4 down, 1 to go!

Well, its that time of year again...the time of year all parents look forward to...back to school time! Actually thats not entirely true. Admittedly, I wasnt looking forward to sending my 4th child off to kindergarten. Isnt it supposed to get easier? Zack is such a little Mommas boy. He loves to cuddle me and tell me how pretty I am. I feel this special attachment to him being my only boy. I am really dreading him being gone and all grown up and off in school all day without me by his side. Maybe its because he didnt do preschool, and Im just not feeling like hes as ready as the girls were. Or maybe I am just depressed I only have one kid left to go until Im completely alone during the day, and I have no clue what Im going to do with myself. Maybe its because I have a kid thats going to be a teenager this week and its freaking me out! The fact that when Brylee starts Kindergarten in two years, Madi will be starting High School! No. Im not ready for that!

(Inhaling into paper bag)


Okay, I think I can compose myself enough to get through this. Im pretty sure Zack was having some reservations too, although he is much better at showing it and acting all cool about it. How do I know this? Zack was so nervous meeting his teacher at the open house, that he forgot his name! No lie! He actually ended up getting the same teacher Alissa had, who is very sweet and loving. She was excited to see us and Alissa again, and totally knows who Zack is but bent down to talk to him and ask him to tell her his name. After a short pause, he responded with "Taylor". Then she asked, "Well, whats your first name? Doesnt it start with a Z?" After thinking about it, he looked up at me with a panicked and confused look and whispered "Mom...is it Zack?" Yes, I laughed...and then reassured him that yes, his name was Zack. Poor kid. Ryan's claim is that he just responded the same way all typical guys respond when a pretty girl asks you your name. (:
Then as I am waiting with him in his line to go into school, he kept wandering out of line. His class started going and he proceeded to walk in a totally different direction. Am I a little worried...yes. He was so spacey this morning! I will be relieved if he can make it through this first week without being completely lost and confused. *sigh*

Anyway, here is the photographic evidence that I now have 4 of my 5 children in school...no denying it no matter how hard I try.

Off to the bus stop.

Waiting for the bus with neighbor friends.

First step accomplished...arrived safely to school, although a little late. The school changed their start time for 15 minutes earlier than before, but the bus pick up time stayed the same. Someones gonna have to change that!

As a big 5th grader this year, Katelin is off to fulfill her responsibility as one of the members of the school safety patrol.

Catching up with another friend.

What is Brylee going to do with everyone gone? Stay tuned.

Alissa got put in the only split class this year...meaning she is combined with 2nd and 3rd graders. Guess that means she is on the smart 2nd grader list? She is a little nervous about being with 3rd graders and how this is all gonna work out, but the nice thing is that she has a smaller class, with only 25ish kids compared to the normal 30-35. It also sounds like it will be more one on one and personalized to her skill level in contrast to the class as a whole. Another big plus is that her teacher got picked to be one of the only teachers to get the most updated version of Promethean boards. Its like a touch screen chalkboard/projector/I-pad. Just google it. Its pretty much the future of educational tools, and pretty darn cool! 

Here she is in line with her class. Look at how little she is compared to those 3rd graders! As if she wasnt already self conscience about her height, and well...everything!

And heres Zack, in his own world.

And his pretty teacher saying hello. Hes still tongue tied. (:

And Brylee, not wanting to be left out this morning...

I think, at the moment she is enjoying the run of the house. Best of all, no one is here to tell her she cant and shouldnt watch Dora, or play with Zacks light saber. Yeah, I think she'll be just fine for the next 2 years. Only 2 years!

Back to the paper bag!

A Hometown Vacation

Ryans brother Willie, his wife Tina, and their 4 kids came out for a visit in July. Apparently, their kids all chose our house as their destination vacation for this year, and wanted to repeat the last vacation they had here because they had so much fun the last time! No pressure right? Well, if its a repeat they want, thats what they'll get! The day after they arrived, we head out to Wisconsin Dells, Wilderness Resort. I wont bore you with a million pictures, but here are just a few.

Brylee and Zack are still a little nervous about water, so I spent a lot of time floating around the lazy river like this...

 and Brylee spent a lot of time doing this...

 Ryan and Willie spent a lot of time racing down slides together. Some things never change.

 Madi and Libbie werent afraid of getting wet. Wait for it... 

