures of Grandpa Jim, Aunt Kathy ( Emily's mama) and Uncle David ( Emily's dad and the officiant of the wedding) they were a great help with the kids. Although a super long drive out it was SO worth it. We really enjoyed reconnecting with family, seeing Emily on her special day, and getting to enjoy the beautiful Colorado mountains. I think we just might drive out again sometime! Look out Aunt Kathy and Kelly! We love making memories with family!
On the way out to Colorado we stopped over night in Lincoln and it was a bit more of a leisure type drive. On the way back to Iowa we decided to do it all in one day. 12 1/2 hours and we made it just in time for the Bettendorf fireworks Monday night. Phew..! It was actually a great trip. The kids are really good ages to travel. They enjoy reading, coloring and of course watching DVDs and stay pretty entertained without much intervention from myself or Eric. On the way out we saw this dino in North Platte Nebraska but it was raining. On the way back it was bright and sunny so the kids hopped on for a picture. 'We Brake For Dinos' especially if they'll fill our van with gasoline.
Snack time! Lots of snacks were consumed to pass the time :)
The kids haven't had any camps this week with the holiday week but next week Kennon is doing a Superhero/Spy camp and Maddox will embark on a two week 9-5 theatre camp which she is excited about. She will have a part in Honk Jr, a modern take on The Ugly Duckling, and will do two performances the last Friday of the camp. I am so excited to see how she does. She loves to perform and be on stage but will be the youngest of the bunch by far. I'm hoping the camp will help build her confidence of being in front of large crowds. We'll see how it goes. I am, for the first time in about 10 months, caught up on audits for work!! They did give me 5 more to do yesterday but they aren't due till the end of the month. I am feeling GREAT about this as I have been behind on audits for so long. Eric and I have been managing to get some good runs and bikes in the last few weeks. He is going to ride the last day of Ragbrai with a buddy. He'll ride from Washington to Muscatine I believe. Should be a good time for him. He has really been enjoying getting in plenty of rides this summer in comparison to last summer. I can't believe the summer is flying by. Maddox will start school on August 23rd and Kennon not too long after. Enjoy your next couple of weeks.
