August

We did get some use of our Adventureland season passes, which is always fun! It is nice that they can ride most of these rides together without one of us! Piper is getting braver and braver....she even rode the Dragon this year. I was SO nervous for her but she LOVED it.

We braved the Iowa State Fair this year with the girls. Normally they SUCK at the fair so I'm not sure why we keep trying but we do. This year they were much better and actually had fun!

Piper loves all the pigs! Every where you look!

We stayed and saw Maddie Poppe sing a couple songs, our friend Baird was playing at one of the stages so we stopped there which is where Piper scored this sloth from a random guy who was basically just looking for someone to take it so he didn't have to carry it around. She was in heaven!

Also in August is when we lost our nephew Austin in a motorcycle crash. This was the hardest thing I had dealt with in a long time! I haven't seen most of Steve's family cry and this tragic situation brought his family so close together. So hard and I can't even express how hard this was. The honor walk they did for Austin's organ donation was the hardest, saddest and most powerful thing I have witnessed. Organ donation is such an amazing gift that Austin was able to give to so many others!

In August there was a shocking sighting of the girls getting along with each other for a split second too.

Presley went to cousin Mary's birthday party so Piper and I had a date night at Adventureland! I love having this one on one time with them!

The girls and I had our annual girls day before the first day of school. We enjoyed the nice weather and just ran errands, went to a couple parks and got ice cream.

The first day of school!!! Presley going into 5th grade and Piper going into 1st grade! Presley was excited about her teacher Ms. McCune and Piper was NOT so excited about her teacher Ms. Mulholland (who Presley had also and she can be very strict).

They had never taken the bus before but we knew that this year they would probably start so we figured the first day of school was the perfect chance to start! They actually really like riding the bus, so they have been taking it more than we thought they would. Presley was riding the bus home every afternoon and then staying at home by herself until Steve got there.....which was usually about 20-30 minutes, so it was good for her to have this responsibility. Having to come home, remember to text me, do her homework, get a snack and chill until he got home.