September, October, November

On September 11, 2013, my grandparents celebrated 65 years of marriage.  They are both such an inspiration.  I hope that I am as blessed in marriage as they are.

We went to mass where they had their marriage blessed

 

All of Busia and Papa's great-grandchildren

I started making this quilt for them 12 years ago.  I became pregnant with Madelyn and was never able to get back to it to finish it.  A neighbor of my mom and dad's that I used to babysit for graciously finished it for me.  I was so thrilled to give it to them as a completed gift - finally!

In September, Madelyn and I ran the Zoo run

...Cameron started Hockey again

...and Alyssa finished her first session of gymnastics.

I finally took this August birthday girl to the park for some pictures.

Halloween was wet and miserable, but that didn't stop the kids from getting an obscene amount of candy.

Madelyn as an Eskimo girl

Cameron as Thor

Alyssa as Spectra, a Monster High personality

Their fan club came to see them dressed up

One of the great opportunities Madelyn has had this year was to participate in the school's FIRST Lego Robotics team.  They do research on an agreed upon topic, brainstorm solutions to a problem, and program a robot to complete tasks on an "obstacle type course".  She has absolutely loved this team and has learned so much.  Their team won first place in the regional competition an second place in the State competition.  We are so proud of this team!

Labor Day and back to school

Before we knew it, it was Labor day weekend.  We got to head to the cottage and have one last fun summer weekend before school started.  First up, fishing.

Bocce ball at the beach

Paddle ball with cousin Kurt

The four who started it all...

Fun with the kayaks

The evening even got musical

All of the kids participated and got to play an instrument

The kids started a new school this year.  Oh, the tears before the first day!  I was anxious too.  I knew that they would make fast friends, but they were all nervous.  With the new school comes a bus ride.  There aren't any sidewalks in our neighborhood, so all of the kids are bussed to school - even though the school is only one street over.  Even better?  The bus stop is only two houses away :)

 Getting on the bus for the first time

Cameron's first day of Kindergarten

They all survived!

They even had home from school smiles :)

We all love the new school and it has given all of the kids so many more challenges and opportunities.  It was a daunting transition, but kids are resilient and they are all doing great!

The second half of the summer

Because of the move and our UP trip, we didn't make it to the cottage until mid-July.  we made up for lost time by doing the usual fun things - and with our friends AND cousins!

Don't leave home without your American Girls!

Bobby and Cameron being silly

Fun at Cranberry Lake

S'mores for everyone!

Bubbles

After half the summer was over, we finally got our pool cleared up.  We scooped out 50-75 gallons of leaves (TYVM previous irresponsible owners) and had the sand in the filter changed.  Madelyn is also finally enjoying the pool after her unfortunate swinging incident that left her with a broken arm.  We are looking forward to using the pool again this summer now that it is all cleaned up and running properly.  It's pretty safe to say that we spent most afternoon's in the pool.

Madelyn got really lucky and got her cast removed after only three weeks.  She was thrilled that she could swim at her birthday party.

Because of the broken arm bummer summer, Madelyn chose to go to the Toledo Zoo on her birthday.  It was a hot day, but a lot of fun.

You'll never guess who this giraffe in disguise is!