Coffee

My guilty pleasure.  My sweet addiction. Starbucks Coffee.  

As most of you know I LOVE Starbucks coffee.  It really started out as a caffeine necessity working 12 hour night shifts on 2 East.  I still love that black brewed coffee to pieces, but if I have the choice I prefer to indulge in lattes.  I have had to decrease my intake being pregnant (and also the fact that it is an extremely expensive habit) but still fulfill my guilty pleasure enough (probably too much).  It is that time of year where they have the seasonal drinks and I happen to really like the pumpkin spiced latte.  

The point of this information was to share a cute story.  The other day we had the kids in the truck where they can reach the window button and roll down the windows themselves.  We were headed to get some ice cream to celebrate Landon's first day of preschool.  We pulled up to the drive thru to order and Landon rolled his window down and said, "a grande natte, please" and then rolled his window back up. He was pretending to order my coffee!!!  It was the cutest thing in the world, but just confirmed that I may have a problem.  

First day of Preschool.

What a special day!  Landon had his very first day of preschool!  He was very excited when he woke up and had his backpack on and ready to go for about an hour before we left.  I think you will see the excitement in his photos.  

He was so excited, I couldn't even get him to stand normal in the pictures!  We arrived at preschool a few minutes early and picked up his name tag and found the spot to hang his coat and backpack.  Then he played for a few minutes in his room happily.  Then came the moment, the dreaded moment.  When I left him to go to a different room for my meeting, he had the saddest look on his face and was trying hard  not to cry, but couldn't hold the tears back.  It was so sad!  I gave him a couple reassuring hugs and told him I would be back to get him.  It was a very long hour and a half for me.  I just kept telling myself that he was just fine having fun playing.  After our meeting I went to pick him up (they had moved to the gym) and he came running towards me with the biggest smile on his face!  The first words out of his mouth were, "I stopped crying, Mom!"  He sure was having a blast in the gym.  

I was happy that he was still very excited about school after the whole ordeal.  So hopefully with each drop off he will get more and more used to it and forget all about being away from Mommy.  I think this will be very good for him since he is so shy.  

We took him out to lunch afterwards to Perkins where he could get his favorite meal-rainbow pancakes!  

Love my little guy SO much and can't believe he is old enough for preschool!  

'Twas the night before Preschool...

I can not believe the day is finally here.  Landon will be going to his first day of preschool tomorrow.  My baby boy is no longer a baby and is starting school already.  I had so many mixed emotions as I was getting his things gathered for the morning.  I took a jog down memory lane as I remembered the excitement I felt as a small child anticipating the beginning of a new school year.

I am so excited for my boy to experience this next step in his life but am not quite sure if I am ready to let go yet.  Tomorrow's day is shorter than normal only an hour and a half, so I think we (meaning me not Landon) should be able to manage.  Good luck to my sweet boy.  First day of school pictures to come...

Sweet September.

It is here and I cannot believe it.  Summer is officially over as we have entered into September.  Fall is my favorite season and I am so excited for all that it brings.  The weather starts to cool off, the leaves change, the kids go back to school, summer travels end, good television returns (finally), and of course it's my birthday month.  This Fall I will be in the last trimester of my pregnancy and we will be even closer to Ryan's graduation.  Did I mention I love Fall!

Gymnastics.

Landon had his first day of gymnastics class tonight.  There are only 4 in his class-him and 3 other girls.  There are a few other classes going on at the same time, so there is a lot of action in the gym!  He was pretty shy at first but warmed up rather quickly.  We watched from a little viewing area up top and every once in awhile he would look up at us with a huge smile and wave.  It was so fun to see him interacting with others and following directions!  He was having so much fun!

This was the best picture we could get from the viewing area.  It was so neat to see him try things he had never done before without any reluctance!

It is hard to see in the picture, but he is holding his ribbon that says "awesome."  He was pretty tuckered after class and of course asked to eat immediately!  He must have burned off some energy as he ate twice as much as he normally does for supper!

