Kansas City

My sister and her husband live in Pittsburgh and are on a mission to visit all of the ballparks in the US.  They decided to fly to St. Louis to see a game then drive to Kansas CIty to see another.  We couldn't pass up the opportunity to see them while they were so close, so the whole family spent the weekend together in one of my favorite cities! 

We got to Kansas City Friday night and were the first one's there.  Boca, Gramcy, and Kyle arrived the next morning and after going to lunch we hit the park.

'We all ended up going down that slide.

Once the rest of the family got there we met my grandparents and headed to the stadium to tailgate.

Robert, Nola, and I were the only ones who didn't have tickets to the game.  Because of softball, we weren't sure if we were going to be able to make is so we didn't buy tickets.  The rest of the crew headed in for the game and the three of us hung around and enjoyed the leftover food weather.  

We were lucky we did because about 10 minutes after the game started a man parked near us and as he walked by asked if we wanted tickets.  Crazy right?!?  We took them and headed for the gates!  We ended up sitting next to my family because they had empty seats near them.

FA and Nola

Siblings! 

My dad took Nola to the bathroom and came back with ice cream.  She said she would share it with him but when they got back she wanted to share it with Robert.  Sorry Boca!

Enjoying the attention of her Uncles! 

Nola did really well at the game.  She switched laps a lot but overall she wasn't a big distraction to the people around us.  It was fun!

 The next day we met my other Grandparents for a brunch/birthday celebration for my dad.  Here's the whole group- thank you selfie stick!

The girls went shopping afterwards and Nola was in a MOOD!  She was tired, grumpy, and had to walk because I forgot the stroller.  She was about to have a meltdown when suddenly she saw a lady carrying a Build-a-Bear bag.  Build-a-Bear is her FAVORITE.  She instantly grabbed my hand and said, "Mom, that lady has a Build-a-Bear bag!"  I was so surprised that she recognized the bag, and knew that meant there was a Build-a-Bear near by.  Her near meltdown turned into her best behavior.  She was so patient as we stopped at a few stores before heading into the "best shop ever".

Nola is a pro at Build-a-Bear.  She knew exactly what she wanted and went through the steps quickly.  She loves those ponies! 

We all went to dinner that night with my Aunt and cousin. We sat on the patio which was a perfect spot to watch the blood moon.  It was a great way to end a very fun weekend! 

Last day of summer

I totally forgot to blog about our last day of summer adventures!  The last few years we've taken Nola on a little adventure on the last day of my summer break (check out our previous trips here and here).  This year we went to Chuck E. Cheese per Nola's request.  

I've seen several commercials about Chuck E. Cheese cleaning up their act, making the place more "mom friendly" and I have to say, I was pretty impressed.  The pizza was delicious, the tables and games were clean, and even though there were some parties going on it never felt uncomfortably crowded.  

I can't believe she's big enough to put tickets in the counting machine.  I also can't believe how inaccurate the machine is...  Luckily, the lady behind the counter bumped her up a few tickets so she could get a better prize.

We were afraid she would put up a fight when it was time to leave, but Chuck E. Cheese came out to greet the children and that sent her straight for the door.  She hates people dressed up as animals.

Then we stopped for ice cream and ran a few errands.

One place we stopped at was the jewelry store to get my ring cleaned.  When I told Nola what we were doing she wanted to get the ring she just won at Chuck E. Cheese cleaned too.  The lady was really nice about it and shined it up for her.  It was cute. 

We wore her out!  Fun day! 

Softball

I've been a little quiet lately due to the start of school and softball.  Coaching softball in the fall turns my job into 12 hour days, 6 days a week.  It's difficult to get anything else done, but our season ended last week.  My team -JV- didn't have a great season record-wise, but we had a good time.  Unfortunately, we had a few games canceled due to rain and numbers.  Having fewer double-headers made the season go very quick!  The highlight of our season was beating our rival in an extra inning.  I swear I was thisclose to going into labor during that game.

The varsity team had a great year.  The seniors this year were freshman when I started, so it was fun to watch them come together as a team.  They fought hard and ended up getting second at districts.  They will be missed next year! 

Go Discoverers!

Rowen

Rowen's sister, Ruby Sun, got a chair so Rowen needed one too!

If you are interested in getting something custom painted, visit www.swirlsandstripes.com for details and pricing. 

