School

School started on Wednesday, the 26th and the boys were super excited! Ephraim is in all day, every day Kindergarten. There are 13 kids in his class and it is pretty even for boys and girls. Emmet is in preschool three mornings a week for 3 hours.

Here is Emmet on the 1st day of school!

The girls wanted to be in on the action, too. And Eden's pretty good at making silly faces :)

All four of the kids.

Ephraim ready for his first day of Kindergargen.

Ephraim and Emmet.

They insisted on taking pictures on their bikes, too.

Emmet in his classroom. He knows several of the kids in his class, so that helps. You could tell he was right at home.

Ephraim has his own locker.

In the Kindergarten room.

Ephraim is definitely ready for Kindergarten so it wasn't too hard on us to send him off. And the house is not too quiet without them. I think the twins missed the boys' presence the most.

We brought the boys to school on their first day and then Ephraim rode the bus home. Here is a picture of Ephraim getting on the bus on the 2nd day of school.

Emmet was so excited to get to ride the bus for his 2nd day of preschool on Friday. He was just like the big kids now! Ephraim had strict instructions to stick with him and find them both a seat on the bus, take Emmet to his classroom and wait for his teacher. They did fine and came home with exciting bus ride stories!

We praise God that they had a great day and have met some new friends!

Van Zante Camping

For Seth's dad's birthday we treated him to a weekend of camping at his house! We arrived Friday night and did some fishing, eating, setting up tents, etc. Emmet, Eliza, John & Ephraim on the dock.

Hot dog time!

After we were done with our hot dogs, the boys were playing around in the fire and found an itty, bitty baby mouse. It was shivering and very newborn. The boys morphed into "Animal Rescue Heros". And Emmet hollers over to us on the dock "Grandma, can we give the mouse a piece of cheese." This is a picture of the boys trying to keep the mouse warm, with Aunt Michelle supervising their efforts. Amazingly, the mouse lived two days.

Eliza helping Grandpa set up some catfish poles to set in the pond overnight.

On the boat.

The kids at breakfast. Thanks to Uncle Paul for the 7 course breakfast!

The boys on the boat.

The girls--not so happy that they were left behind.

Setting up the slip-n-slide. Getting a pump to spray pond water on the slide.

Emmet and Eden playing nice down on the crick bed.

Trying to dam up the crick.

Breaking the dam.

Emmet in the tent. They did pretty well in the tent.

Ephraim in the tent.

Grandpa going down the slip-n-slide. Notice the garbage bag around him. He thought his shorts were too slow and the slick garbage bag had him getting some speed.

John, Mark, Ephraim & Emmet sporting their muscles.

Thanks to the Boenders for letting us use their Ranger for the weekend! It worked great!

Ephraim on the slide using a snowboard for more speed.

Emmet and Mommy.

Emmet kind of on the snowboard.

Ephraim, Mommy & Emmet

Eliza watching the show!

We had a great time over the weekend! However, the adults had some muscle aches and pains for a few days following our slip-n-slide fun!

Top Ten sayings from our State Fair Visit

This is a before picture as we left for the State Fair at 8am on Monday, the 17th. I will now give you a Top Ten list of sayings from our State Fair Visit.
10. Who's ready for the fair? WE ARE!!!! (Said by everyone)

We parked on the south end of the fair and went straight for the Little Hands on the Farm to beat the crowds.

That's Eden, in case you couldn't tell :)

Emmet helping Eliza.

Sorting out our goods.

In case you were wondering how we get around the fair with four kids--this is it. The girls in the wagon and the boys walking beside.

Emmet loved the baby pigs.

9. Okay, let's wash our hands again. Get some germ gel! (Mommy)

Emmet and Ephraim with the baby ostriches.

With the baby chicks!

Obviously, Eliza can't read the sign.

The boys looking at the ostrich.

8. And the big bull didn't have any horns! (Emmet)

7. Emmet, that's the big boar--do not put your fingers on his mouth! (Mommy)

6. And we saw two big whores, a brown one and a pink one! (Ephraim)

Emmet's sporting a new style of pulling your socks up to your knees.

Out and about!

5. Are they . . .all yours? (The salesman at the WHO studio).

4. Come on boys--keep up! (Daddy) The boys were taking in all the sights so they easily fell behind gawking at all the exhibits, people, rides, etc.

Under the sprayer.

3. Can I have another corn dog? (Ephraim & Emmet)

Are you sure you're going to eat it all? They're $4 a piece. (Daddy)
We ended up spending $16 in corn dogs. At least they did eat them all.

2. No, you cannot ride the rides. They're not safe and they cost money. (Mommy)

On the way home! Everyone was exhausted. We left the fair by 3pm.

And the # 1 saying for our State Fair trip happened when we had just arrived at our parking spot and we were getting the van unloaded. I looked at Seth and said

I forgot our tickets! Yep, they're still at home on the bulletin board. Arghhh!