Happy 9th Birthday party

We had a red, white and blue party for the kids this June. We had an all-American hot dog bar, with brownie sundaes and root beer floats (Will's favorite!). All the aunt, uncles, grandparents, and cousins came. The kids got presents, and everyone enjoyed the gorgeous summer evening. Here's a few pictures.

 A couple of really good pictures of all the cousins. From L to R:

Carter, Sebastian, Grace, Baby Gabe, Callan, Camden, Tobias, Xander, Will, Maddie.

 A Pinterest win - and they tasted good, too!

Some All-American kids being silly in front of their All-American (yet non-traditional) birthday desserts. If you can believe, we agreed to let them have sleep-overs for their friend parties this summer. Soon, Grace will have 7 friends over and the next weekend the boys invited 9 crazy 9 year old boys over. We'll see what chaos we get. I'm sure I'll have pictures and stories!

A short vacation to KC

Since we're taking a big trip to Orlando to Disney World in October, we decided we would only take a short trip to Kansas City this summer. We squeezed it in right after Grace's dance recital and right before the kids' camps started. We left town on a Wednesday, a super rainy Wednesday! Good thing we planned indoor activities that day! We went to the Money Museum at the Federal Reserve Bank. Small, but cute and free admission!

After lunch at Crown Center, we went to the WW1 museum. I thought this was going to be boring, but it actually ended up being very cool. They had a ton of interactive things, and tons of really nice retired gentlemen who talked to the kids and showed them things. There was a scavenger hunt booklet and the kids took that very seriously. We were there for several hours and it quite nice.

We checked into our hotel, got cleaned up and went to the Royals game that night. It was gorgeous weather, the kids had a blast and the Royals won. Awesome night!

The next morning started off badly, because it was pouring rain. It let up and so we got into Worlds of Fun as it opened. Unfortunately, because everything was wet not many rides were open. We were starting to get frustrated around lunch. We stopped to eat and it poured rain some more. However, we stuck it out and after that last rain storm, the park cleared out but the sun came out! We had the place almost to ourselves, it was so empty! The kids ran around going on rides 4. 5 and 6 times. Sometimes, the operators didn't even make them get off. I just would park it on a bench and watch. At one point, the boys and I were the only people on the Ferris Wheel. It was crazy! Brian and Grace rode roller coasters all afternoon. Will and Xander did the log ride a record number of times. So, it ended up being great!

After we left Worlds of Fun, we drove into Kansas and checked into Great Wolf Lodge. We had never been there before, it was a little overwhelming. We were tired, so we had dinner at Olive Garden (which took until 9:00!) and then came back and went to bed. Of course, the kids got up early to swim and play. They had a good time in the water park. We packed up around lunchtime and headed back to Lincoln Friday afternoon.

No rest for the weary when we got home. Saturday afternoon, Brian and the kids packed up and headed for the Boy Scout semi-annual camping trip at Bluestem park. I went with Kara and Wes to Blair, NE for a cousins' wedding. The sky threatened to storm, but it never did and they ended up being able to spend the night. Everyone came back the next day tired and smelly. Early bedtimes that Sunday night because they had VBS the next day!

End of the school year

End of the year piano recital at their teacher's house. They did a great job this year with piano. They all played in the district festival and got I's and great scores on theory (Will got over a 90%). So that means they will play in the fall statewide festival, probably in October.

 A few pictures of Grace's soccer team after their last game. Crazy kids!

 Last day of 3rd grade - a cool spring, wearing jackets and jeans to school! I can't believe they're going to be 4th graders!

I got one picture of Grace in a dance costume. I got some professional pictures taken and I'll post those when I get them. We also got a professional DVD, so if I can isolate her dances and put them up, I will. She did a great job on her two numbers. She's smiling more onstage and looks more confident. She decided to stick with ballet (pre-pointe with tap added) for this year again. She'll be going on Saturday mornings, so we'll see how she likes that as we get going in September.

Easter 2015

We had a nice Easter this year - pretty much the same schedule as always. We were at home in the early morning for easter baskets from the Easter bunny, and he hid some eggs around the house. We ate brunch at church and went to the 11 a.m. service. We went straight to the Niebuhrs for lunch and egg hunts. This year, the Hoefs family didn't do Easter in the evening, we did it the next weekend. So, we had a leisurely afternoon at the Niebuhrs then came home to relax and hit the sack early. It was nice not to be rushed and spend some time with family!