Showing posts with label Brylee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brylee. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

When Moms away...

We should just call this the summer of Dad, because Madi, Katelin and I were pulled away for a week for girls camp, then another week for youth conference. Add that to the few days I was out of town in March and Ryan got a significant time with the kids. So what do they do? Like everything! I didnt think the kids would want me to come home. Ryan took them to the movies, museums, to get ice cream...but Im getting ahead of myself. Luckily, with the convenience of cell phones, we have cameras at our fingertips anytime we need. Ryan took full advantage of every opportunity of fun without Mom! (Im okay with it...really.) I dont have all the exciting details (since I wasnt there) so Ill just let his pictures speak for themselves.

First stop...the never gets old Jelly Belly Factory.

Up next, Kopps for frozen custard. (Okay, Im a little jealous about this one) 
6 Flags for more fun! They even met up with some friends for this outing. 


The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. 







Zack got some one on one Dad time when they went to Lowes every other week to build an Avengers vehicle. He built the complete 6 piece set this summer. 

He got a mask for each avenger, hence the Hulk head. 


Ta Da!

At the end of Youth Conference week, Ryans Mom and Sister, Mindy, came to visit, so they headed off for another round of Jelly Belly. 
Having fun in the photo booth... 








Brylee even learned to ride without training wheels while I was away!

What we were doing in the meantime...
Carthage Jail with our ward youth. 

 I cant complain too much. It was pretty fun hanging out with these amazing ladies in an amazing place...Nauvoo!

When we got back from Youth Conference, we joined in on the fun. We had to take Grandma and Mindy to Joses Blue Sombraro!

Ryan with some of his amigos 
It was good to be all back together again! 

The kids are so lucky to have such an awesome and fun Dad!

Springing into Summer

Spring Time is always super busy with 4 kids in soccer and 2 in track. Add that to the many other end of school activities and we rarely have a spare minute in our schedules.
Soccer
 Ryan was crazy nice enough to coach both Alissa's and Brylees team this year, so that added to the chaos. This season was Brylee's first time playing, so she was pretty timid on the field. Ryan really enjoys coaching Alissa's team. They are a very tight knit and skilled team and they work well together. It was a lot easier and more enjoyable to coach a team when actual rules and positions apply.
This is actually Alissa's team during indoor season. It was a humbling experience for them since during the normal season they are one of the better recreational teams on the field, but for indoor they ended up playing a lot of traveling teams so they got beat a lot. They still had fun and learned some new skills.
And Spring season...again a huge success for her team.
Brylee's team....biting their medals at the last game. (I guess this is a normal sports pose??)

This was one of the few times Brylee actually touched the ball. 

Track
No pictures of Katelin and Zacks soccer team, but here is Katelin running track. She did really well this track season as well.

Madi, Kate and I also signed up to do the color run again, but sadly found out later that Madi wasnt allowed to run while in school track. So Katelin brought a friend to fill in for her. 
Before... 
After... 

Speaking of Madi's track, her success continued throughout the season. She took 1st through 4th every meet and ended up going to state with her relay team. This was her qualifying mile run that got her into regionals.
(3rd back in the black shorts)
(2nd in the black shorts) 
 ITHS state relay team. 

Madi has made some close friendships with her track team. She was sad to see some of the Seniors go. This is at the awards dinner. Being our first one, we werent aware of the dress code. Oops. 
She ended up lettering and earning the freshman MVP award! 
The coaches that pushed her and helped get her there.  

Music
Aside from sports, we also had a variety of musical concerts. Alissa joined the school choir and they got the opportunity to perform with a couple other choirs at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. This is her large and very talented choir group. 
The elementary school also has a choir concert for each grade. Here is Zack at his, where they had to dress up from countries around the world. He is from Sweden. :)
And we cant forget Orchestra Fest where Madi. Kate and Alissa all got to perform this year.



School
Moving on from music, Katelin was inducted into the National Junior Honor society. Yay! 


Field Trips
With Brylee being the last one in school I am more availbale to help out with school parties and field trips. She had a couple right at the end of school. This one was at the petting zoo. It was her first time on a horse.

and milking a cow! 

Field Day
I have helped out with field day the last couple years and I thought Ryan would enjoy it too, so I talked him into taking the day off to volunteer with me. We were put in charge of this station...Dizzy something... Basically the kids had to put their head on this ball while spinning around it 1-5 times (depending on their grade), grab a tiny plunger with a ball on top and balance it while walking around a cone and back. Here is Alissa and Brylee getting dizzy... 




Kite Fest
To end the spring time madness we celebrate with kites. They have this kite fest every year with professional stunt kite flyers and a candy drop for the kids. As always, there is also food and shopping. It kinda makes me feel like we are at the end of the Mary Poppins Movie. Next time we need to remember to actually bring our own kites to fly. Here are a couple of the big ones... 
And the candy drop... 

Phew! That about summarizes the important event of spring time. Bring on Summer!