Back to School Happy Hour

Last Friday, the first day of school, we decided to have some neighbors and friends over for a back to school happy hour get together. It was fun to see Presley with her friends and I think Piper was a little tired from her first day of kindergarten so she wasn't as social!

Presley, Addie and her sister Sophie

We had close to 50 people show up, which was awesome. We had some snack and appetizers and the weather ended up being perfect!

Piper's 'boyfriend' Connor was able to come and he was so excited and so sweet to Piper, even though she had quite an attitude towards everyone!

 Maris, Leah, Presley and Addie......I love this group of girls!

 Cohen looking at the girls like they were out of their minds!

 These smiles!

 Collins wanted to get in the action of the 4th grade girls too!

 Oh my, this girl! So cute!

 Cohen was a wild man as you can tell with his sweaty hair! 

 Piper and Gianna! These two know how to smile and pose for the camera! 

 Angie and David, one of the last families to hang out that night.

I think it was 11 pm before I took the girls inside and got them to bed. I think we were all exhausted!

Saturday we decided to sleep in, clean up and slowly make our way to Adventureland for one last time. It was a hot day and the lines to the rides were SO long so we went straight for the water park. We were able to get some chairs, which was nice b/c Steve was tired and took a short nap in one! :) The girls did so much swimming and we had a good time. The water park got busier and busier....by the time we headed out about 3 pm it was SO busy......but the park itself wasn't! We left and headed to Boston's 8th birthday party.
They grilled out and the kids played.....well except Piper who fell asleep on Steve's lap! We stayed for a couple hours and then headed home b/c we were all tired! I think we were all sleeping by 9.

Sunday we didn't do much actually! Just the typical laundry, Steve ran some errands and decided to smoke some pork. We actually got dressed about 4:30 b/c our neighbors invited us to go to their churches Party on the Lawn....they had food trucks and games and a band play. So many people and quiet a few people that we knew. We hung out for about an hour and then headed home before the rain started! Plus we had to get ready for Monday....and a full week of school!

SCHOOL!!!

I had Thursday off with the girls to get some last minute stuff done and to have a nice girls day together before school starts. We usually do this when school gets out for the year and before it starts, I am hoping I can continue this tradition with them.

We started out with dentist appts, bright and early at 8 am. Neither girls had any cavities and no issues. There are some things we'll have to watch in the future but for now, we are in the clear. Piper was excited b/c they said her bottom 2 teeth were loose. Presley didn't lose any until the summer before 2nd grade, so I think we have a long time before Piper's teeth come out. 

 Then we decided to get some donuts b/c we had a little time to waste and.....why not?

Then Presley had her eye appt.....so far so good. She will need glasses eventually but she said that as of right now, it's so minimal that there is no reason to do glasses yet.

When we left there we headed to Target to pick up a couple things and then we headed over to Lyndsi's to see baby Kade!!! Oh my! So cute and so little! I just love him. That little baby cry, so much cuter than big kid cries!

Then we left and went to get our toes done! Who goes to school with cruddy, gross nails? HA! This was Piper's first pedicure and she thought she was pretty cool!

Once we left there we headed out to Jordan Creek, which just seems SO far away! I had to take my wedding ring in to be fixed so we did lunch at The Cheesecake Factory! I can't remember the last time I was there but man, there menu has SO many items and it was pretty good!
We dropped off my ring and then headed home!

Of course we did baths and early bedtimes for the girls but I think they were both excited for school on Friday morning!
They were up and ready and so freaking cute!

Piper - Kindergarten

 Presley - 4th grade

 Presley was excited to see Miss Lexis at KTC!

Piper was a little hesitant and didn't want us leave but there were no tears and she was fine with her sister and Miss Lexis once we left.
My baby is in kindergarten! How is that possible???????????? I explained to her that they are going to learn their ABC's and 123's and start at the very beginning. I am just hoping she doesn't get bored and start acting out or being sassy. Fingers crossed for a great year for both of them! 

Goodbye GN!

Last week was an off week since we didn't have daycare for Presley. Both girls went to my parents on Monday, Tuesday Presley went to my mom's and Piper went to Generation for half day and for some reason she was very tired and ended up falling asleep on Steve before dinner that night!

Wednesday Presley went to mom's and Piper went to Generation again. I took the afternoon off and pick up Presley, then we ran by Hy-Vee to pick up the 'Thank you' cookie cake I ordered to take to Generation to thank them for everything they have done for us over the years! We are going to miss them so much!

Piper and her favorite Miss Dixie, she was about in tears when we said good-bye.

 Miss Coleen and Miss Lauren said good-bye too. Miss Coleen was Presley's teacher so she has been there for both kids!

Mary-Beth and Carrie....oh these ladies are amazing! Thank you, to each and every one of you at GN that has been there for my kids! We love you and will miss you all!

 The girls outside of GN.....for the last time. :(

We stopped and got ice cream at Van Dee's and then headed to play at Terra Park for a while before we headed to Meet the Teacher!

 Meet the Teacher at the NEW Wallace school!

 They had a photo booth, a book fair, temporary tattoos and Clifford!

Since this was a new school, they did a ribbon cutting for each wing of the school. Kindergarten and 1st grade went first. We met Piper's teacher, Ms. Dewhurst (Ms. D) who everyone loves!!

Then 2nd and 3rd grade....Presley wanted to go say hi to her 2nd grade teacher Ms. Lynch. She loves her and she is the reason Presley originally wanted to do Girls on the Run.

As you can kind of see from this picture, this school is very modern. There are no individual desks, there are no normal lockers. They have community tables and open cubbies for their things. From the community area in each wing you can see into each classroom thru the glass walls. They are able to open these walls to have one large learning space for more community learning. It's a very different concept for most of us to understand but I'm guessing there were plenty of studies done to promote this kind of learning environment!
https://www.edutopia.org/article/flexible-classrooms-research-scarce-promising?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Finally they did the ribbon cutting for the 4th and 5th grade wing! Presley, Quinnlyn and Leah were right up front for it!

We met her teacher, Mrs. Kannapel. She has a slight reputation of giving a lot of homework and being strict, so we'll see how this goes! She was really nice and I told Presley that it doesn't matter if she is strict b/c it's not like Presley is ever getting in trouble for things! :)
Overall a nice afternoon with the girls, we then headed to Gilroy's for dinner to watch our friend Baird play! 

Family pictures

While we were in Wisconsin we did family pictures, thanks to my uncle Danny!  I think they turned out great!

The Moeller family....man, we are awesome.

 The grandkids and great-grandkids....ages 47 to 18 months!

The whole gang. Grandma and Grandpa would be so happy that we are still making this reunion happen with all of us! Though Grandma would be feeling totally left out and Grandpa would probably want to make sure he could watch his stocks or the Packers playing.