Weekly Happenings - 10/10 - 10/16

1.  On Monday, Daddy left for his first work trip in a LONG time with his new job!  He was off to Minnesota for the week and he had a great week meeting some of his new co-workers who aren't located here at his local office, attending all-hands meetings and getting some training.  All in all I think it was a busy week but very productive!!

2.  With Daddy away, the kids were super cooperative and we had a great week!  Monday & Tuesday were dance for Peyton and Garrison was a trooper and very patient while she had her classes!  On Wednesday, Grammy came up to help with logistics since Peyton had piano at the same time as Garrison's swim lessons!  On Thursday I had a work dinner to send-off one of the individuals I work with back to his home in Japan.  Grammy & the kids had a great time at Burger King and relaxing without any activities for the evening!  After my dinner, a few of us went out for drinks and to my surprise, Chad met us at the bar 3 hours earlier than he was supposed to be home!!  It was great to see him after his week away!

3.  Friday brought another busy day - Peyton was off school and Garrison had a field trip to the cider mill!  I planned to go on the field trip but had a meeting pop up that I couldn't get out of so Grammy took the kids down to the cider mill and joined the field trip until I was able to make it.  I met up with everyone in time to enjoy cider, donuts and lots of playtime on field before it was time to head home. We had a great time at the cider mill!!

4.  EARLY on Saturday morning, Chad and his friend Patrick went down the lake to play a couple of golf on a great Fall weekend and to celebrate Chad's birthday!  Here are a couple of pictures of their fun weekend!

5.  On Friday night, Peyton had Mya come over for a sleepover!  The girls had tons of fun and were even asleep before 9:30 - I couldn't believe it!

6.  Garrison was busy on Saturday with a soccer match, his 2nd to last!  It was a bit chilly at the start of the game but the boys played well and had tons of fun!!  Grammy & Grandpa joined us for the match and cheered Garrison on with Peyton & I.  Garrison also was awarded his medal - he was SO proud!!  After a quick lunch at Salty Iguana, we were back at the field for Garrison's soccer pictures.  We took it easy most of the rest of the day which was just what we all needed!  Later in the afternoon, Peyton, Grammy & I went to church.

7.  Sunday was pretty low key to start!  Grammy & Grandpa stayed the night so the kids had fun playing games with them and hanging out in our pajamas in the morning.  Before we knew it it was time for lunch - Of course, we went with our go-to on Sundays and picked-up Dickey's for lunch.  After lunch, Grammy & Grandpa went home.  After a quick rest, Garrison went on a playdate with his friend Zach while I mowed the yard and Peyton knocked several things off of her to-do list for the week!  It was a fun and productive afternoon!

8.  Here is a picture of Garrison's "acts of kindness" that he was recognized for at school.  His acts of kindness, along with his classmate's, earned them a pizza party the following Friday!  He was so proud of his recognition and of course we are too!!!

9.  On Sunday afternoon, we had our neighborhood Fall event and the petting zoo came back!  This year we had animals from a Zdonk, turtle, kangaroo, camel, skunk and rabbits to a donkey, miniature pony and a cow!  But Garrison's fan favorite was the monkey and the nice lady that was handling the monkey!  He flirted, teased and had a grand ol' time with the monkey and its handler the entire event! I can't believe I didn't get any pictures but I think she was as entertained by Garrison as Garrison was by her and her monkey!  The kids fed several animals and petted many of them too.  My personal favorite was the baby kangaroo!  Not long into the event, Daddy made it home and the kids were super pumped to see him!!

10.  Since Sunday was Daddy's birthday, after the petting zoo event we went home to celebrate Dad!!!  The kids helped Daddy open his presents and then showed him the cherry coffee cake that they had made for him!  We are so very thankful for Daddy - he is amazing in so very many ways and we are so glad that he is ours!!!  Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

Weekly Happenings - 10/3 - 10/9

1.  A fun and exciting new addition for us is a new car for me!  Here is our new Audi Q5!  It has lots of fun bells and whistles and the kids love having a new car (so do I!).

2.  Garrison especially loves that the car plays DVDs while in park which comes in very handy during Peyton's dance classes.  Here he is watching Zootipa while Peyton is at dance class!

3.  On Friday evening, we were outside and the kids wanted to climb our  climbing tree.  Peyton is an expert climber but Garrison has never gone too far up until this night.  He went up really well but got a bit nervous coming back down.  Lucky for him, Daddy is an expert tree climber as well and went up the tree to help guide him down.  Garrison came down all on his own with a few tips from Dad - he was quite proud!!