Carpe Diem

This chair was painted for a retired English teacher.  She wanted bright colors and (of course) lots of quotes!

If you are interested in getting something custom painted, visit www.swirlsandstripes.com for details and pricing. 

Summer Wrap-up

Summer is over.  I know I'm suppose to be devastated by this, but I'm glad to get back into a routine and talk to adults.  I'm not excited about waking up early and I know I'll miss Nola, but it is what it is.  Here are some fun things we did this summer!

SWING SET: Remember when my awesome dad and husband put the swing set together?  Well, we made good use of it.  Nola's favorite thing to do was put a pool at the end of the slide and turn the sprinklers on.   My favorite thing to do was sit under the shade on the patio. 

We even invited friends to play at the "Danner Water Park".  Nola and Penelope are BFFs. 

FUN INSIDE:  We got quite a bit of rain in June, so we spent some time inside too.  We did crafts, baked, colored on the chalkboard, watched movies, and Nola even tried on my wedding dress.  

STORYTIME:  The library had storytime for kids Nola's age every week in June.  They read a book and made a craft then got to check out 3 books to take home.  Nola picked princess books 100% of the time.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to attend every week due to our Minnesota vacation.

BIKE RIDES: Nola got a bike the same weekend she got a swing set.  We rode it a little this summer, she's still getting the hang of it. 

DANCE CLASS: Nola had dance camp this summer.  It was only 3 days.  She was the only kid in street clothes, everyone else was wearing cute tutus, but I wasn't about to buy a dance outfit for 3 days.  This picture was taken before her last day.  I'm not sure why she's holding the bunny.  She loved dance class and has been conducting her own classes in her bedroom since then. 

 SUPER HERO PARTY: Nola's friend William had a super hero party.  It was so cute, and these picture are priceless. 

VOLLEYBALL:  One of my favorite things about summer is sand volleyball.  I've been on the same team for 5 years and we have so much fun.  These pictures were taken the day I brought my selfie stick.  I had almost 400 pictures from that night, selfie sticks are a lot of fun too. 

SUMMER ART CLASS: I held an art class for teachers and other adults every Tuesday this summer.  It was nice to get some adult time and hang out with new people!  Plus, we made some cool stuff. 

POOL TIME:  We went to the pool.  Our town has a nice pool full of people I don't know, so it's pretty perfect.  Nola loves water and I also enjoy the pool when it's hot, so it was a win-win. 

PAINTING:  I just had a couple of project this summer.  I'm planning on taking a break until the baby is born.  I got to paint some bats, a trunk and a table.  

GOT READY FOR BABY DANNER:  We found out baby Danner was a boy early in the summer thanks to a blood test.  I wanted to use the extra time to get things all set before school started so that I didn't have to use my very few days off (thanks to softball) getting ready for baby.  Some friends gave us their son's clothes so I got those all washed and organized.  I also picked out bedding and painted the nursery.  

And we got a minivan!  It's so nice, and has plenty of room for Nola, baby, and a bunch of other stuff. The DVD player has been amazing during long car rides! 

Halfway!

Last week marked the halfway point of my pregnancy with baby #2.  

This pregnancy has been very different than my first.  I don't have much of an appetite and don't crave anything.  I'm pretty uncomfortable already so I'm interested to see how I feel when school starts (the day after tomorrow!).  While this one hasn't been as "fun" as the last I have enjoyed feeling him move.  He moves quite a bit and Robert felt him kick for the first time this week.

We have the nursery pretty much ready- which sounds crazy early, but I wanted to get it done this summer.  It's still technically a guest room but I painted it and everything is stored in our unfinished bathroom so we can make the switch closer to the due date.  We have a few ideas for names, but nothing concrete.  I had pretty much named Nola before I even met Robert (luckily, he liked the name) so finding one from scratch that we both like has been a little frustrating.

It's been fun talking to Nola about the baby.  She has gotten use to the idea of a brother and got to come with us to the ultrasound appointment last week.  She was excited to see him on the screen but the sound of the heart beat scared her a bit!  The other day she came up to me with a straight face and asked me if she could fart on the baby.  It was hysterical, still makes me laugh! 

School and softball will be in full swing next week so I'm hoping the next 20ish weeks will be as painless as possible.  I have a feeling I will have to remind myself to be positive often and take a few naps in my car during my plan period :)