Labor Day Weekend Camping Trip

Labor Day weekend we went camping in Missouri.  It was a repeat of our very first family camping trip that Olive doesn't really remember.  I usually don't like going to the same place twice, but it was fun to reminisce.  We started at Elephant Rocks.

Johnson Shut-ins

We showed Olive the blog post of the last time we went here.  She wanted to recreate her favorite pose.

The pose again...

Most of the areas were just knee deep, but a few were over my head.  It is hard to tell in the picture, but Hannah is jumping into a deep part from the rock behind her.

Where's Waldo featuring Steve, Hannah, and Olive.

No one is in this picture, I just took a trail to look out over the end of the Shut-ins at the deep part.

The next day was canoeing!  We all fit in the same canoe, but at the end we let them paddle around together while we stayed on the bank.

Like last time, Olive found some sunglasses.  She liked these because they made her look like a pirate.  This is a mean pirate face.

 Exploring the cave.  This year Olive went, too.

 As we were finishing our canoe trip a bald eagle flew above us!  Then while looking for firewood that night, I found a spearhead!  The girls were not impressed.

Morning silliness.

We stayed at the same campsite so we had the same playground and band playing on Saturday night.  This time our campsite wasn't so close so the girls were able to sleep.

Catching tadpoles.

The sign is still there...but in pretty bad shape.

In 2014

KC Dance Day

We did KC Dance Day again, and like last year Hannah was not into wearing dance clothes.  She wasn't doing ballet anyway.  She tried out jazz and hip hop.  She did not like hip hop, but she was okay with jazz.  Olive only wanted ballet and she loved it!  She decided not to do soccer this fall and instead signed up for dance class.  A girl after my own heart. :)  She is taking ballet and tap.

Olive on the Diving Board

Olive was very disappointed when she was too short to go down the slides at PV pool.  Then we saw a kid smaller than her go off the diving board and we learned there was no height requirement for that! Olive said, "I'm doing it!" and marched right over.  Hannah was there to cheer her on just like Olive did for her.  I love how they support each other.  Olive became such a brave swimmer this summer!

Solar Eclipse

 The solar eclipse was on August 21.  It was a Monday and the girls' school was going to watch it, however it was too far south to be in the path of totality.  We are serious about science, so obviously this was no bueno.  Of course we do not plan far enough in advance to get tickets to a viewing party somewhere, but this time our procrastination paid off.  Because we weren't tied to any particular place we were free to go anywhere!  Our plan was to go north, but when it was cloudy Monday morning we headed east instead.  We kept a close eye on the weather as we drove across the state.  Luckily the girls are good with road trips and adventures.  Most KC people we knew stopped in Sedalia or even Jeff City, but Steve was too worried about the clouds.  We ended up in Portland, MO right on the Katy Trail and the Missouri River.

We brought along our bikes to ride while we were waiting for the eclipse...and Olive learned to ride without training wheels!  By "learned" I mean "decided to do it."  Because she just got on and started riding!  She had tried a few times over the summer and declared it too hard and refused to try anymore.  So we didn't push it.  If Olive wants to do something she will, if she doesn't...she won't.

Olive's bike looks tiny because we lowered the seat to make it easier to put her feet down.  We've raised it back up now that she can bike.

Olive always makes sure to dress for the occasion.  Of course she needed to wear a space shirt today.  She explained the skirt was yellow for the corona we would see during the eclipse.  We watched a lot of youtube videos to prepare so she knew all about it!

We had 2 1/2 minutes of totality when we could take our glasses off.

This was the river in totality.  When it got dark the cicadas started making lots of noise.

Then we went on our first family bike ride with everyone biking!  It was also the first time for Hannah on the Katy Trail.  The girls are looking at the turkey and chickens on the side of the trail.  The rooster started crowing when the sun came out.

Eclipse shadows on the trail.

Although we ended up driving more than halfway across the state, it was worth it.  Olive was super excited to learn how to ride her bike on such a special day.  And weeks later when I asked both girls about their favorite summer memory, the both said eclipse day.

First Day of School

August 11 was the first day of school.  It was a half-day on a Friday again.  For the life of me I don't understand why our district does it that way.  It was the first time both girls started school on the same day.

third grade

first grade

Hannah has been looking forward to 3rd grade for awhile because they get to take their ipads home instead of leaving them at school!  She also has flexible seating and she can sit wherever she wants each day.  The bad news is she has only one recess and because of construction it will take place in the parking lot. :(  She has 7 girls and 11 boys in her room.  Two of the girls were in her class last year (one is her best friend) and the other girls have never been in class with her before.

Olive's teacher was Hannah's first grade teacher!  She also has 7 girls and 11 boys in her class, and only 1 girl that was in her kindergarten class with her (also her best friend).

After the first day Hannah said, "It felt good to be back at school and be with my friends!"  Olive was super excited and talked non-stop about everything that went on that day.  I love that they love school!