Kadence had a hard time watching because she really wanted to participate.

"I do that Mommy!  I do that!"

So we tried to explain to her when she was a little bigger she could go.  Landon had learned about letters during his activities and told us he was going to help Kadence learn her letters-too cute!

The Hills.

My parents and the four of us took a trip out to the Black Hills for a few days.  I remember my parents always talking about wanting to take us there growing up, but we never did it.  I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for us to go considering we live only 6 hours away.  We planned the trip the end of May and booked the cabin to stay in.  It sure came up fast.  This was the cabin we called home for three nights.  It was at the base of Terry Peak and gorgeous!  It was quite spacious for the 6 of us as it slept 10 adults.  We had planned on my sister and her family joining the trip but they were unable to.  We cooked all of our meals at the cabin and had a lot of good food!  The kids had an abundance of room to run around and play and they loved it.

The lower deck included a brand new hot tub.  The kids thought it was "too hot," which it was for them.  But they had an absolute riot playing on the ledge.  Unfortunately, I was unable to partake in the lovely hot tub and beer festivities.  I should have taken more pictures of the inside of the cabin, it was absolutely gorgeous.

We stopped at Bear Country USA on our way in.  I was a little skeptical about the experience because it seemed to be a little spendy.  Once we got into the gates all skepticism was gone.  It was one of the neatest outdoor exhibits I have ever experienced!

This is my favorite bear photo.  I just think it is crazy how you drove right through the bears and they were just hanging out.  There were so many I wish I would have counted!  We did see buffalo, antelope, sheep, arctic wolves and some other animals, but the bears were the best!

After you drove through the route with the animals, there was "babyland."  There was a bunch of baby animals-so darn cute.  Those little bear cubs were my favorite!

It wouldn't be a trip to the Black Hills without visiting Mt. Rushmore.  It was such a gorgeous day and we got some great photos.  Landon loved the "big rock with the faces," it was adorable.

We walked down a ton of steps to get some different views and the kids did awesome!

Next came Needles highway and Sylvan lake located in Custer State Park.  The scenery is absolutely gorgeous!

What a great place for some picnicing!  Kadence and Grandma and Grandpa played in the water while Ryan, Landon, and I did some hiking and rock climbing.

It was so fun to see the boys having an absolute riot climbing rocks.  Landon has a ridiculous amount of coordination for his age and wanted to go up as high as he could.  I see a shared hobby in their future!  I trekked along for most of the climbing but opted out when I had flashes of my pregnant belly making me fall forward!

It made me a little nervous at times...but they were having so much fun I didn't say much.  Too cute.

So beautiful!

We drove through Spearfish Canyon and stopped at Roughlock Falls.  This was probably my favorite part of the trip.  It amazes me how beautiful nature is.  We hiked along the river and took in the scenery.

The kids had an absolute blast and ran most of the way.  It is so fun to see mine and Ryan's love for nature and the outdoors show through in our children.  They are so happy outside where they can run free.

They really are such good friends already.  They had so much fun playing and exploring together.

A view of Roughlock Falls and the beautiful clear water!

These are only some of the many gorgeous pictures we took.
We also headed into Deadwood for a night and walked around a little bit.  We had perfect weather the entire time and did everything we wanted to do.  The kids were so good-considering the amount of time spent in the car!  There was great conversation and many games of cribbage in the mix as well!  The only thing that would have made the trip a little better would have been a stop at one of the winery's for some wine tasting...next time!  What a great and much needed vacation!

Band-aids.

It is that time of year.  The band-aid season.  Both of our kids have gotten quite a few bumps and scratches this summer but it seems to have heightened the last couple weeks.  Luckily, Dora band-aids are like magic and instantly fix even the bloodiest owies.  It makes me laugh as both of the kids seem to be going through "the band-aid" stage at the same time.  We have gone through an entire box of Dora band-aids in just one week.  I am beginning to think we should buy some stock...