Obligatory Fall Pics

Preschool class field trip to Martin's Apple Orchard.  We love this place!

Learning about that green thing from Mrs. Katt

Roca Berry Farm Pumpkin Patch

 

So, school started in August. Weird.

Look!  Its Willa!  And she is repeating preschool!  It must be really sinking in her little melon this time, because she wrote the words "cat" and "bat" the other day.  Then she jumped straight to "Halloween".  No joke.  She said, "Mom, do you know how to spell Halloween?"  I said yes, of course.  And then she proceeded to write it on her little notepad.  I think I almost fell over.  I asked her how on earth she knew how to spell Halloween and she said that Uncle Chris told her once.  Yikes.  Everyone is always telling me how much trouble I'm in with her, since she is already obviously smarter than I am and I think I'm finally starting to understand that.  Needless to say, school is going well.  Although, the stinker really misses her friends that went to kindergarten this year, especially Jerusha.  The other day she even made popscicle stick puppets of Jerusha.  I told her that wasn't AT ALL creepy.  

It was time.

We finally found the perfect dog.  It was a long time comin.  It is just a few days from the 2 year anniversary of Luther's untimely death and lately we have really been craving a dog.  A big dog.  A good dog for our location and for kids.  We've always kind of wanted a lab, so we've been keeping our eyes open but not finding much.  Mostly I check the Humane Society, and if they have labs at all, they are typically older or have a health condition.  So we had really started branching out and looking at other bigger dog breeds, but I think in our hearts, we knew we wanted a lab.  So, dearest friend Tosha tagged me in a Facebook post on the Lincoln Pet Exchange group and that's how we wound up with Chopper.  It hasn't been 24 hours yet, but it seems that we have made a good choice.  He is so sweet and well mannered and soft and charming and brown and has such big paws....and he already loves Willa.  I think they are going to be bestest friends.  Stickers is mad and jealous and hissy/growly, but he will get over it.  Bailey hasn't really come out of her hiding place to meet Chopper yet, but she will.  I did have to leave last night before bed time, so I'm not sure how he did, but I'm going to pretend that he was a perfect angel, and went willingly into his kennel and slept all night there without whining or peeing.  Yep, I'm sure that's how it went.  And, he is going to want to sleep all morning with me, too:)

See?  Only a best friend would share a space this small with you and still love you.  

Willa is 4. F.O.U.R. Seriously.

I'm not going to lie, I turned into a weepy, blubbering mess at the end of this long birthday weekend.  And all because my little monster is 4 now and is turning into such a pretty, grown-up, monster.  I've said it before, but how on earth is she so pretty?  I ask her that about every other day.  And she just says "Moooo-ooom."  (Imagine that is a voice just like a whiny teenager.  Because that is what she sounds like all the time now.)  One day a few weeks ago, we were sitting on the couch together and she crawled in my lap for a little lovin.  I asked her what I was going to do when she was too big for me to hold her like that anymore and she said, "I will still sit by you and hold your hand."  I fought back tears that day, too.  What a great 4 years it has been, getting to know Willa.  If you are curious, she is really into singing these days, the movie Pitch Perfect is just about her favorite thing, she is awesome at puzzles, she knows her right from her left (thanks to Uncle Chris), she can quote movie lines like nobody's business, she likes hamburgers but not cheeseburgers, and she would love for us to get a big dog.  Oh, and she usually farts first thing when she wakes up in the morning, then giggles and tells me that she is just farting out the rest of her sleep.  Just when I start to wonder whose kid she really might be, she proves that we are, in fact, related.

And now, some pictures from all the fun...

Prepping for the outdoor movie

Brad figured out a fancy-schmancy way to play a movie outside on a screen that he constructed.  So, we had a gaggle of Willa's friends over...late...and fed them a bunch of candy and pop and gave them face paint and silly string and glow sticks and then had them watch Wreck-It-Ralph and then sent them home...late...with their parents.  Your welcome, parents.  It was fun.

On Sunday, the day of the actual birthday, we gave Willa a trampoline and some tiny cupcakes.  I consider buying a giant trampoline a mark of my adulthood.  I wanted one for our yard SO BAD so I made the executive decision that Willa would get one for her birthday.  It was either that, or a big dog, and I'm not quite ready for another pet.  I...I mean, WE, are in love with the trampoline.  And don't worry, we put the safety netting up after these pictures were taken.  Willa just kept telling us "safety first, guys."  She is a much more confident bouncer with the net up.

