Labor Day Weekend & School Prep in Full Swing!

Mowing Beauty Last Sunday

Weekdays:

• Monday - I had a work dinner in the evening.  Clint was the super hero driver by taking Connor to soccer practice at 6p then Maci to her soccer practice at 630p only to haul back over to Connor's before it ended at 7p.  My dinner ended at a nice time so I was able to help out and pick up Maci from hers as it ended at 745p
• Tuesday - I had an onsite meeting most of the day and that also wrapped with a team dinner.  This time Clint and Connor had Flag Football practice.  Maci was a good sport and thankfully had a pal Harper at the practice since her brother Colton is also on the team.
• Wednesday - I had more onsite meetings until lunch.  Once those wrapped, I drove home to work from here so I could be here in time for the open house in the evening.  Connor was so excited to meet his teacher and see many of his pals in and outside of his classroom.  Maci was also eager for her teacher and the group of friends that are in her class the year.  Their teacher is letting them pick their seats for the first week of school.  She is flanked by two buddies - Isla and Livi.  Here is to a GREAT school year!  We ordered some food for dinner and I cranked on some work to get caught up in the evening - all day meetings will do that to you!
• Thursday - Steph's last day with us!  Sad!  She was such an amazing summer nanny and thankfully wants to be called for babysitting jobs throughout the year.  All the kids got up with me so we could send her off properly with some cards and a little gift in the morning.  I wasn't going to be able to get home before 430p when she leaves so we said our goodbyes in the am.  Clint and Connor took a pause in the their morning and went to get haircuts.  In the evening, Clint and Connor had flag football from 615-745p and Maci had a soccer scrimmage from 645-8p which I attended with her.  Unfortunately they were a bit confused transitioning to a 9v9 formation vs 7v7 the last few years.  Maci and I had a good chat on the way home about good days and bad days as well as resiliency.  Clint and I watched some college football on the couch while I got some work wrapped up for the long weekend.

Love Summer Nanny - Stephanie!!

Friday : 

• MN State Fair Day!
• We were out of the house by about 9a and at the fair by 10a.
• We ate too much food, kids rode lots of rides and played games, we all got a lot of sun, super hot and had a blast!
• We left the fair around 430p but didnt get home until almost 6p - we were all exhausted!
• We all showered and I fell asleep on the couch while Clint watched football.  

Glitter Tattoos 

Crazy Cotton Candy Lemonade Drinks

Pickle Pizza - the best!

CORN

SKOL!

Winners!

Siblings

Butterfly House

Pickle Dogs

Maci's Slime Purchase

Filthy - Signs of a good time!

Saturday:

• Started the day with a 9a massage and it was the best thing that could have happened the day after walking for hours around the state fair!
• I got home and was ready to fall asleep but instead got some stuff done around here.  I also enjoyed watching the Univ of Colorado (Prime!) beat TCU.  We then watched OSU look slow but beat IU.
• Around 5p we got ready to leave the house for the St Paul Saints baseball game.
• Little did we realize it was bring your dog to the ballpark night and Rosie would have loved it!!  We grabbed her some goodies though (traveling water bowl, poop bags etc)
• Connor once again got a ball tossed to him - for real!  It was a homerun by the Columbus Clippers but it bounced into the field and the 3rd base coach picked it up and threw it to Connor who caught it right away with his glove.
• We had yummy food and cold beer which almost had us forget that they lost the game :(

Football Saturdays with these two 💙

We got great seats!

Kid Loves Baseball

My Gal

So Gorgeous inside and out

Posing with the mascot

Connor got his ball signed by a Columbus Player

Sunday :

• Super productive day but all around the house!  It is 95+ outside and so we are not wanting to go out there!
• I got groceries done, planned the school week, got chore charts updated, ran laundry etc.  Clint repainted some trim and touched up our coat closet door that had been scratched up by the kids sport bags.  We are also enjoying more college football :)
• Tomorrow is likely a float in the Harty pool kind of day so trying to have all our to dos done for the weekend.
• We are going to mass at 530p tonight, trying to get more planful about when we can fit it in given our parish has Saturday night, Sunday morning and Sunday night options.
• Afterward, we will have a yummy dinner at Sunshine factory while watching the LSU vs FL State game!

We hope you are all enjoying this "last weekend of summer!" We are ready for some cooler temps as this 95+ is really too much! :)

Lots of Love,

C, K, M & C

 

Return from Ohio & Sports are Back!!

Weekdays:

• Monday - We got up and packed to head home from Ohio.  My dad and I went over their trust information and ran up to the bank to get me on their safety deposit box.  By the time we were done with all of that it was time to drive to the Columbus airport.  We got the car dropped, through security in time for a lunch at a sit down restaurant.  Flight was on time and super smooth, yay!  We got home in time for my one 4p call and then Connor had his first soccer practice for the fall season at 6p.  He knows his coach b/c the coach's son has been on Clint's flag football team in past seasons.  Maci also had her first practice back into the soccer swing but Clint managed her's while I was with Connor.  Love our sports being back!

Such a beauty in more ways than one!

• Tuesday - Connor was supposed to have night 1 of flag football for the fall but we were some 115 degrees with the heat index - it was stupid hot!!  So football was cancelled and we all hung out in a cool home for the evening.

Talent is also immense for her!

• Wednesday - Another hot ass day! I had happy hour with my coworker Kari right after work and Maci was supposed to have soccer practice but it was cancelled for the crazy heat a 2nd day in a row!
• Thursday - Maci had her last gymnastics class of the summer. I quickly hit up a retirement party for a guy at work and then picked up Maci for her soccer practice.  While we were at Soccer, Clint and Connor finally got to start flag football.  Clint is a coach and he continues to be amazed by the lack of patience in 7 year old boys HA!

