First day of school...and Elly's in kindergarten!

The boys started school this past Tuesday...


Waiting for the bus. Mac starting 4th and Nate 3rd. The boys lost a couple of their buddies at the bus stop to Middle school this year.

For kindergarten, there was a staggered start. So Elly only went to school on Thursday of this past week. Here's Elly's first day of school..


Her first day!


Waiting in line to go into her classroom.


Elly's teacher, Mrs. Hersh. She was also Mac's second grade teacher, we're excited for Elly to have her!



Elly was fine until she sat in this seat. While Mrs. Hersh was giving directions, she would not take her eyes off me. Whenever we made eye contact, she said "I do not want to stay here." We then sat with her while "The Kissing Hand" was read. Seriously...not a good book to read to the parents! It was a good thing Elly was having a tough time, because I knew I had to put on a good front for her! After the story, I let Sam try to talk her into staying, but fortunately it just took a teacher's aide to talk to her and she let us leave with a tear. Whew, wasn't expecting this from my confident little girl!

Bauder does not have a 1/2 day class, so all the classes are full day. If you only do 1/2, you pick up your kid at lunch. Not the ideal situation for 1/2 day, but we're going with it. I'm not ready for Elly to go full day, nor do I think it's necessary...so I pick her up at lunch. She gets all the academics in the morning, but misses specials. Ah well, she has the rest of her school career for that! I'm hoping the year goes well with the early pick up!


Elly's first day on the bus was today. All morning, she was adamant that she would not go to kindergarten. Fortunately a light switched about 1/2 hour before go time and she let her brother's take care of her. I thought this was sweet with Mac holding her hand.


Not entirely positive about this!


Here comes the bus...


And she's on! She sat between the boys and they said she was hanging her head on the bus. They talked her through it though and she happily held Nate's hand as he walked her to her class line, played with her until the bell rang, then walked with her back to the line. I'm hoping each day gets easier in the morning!

Here's a couple other funny shots I found...

The boys braided Elly's hair



Nate got Elly all decked out before practicing some baseball with her.



Mac was cutting onions for me for the first time and got to experience his eyes tearing up. When I turned around next, he was wearing these goggles. Goofy kid!

A Summer to remember...

This is a little more like an album than a post, lots of Summer fun. Here we go...


Sam built a zipline from our house to the neighbors that started at the treehouse and ended when you dropped in the pool. The boys loved it!


Nate's turn


We didn't let Elly do the zipline, but she did get great at the monkey bars. Did them every chance she got!


Sam and I caught the Zac Brown Band at Cheyenne Frontier Days. We actually had a great time there at rodeos and such with the whole family including the Ballard cousins, but unfortunately I lost all my pictures from my camera. I think I'm finally done crying about it!

After spending time with the Eliason family in Cheyenne, we headed to North Carolina to spend time with the Glasers. We took our time getting there, spent a week in a beach house, then hustled back. Our first stop was St. Louis.


Here the kids are at the Gateway Arch.


Sweet shades!


Enjoying the view from the top of the arch...


Snug as a bug!


We stopped in Chattanooga, TN after spending the night in Nashville and visiting some caves.




After Chattanooga, we hit Gatlinburg for some crazy fun. We started off with ice cream...


then stayed up late playing mini-golf and lasertag. I think the kids appreciated a fun place after all the driving and touristy adult stuff they'd previously done.


Look at this beautiful place we got to stay at in Kure Beach NC! A perfect place to relax and spend time with family for a week.


Our view and walk to the beach...


Time on the beach. The boys loved boogie boarding, wearing themselves out every day in the water.


Nate and Katie Ann working on some sand castles.


Elly loved jumping the waves and riding them on the boogie board. Definitely a fish like her brothers!


My mom scheduled us for some family pictures, which I can't wait to see! These are some pictures taken while we were all dressed up. Nate and Morgyn waiting patiently for their turn...


Mac with Papa...


I'm not totally sure this was helping the photographer...


Taking some time to check out his shells before heading down to the beach for more pics.


cousins playing on the beach...




What a great place for pictures!


This kids first time playing monopoly. It's been a favorite past time the past couple weeks!


We hit some coasters one night at the Carolina Beach Boardwalk.


Elly even rode some!


All the cousins, Katie Ann, Gracelyn, Morgyn, Gus, Elly, Harrison, Mac, Carter and Nate

We had great week and loved the time we spent with the Glasers! I did a terrible time taking pictures of everyone together, but will have to pass along more when I get the professional pics!


We hustled back in 3 days, the scenery through Kentucky was beautiful!


The kids were only a little crazy by the time we got home!



...but the only thing that made them endure 3 days in the car, was them knowing they were coming home to see Aunt Lizzy and Uncle Ben visiting from Africa! We hadn't seen them for a year, so they were pretty excited. They stayed with us Thursday, we joined them in Denver for a wedding Lizzy was in on Saturday, then they were back to Zambia Sunday morning. This is the last trip here until they're done with the Peace Corp next October, so we cherished our time with them.


Elly and her Aunt Lizzy (the first Elizabeth Eliason :))


Since we've been back from NC, the boys and friends have been working on the treehouse, adding shelves and today...this emergency exit.


I'm pretty sure it's not to code...


One more cute pic of Elly reading to her babies.

Those are the highlights! We also had lots of baseball with both boys playing, each 2 nights a week, but I lost those pictures along with the ones from Cheyenne Frontier Days. Major bummer. Anyway, the kids met their teachers today and start school tomorrow, so their Summer is officially over. It's been a good one and now we're looking ahead to a great school year!