The Monday following the birthday, we slept in, and then took a trip to Grand Island to visit Grandma Van Boening, Great Grandma Christensen, and Island Oasis Waterpark.  I figured it was about time to introduce Willa to the place that shaped her mother's young adult years.  We had a great time at the water park.  And I am proud to say that in the absence of the '95-'02 crew, the I.O. still seemed to be running smoothly and very well maintained.  And, all the lifeguards appeared to be no older than 13.  

That was Willa's 4th birthday, in a nutshell.  She has yet to receive a pet snake.  She is ok with that.  Her Uncle Chris promised to buy her a snake for her birthday.  It drove her nuts when he would talk about it.  One day, he asked her what she was going to name her pet snake and her response was, "Knife.  Because that is what I'm going to kill it with."  Hmmmmmm.   

Day 'O Dads

What a great Father's Day we had this year!  Aside from the new tv, that was sort of Brad's gift (that he mostly gave to himself:), we also had lots of time to do some fun family stuff.  Like, the first swimming session of the summer!  I can't believe we didn't go swimming until nearly the end of June!  We are all such fans of the water.  We stinkin' love the Highlands pool, as they have the zero depth entry, so Willa can just run on in and play and we don't have to always be holding her or helping her.  We really need to get that kid some swimming lessons.  Then, we had Chinese food and ice cream cake and watched basketball at my parent's house. 

The day after Father's Day, we went to Omaha to the zoo.  I just love the Omaha Zoo.  I think our favorites this time were the hippos and the monkeys.  But that is only because I didn't find the armadillo.  He will forever be my favorite zoo animal.  We also rode the Skyfari thing for the first time and that was pretty fun.  

This peacock really liked our blueberries.  I am sure there is a rule about  not feeding the animals, and I'm not sure what blueberries do to the digestive system of a peacock, but he seemed very fond of them.  And us.

After the zoo, we made a quick stop at Whole Foods for a few things.  (I could make a whole day out of Whole Foods, but we only had a few minutes.)  Then we had dinner at a new seafood restaurant in the Old Market called Plank.  We were pretty sure we would love it, as we love Blue, seafood, Bloody Mary's, nautical tattoos, and Dave's design work.  We were right!

I love this picture of Willa, but has anyone else seen that episode of King of Queens where someone gives them a painting of themselves and Carrie's arm looks super huge?  That's what Willa's arm reminds me of.

What a nice weekend.  I love to watch Brad and Willa interact and have fun with each other.  They are such buddies.  He's a pretty good buddy to me, too.  And a million thanks to my own dad, for everything that he does for our family.  Not a lot of grandpa's are able to, or even maybe want to, spend as much time with their grandkids as my dad does with Willa.  He also has a friend for life:)

Berry Pickin' (#190)

Willa and I visited Martin's Apple Orchard this past week, to pick some strawberries!  We had gone in the fall for apples, and they were the best apples I had ever tasted, so I had high hopes for the berries.  We were not disappointed!  And, it was so much fun to look for them and pick them all by ourselves!  We filled one of those white buckets nearly full, for under $3.  Can't beat that.  That evening, we made strawberry shortcake for ourselves and for my mom.  Such a perfect summer food.

Willa's last day of (her first year of) preschool. And, #219.

I am such a good photographer.  Here is Willa, covering most of her face and probably 5 minutes late for her last day of preschool!  She will go to Dimensions again next year, as she will only be 4 and not quite ready for kindergarden.  She was the youngest in her class by several months this year, and her teacher said that at the start of the year, all the other kids kind of wanted to "baby" her, but by the end of the year, they had learned better:)  She had such a good experience this year and is already missing her new friends and excited to return to school in August.  And, she is like, 3 feet taller than she was at the beginning of the year!

Note, if you will, the Popples sleeping bag.  Nice.

That evening, we had a picnic in the yard followed by a movie night/slumber party.  We watched Rise of the Guardians and ate popcorn and Kit Kats until the wee hours of the evening.  I will admit, we didn't actually sleep on the floor.  That would have been insanely uncomfortable.  I could barely move all my bones after laying on the floor for the 2 hour movie.  Oh, the trials of getting old.