Friday :

• Clint and I started the day with a walk and the dogs
• We ordered some bagels for breakfast and got right down to work
• It was a super productive day for me!
• At 415p I stopped and ran Maci to a slumber party at her pal Quinn's.  Quinn is a soccer friend and it was her 10th birthday sleepover.
• Clint and I decided to order pizza with Connor while he cut grass and I drank beer/cleaned emails.
• Love a nice lazy Friday evening!

Quinn & Maci with her Gift

Squishmellow that looks like a smoothie & Soccer blanket

Saturday :

• Clint had a 8a massage
• Connor and I ran to pick up Maci from her slumber party at 9a - seems the girls made it until 12a and Maci was one of the last sleepers at 730a.  They had a great time!
• We picked up some McDonald's breakfast on the way home, quickly changed and were off to the mall for Dick's house of sports.  Back to school shoe shopping!!  Connor picked out an airmax pair for his day to day gym shoe and a white Air Force one with a black swoosh for his "church" shoes.  Maci picked out Brooks black and white speckle for her day to day gym shoe and then some white high top Air Force ones with a blue checkered swoosh for her "dressier" gym shoe.
• After we finished the shoe shopping, we were off to the Renaissance festival.  Clint and I hadn't been since we were preggers with Maci.  It was "odd" per usual but Connor really took to the fencing demonstrations, Robin Hood play and Jousting.  It was a nice day to wander around but by 330p we were ready to roll.
• We stopped at Target on the way home to get a little thank you gift for Steph our summer nanny, dang she was great!  The kids picked out a candle, body scrub, light blanket/throw, little plant, Pumpkin decoration and a small gift card.  They then made cards for her with words from the heart. She will get this special surprise Thursday morning to start her last day!
• We got home and I started to get things ready for the school year - updating chore charts, resetting Alexa reminders for bus, scheduling alarms for after Labor Day etc.
• Clint was in heaven with some college football games back on!  I showered and laid down to watch OU & SDSU with him but fell asleep shortly after laying down around 8p
• Our entire family was in bed a little after 930p, we were all exhausted for our own reasons!

Pirate Ride

Elephant Ride

Sunday :

• Productive Sunday!!!
• Started with a dog walk again and coffee on the deck!
• Clint and Maci redid one of the beds down by the patio by removing all the rock, pulling weeds, replanting some Hostas, laying old and new rock.  They are all going to be a bit sore.
• I ordered groceries, finished loads of laundry, labeled and prepared school supplies for open house later this week and just got life back in order from travels last weekend and in prep for the "final" week of summer!
• It is such a lovely day here with a wonderful sunny 75 degrees!!!  Ahh can every day be like this?

We hope you are enjoying the end of summer fun and getting ready for fall festivities like us!

Lots of Love,

C, K, M & C

Ohio Visit!!!

Weekdays:

• Monday - I started to really pick up a new team at work in addition to my current space so I was busy diving in and learning my new direct reports, leaders we support etc.  Learning is always a fun new challenge for me!
• Tuesday - We are enjoying a week with no camps and free evenings, that is all about to change with sports kicking back up this coming week
• Wednesday - I got a load of laundry done in the evening to get us ready for our Ohio packing
• Thursday - Packing and early bedtimes given an early Friday morning flight.

Friday :

• 430a wake up calls
• We were off to the airport by 5a
• Enjoyed a breakfast before boarding a thankfully on time and smooth flight
• The kids are so great flying now, they just pop on their iPads and await snacks/drinks
• We landed around 1030a EST and got our rental car - a crazy neon green Toyota SUV
• We swung by Skyline for some lunch and with plans to bring to my parents
• Pulled into my parents place right around lunch, noon, and enjoyed our food on the deck
• We hung out with my parents and then Clint/dad went to get beer/ice while the kids/my mom and I went to visit my grandpa Ted at his home.  After that, we swung by my Aunt Sue's place.
• Once back at the house, we hung out some more, looking at pictures of me as a kid - gifts from my parents.
• We headed out to the Moose for dinner and the Bengals pre-season game around 6p - the pizza was great, beer was cold and kids had fun playing pool
• We came back home around half time and all of us crashed

Saturday :

• We got up and hung around a bit before starting to help set up for the party.
• By 11a the first people started to arrive and it was such a nice day to hang out with so many dear family and friends.  The kids got to see a lot of people who hadn't seen them since they were really little and I got to catch up with so many loved ones.
• By dinner time we were down to my friends, Christie and her family, and my parents.  Clint's parents made it around that time as well.  Christie drove me to Cazanos to pick up some pizzas.
• We enjoyed some cocktails, kids ate s'mores and video chatted with our buddy Neil.  Shortly after this Christie and her family headed to their AirBNB to put the kids down for the night.  I was exhausted after helping to pick up with my mom and so we headed to bed while Clint and my dad drove Clint's parents to their AirBNB.

Sunday : 

• Another pretty day but a bit hotter!
• We ate some breakfast on the porch and then headed off to the boat.
• We boated to McDonalds for lunch, docked at a beach/playground for a bit and stopped in the water to let the kids jump off a bit.  
• We got back to the house around 2p for naps and my mom to pick up her dog Kirby from the kennel
• Once up, we met Clint's parents at Cranberry's for an early dinner.  This ensured we got back to my parents in time for our NFL Fantasy draft with the family 
• My brother and Tiffany joined us at the house for the draft and Connor had a blast getting to play along for his first draft.
• We had a few more beers and then all crashed since we had a Monday full of packing, learning about the trust documents and traveling home.

What a wonderful visit home to start to wrap our Summer!

Lots of Love,

C, K, M & C