4.  On Sunday we had a fun family day at the Renaissance Festival!  We hadn't been for a few years and the kids loved the whole day!  Fan favorites were the camel / llama / pony rides, big swings, getting a sword & shield, making sand art and playing games / shooting arrows.  We also got the kids (finally!) to try a turkey leg - they weren't huge fans but eventually realized it wasn't as terrible as they expected! :)

Weekly Happenings - 9/27 - 10/2

1.  On Tuesday, Chad heard on the radio that there was a Royals charity event at a local Rally House where with a donation you could get autographs from several of the Royals players, including the one Whit Maryfield (Peyton's absolute favorite player right now)!  The time unfortunately overlapped with her dance class so she wasn't able to go but I snuck over there and snagged baseballs for both kids and had them filled with autographs!!  The line was a bit long but seeing the kids' faces when they got their autographed baseballs was totally worth it!!!

2.  Chad was off for the week and spent a couple of his days getting things done that he doesn't always have time for.  Thursday, however, was a bit of a fun day!  Chad took lunch to Peyton at school (she was SO excited) and then picked Garrison up to spend the afternoon with him!  Garrison's treat was getting to go to Toys R Us to pick-up his Batman toy that he wanted to buy with his lemonade stand money - they had an awesome afternoon!

3.  Also on Thursday, I got access to the Crown Seats at the Royals game for one last time this season.  Chad & I went to the game and had an awesome dinner and amazing time at the game!  Unfortunately, they lost but we had a fantastic evening on a beautiful night at the ballpark!!    While we were at the game, Grammy came up and spent the evening/night with the kids!  Of course, they fine dined at Burger King then had a fun evening play games and getting ready for school on Friday.

4.  Friday was a big day - Chad started his new job at Cargill!  His day went by pretty fast (I think) - he is excited for his new job and trying his hand at animal feed instead of mobile phones!

5.  On Friday, I surprised Peyton by coming to lunch with her!  She was probably happier to see that I brought McDonald's than me coming but I will take what I can get!  It is a quick 20 minute lunch but I was so excited to spend some time with my girl!

6.  Saturday brought another fun day at the soccer field for Mr. Garrison!  Garrison had a great time and was excited to be cheered-on by his fan club - Mommy, Daddy, Peyton, Grammy & Grandpa and Grandma & Grandpa.  

7.  On Saturday afternoon, we got to our last Royals game of the season and man did we go out in style!  Through work, we got access to suite tickets and the kids lived it up!  We had a great view, lots of yummy food in the suite and we had an amazing time!  The pictures from the suite didn't turn out well but I put a few on here just to remember that we had a fun time!!

Weekly Happenings - 9/20 - 9/26

Only a month behind... :(  But alas it is time to catch-up a bit!!

1.  This week was a busy one as I was out of town for work from Monday afternoon - Thursday afternoon.  This work trip to San Carlos was a challenging one as Monday & Tuesday nights we worked until midnight local time (which to my body still felt like 2 AM) but the last evening we were able to enjoy a nice dinner and a few drinks before heading home bright and early the next morning!  Chad stayed super busy keeping everything together at home, including getting Peyton to dance two nights!

2.  Thursday night was a time of celebration for Chad - Friday was his last day at Sprint before starting his new opportunity with Cargill (after a week off!).  Thursday evening, though, Chad had a happy hour where several of his coworkers were able to help him celebrate his new opportunity and talk about the many years he has spent at Sprint!!

3.  Friday brought our school's fun run and it was an amazing event!  We raised nearly $20K for the school, enjoyed Chick Fil A and snow cones for dessert, ran ~1 mile and even taped the principal to the wall.  Peyton had a great time with several of her friends (Mya and Claire in the pictures below) and I was able to help mark the course and help keep the event running throughout the evening.  We had such a fun time!!  At the end of the night, Peyton went to Mya's to spend the night for their first sleepover!  Needless to say, she was excited!!

4.  Grammy came up on Thursday to stay with the kids while Chad & I were at his happy hour.  The kids had fun with Grammy since she took them to dinner at Burger King (a fan favorite!)!  She had to go home late on Thursday since she was having her garage sale on Friday morning but Friday afternoon, she and Grandpa picked up Garrison for his weekend at their house!  Garrison was super excited to spend some time in Clinton and started his trip off right with dinner at Freddy's!  On Saturday, Garrison spent his day at Grammy's garage sale where he had a lemonade & cookie stand.  He was quite the entrepreneur and made over $30 at his stand!  He worked all day and interacted with his customers.  So proud of how much he has grown-up!  They went to church and then brought Garrison home later on Sunday - I think everyone was tired after the fun time they had!

5.  We have been receiving Little Passports mailings for a while and the kids have had a great time opening their packages and learning about a different country.  The map also comes in handy when we talk about current events, etc.  Garrison is telling Daddy quite a story here!