 Left out the picture where Ryan lost his suit when that bucket of water came splashing down. Your welcome! (:

We even stayed in the same condo. Look familiar? I wasnt taking any chances of not living up to just as fun of a vacation as 2010.

 Ahhh, look how they've grown! 

2010

2012

 Brylee getting a little more wet, maybe?

 At least she's enjoying herself.

 Boys being boys.

 Madi and Libbie had it made being big enough for all the slides on their own.

 More brotherly love. 

 Us grown up girls did get a few chances to join in the wetness. 

 I think it was after this run, that Willie had his hands full from Zack puking all over the place. Of course they had to shut down the kiddie pool for a while to dis-infect the area. We made a prompt exit to another location away from embarrassment. Sorry Will! I think he had just had too much sun and excitement, so he took a little break.

We had just enough time before the closing of the rest of the resort to fit in a little water volleyball! 

After a stop to Culvers for dinner, we headed home. We had another week of excitement waiting for us!
Days 1-3 full of fun, check!

Days 4-7

Friday morning, we stopped by the Jelly Belly Factory. It just never gets old.

Then we might have actually relaxed a little? Went to the store and bought some food that started with a 'T' for Taylor (that was the potluck rule), and headed over to a BBQ at our friends house. The kids loved shooting off this rocket, and just playing around together. Cant believe I didnt get pictures of Erin doing her gymnastics routine with another gymnast friend of ours. They are both amazing!

 After stuffing our faces, we needed a way to burn those calories, so we went across the street to the school to play some ultimate glow in the dark frisbee. Of course, someone forgot the glow in the dark frisbee, so it was just plain dark. But so much fun! Our Taylor clan pretty much consisted of one entire team, and of course we won. Taylor power!

 I think Willie is taking someones head off here, but all's fair in Ultimate Frisbee. 

 Awww, look at that smile. He just loves competitive sports. Or competition in general. (:

Saturday morning, we went to the bowling alley. 

 Not sure what plan these two are concocting, but Alissa is super excited about it! Or maybe its shock over the score board. Hmmm...

 Madi is entering her teenage years, and isnt shy about displaying her sense of fashion. Did you know mis-matched socks are in!? What style!

Maybe had another break in here, then off to the temple to witness our friends sealing. She had asked me to take pictures, but Tina had a much better camera and is more skilled in picture taking, so she happily jumped in and took some amazing shots for them. I think she may have even enjoyed it a little. (;

After the Temple, we went out to eat a the Walker Brothers Pancake house. Now, when you go out as a couple, and ask for separate checks...you would assume two checks right? We ended up with 5! We had the most goofy waiter we have ever seen! He got confused about everything, but the 5 checks at the end was the breaking point. I was laughing so hard, I had tears running down my face. Not only did we each get a separate check, but the 5th one was all our desserts combined. Figure that out! The guy at the cash register had to split the dessert check up, and add the two other checks to it...he was so confused, which only added to the humor. Anyway, guess you just had to be there.

After dinner, we went to the Par-King mini golf course. I saw it featured on a yahoo article as one of the best mini-golf courses in the country, so we had to check it out. Have to admit, it was pretty cool. And who doesnt love giant pink castles?

 We love our kids, but it was great to get out for a few hours for adult time.

Sunday arrived  for a much needed day of rest. We went to church, then hung out in the backyard together. Erin changed into her leotard and did some more gymnastic moves for our neighbor, who was very impressed. Still cant believe I didnt take pictures of her doing that. Then we found out that 9 kids and 2 adult men do not work well on a trampoline! I looked over to see the leg bending on the back side. Ryan and Willie tried to bend it back into place, but it wasnt budging, so I called our neighbor over for some added muscle. How many guys does it take to fix a bent trampoline leg? More than 3. The trampoline will now be limited to a couple kids at a time until a new one is purchased. After finding out our neighbor was a bachelor for the weekend (his family was out of town), and to thank him for his help in trampoline repair efforts, we had him join us for some fresh peach cobbler and ice cream. It was the perfect end to a lazy Sunday.

Monday morning came, and it was back to party time. We headed to the beach for the day.

The kids enjoyed the freezing water, building sandcastles, finding sea glass, and getting sand wedged into every crevis. 

 The sand castle we built looks kinda like a turtle now that I look at it.

Monday night, we had ice-cream and set up the tent for a camp-out. Ryan was the lucky man who got to sleep in the tent with some of the kids. Haha...love ya babe!

Bring on some more!