Nicaragua Trip

At the end of September I went to Nicaragua for work.  I was gone from Saturday to Saturday and I was very nervous about leaving the kids.  Of course they were fine, and Eric did a good job of getting everyone to and from daycare, and even got to deal with Fiona getting sick at daycare and staying home with her. :)

My days in Nicaragua were jam-packed with visiting factories, but we did take some time a couple days to see the country.  It was a great experience!

At the airport saying goodbye.  Leyton definitely had the hardest time with me leaving.  Eric informed me that after they drove away Cal started bawling and asking if I was ever coming back.  I guess the way Leyton was crying sacred him into thinking they were never going to see me again! 

 We got to go to an active volcano, which was very cool.  They had signs up saying  you could only stay by it for 5 minutes, because of the air being hard to breathe.  My eyes were watering and burning by the time we left!

 This was a lake we ate lunch at one day in-between factory visits.  It was beautiful, but we were told that you cant go in it becuase it is so polluted :(

 This "tree of life" was all over the city.  We would see so many lit up at night driving home from the factories.

 We climbed up into the bell tower of this cathedral that overlooked the city.  We were so high up, but it was worth it for the view!

 Trying my hand sewing a cami at one of the factories... It turned out pretty good, but took me about 100 times longer than the other workers!

 They were kind and still presented me with a certificate :)

After our factory visit on the last day we went to a cigar factory.  This is me with their resident
parrot:

My friend Melissa and I.  She was one of the first people I met at work, and we happen to have a mutual friend.  She worked with Marie in Colorado, and I worked with her at Lands End.  We thought it was perfect when our Coke came and said "Share with Maria" on it. :)

 And I was obviously very excited about this!

 Back at home the kids and Eric stayed busy.  Kelly took Leyton to the Washburn games with Grace and Lucy, where he got to participate in a lot of different sports.  He told me the football punt/pass/kick was his favorite thing.

September

September was fun and busy, like usual.  We tried to get outside as much as possible though and enjoy the last days of summer.  The kids love going to Willow River, and the drive isn't too far from our house, so we try to go there when there is time.

 The kids get really excited if I say we can go to the park when I pick them up from daycare.  Nights when I bring supper really make them happy!

 On September 7th we celebrated Grandma Krumm's 80th birthday at Sue and Don's place on Lake Wapo.  It was great to celebrate Grandma, and we even attempted Krumm family photos.  It is a very large family when you get every person together!

 The kids love going for a pontoon ride at Springer's, and might just love their hammock even more :)

 Leyton lost his first tooth!  It had been really loose for weeks, and the morning of the party he was finally ready to get rid of it.  He picked Aunt Kelly to rip it out for him. :)

 Fiona loves these cars!

 At the end of September I had to go to Nicaragua for work.  I took the Friday before I left off and got to have lunch with Leyton.  It was fun to see him at school and I think he was happy to have me there!

Fiona loves going for rides and trying to do everything the boys are doing now.  Luckily, Cal doesn't mind giving her rides, and even asks me to put her on his tractor a lot.  For how rough of a toddler he was, he is a good big brother to her!

 The Nature Trail is right by our house, and we have to drive past it every night to get home from daycare.  Cal literally asks every single night if we can go to the nature trail.  Usually its 6:00 and we have to get home and start supper before Fiona has an all out melt down, but when we do go there the kids like to run on the trails and look for sticks, caterpillars, etc.

Leyton's 6 year check-up

In July, Leyton had his 6 year check-up.  Everything looked good and the Doctor told him he was ready to go for kindergarten, which he was very excited about!

Leyton's 6 year stats:

Height: 46.75" (70%)

Weight: 47lbs (55%)

The Doctor had him do some stretches and tests, like jumping on one foot.

Afterwards, I treated Leyton to Orange Leaf, which is one of his favorite places.  It was nice to have one on one time with him for the afternoon.

Chutes and Ladders!

In September we made a trip to Chutes and Ladders in Bloomington before summer was over.  The kids love going there, and we hadn't been in a long time.  There isn't much for Fiona's age, so her and I took a long walk on the walking paths while Eric and the boys had a blast in the play area.  

 Cal waving to one of the many airplanes he saw fly over:

 A popsicle break makes everyone happy:

Random Summer re-cap

Summer was busy to say the least, and went way too fast!  As much as I love fall I still cant believe summer is done.  We had fun planting our first garden at our NR house, and even with the mild summer we were able to get quite a bit of produce from it.

Cal loved helping get it ready, and picking tomatoes to feed to Leyton :).  Cal loves farming, but hates veggies!

 Fiona helped me plant my flowers this summer!

 Some of our last harvest:

 Grandma and Grandpa were on the front page of the NR news! Unfortunately it was because their silo caught fire :(.  The one positive (?) was that the kids got to see lots of fire truck action at the farm all morning.

 Cal loves frogs!  He became obsessed this summer.  He would hold them for hours and I would have to plead with him to finally let them go.

 Cal and Leyton are a 2-man band.  They love their guitars!

 In August Eric took the boys to the air show in New Richmond.  They were so excited to see airplanes.

 The burley is still loved by everyone.  Cal loves when he and Fiona get to go for a ride together.

 Fiona has found one other thing besides fruit that she likes- Hummus!  She is in LOVE.  She would eat it by the handfuls daily if I let her...

 Cal and Maggie hugging it out at the farm! Love the dirty faces ;)

 Some days when I get to daycare Cal's hair looks like this.  It makes me smile every time.  This is how I know its time to get those bangs trimmed!

St. Croix County Fair

The end of July brings the St. Croix County Fair, which is always fun to take the kids to, since we grew up there showing our 4-H exhibits and animals :).  Now we get to see Grace and Lucy's things!
The kids love seeing all the animals.

These boys crack me up:

 Cal wants to touch every animal always:

 Lucy and Leyton hanging out:

 They thought the sheep in the "swimsuit" was pretty funny!

 The highlight for the boys was probably getting to sit in a police officers car and turn on the lights!