Life These Days

So Mark wanted to know if I was ever going to blog again....School has started and we are BUSY.  It always takes me about a month to get adjusted to the school schedule and the activities that come along with it.  I usually take about a month off from working out and try to figure out how I will squeeze it back into our busy life.  Oh, and I changed positions at the hospital and I am back to working with the heart babies I love.  I am getting them ready for open heart surgery.  So far, I love it! 

The weekend after school started Mark had his annual Fantasy Football draft and the girls and I had our girls weekend.  We headed out to Oak Park Mall and started at the American Girl Store.  

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Addison and I had lunch at Panera while Lauren enjoyed 5 Guys Burgers and Fries.  

We stopped at Target to get a birthday present for a friend...and Lauren begged me for these shoes. They are adorable, huh?  She didn't get them though! 

Ginger has destroyed every toy given to her within minutes lately.  I might as well hand her a $20 bill to eat.  

Addison was invited to an amazing pool party where we had the entire pool to ourselves.  

The luau theme party was amazing.  

Selfies from this girl are my absolute favorite.  

Addison and I hung out Labor Day weekend while Mark and Lauren went to Lincoln.  Bread bowl from Panera for lunch again!  This girl loves her broccoli cheddar soup bread bowl. 

This past summer Addison took skating lessons at the local skating rink through the summer program she attended.  She was so excited to show my how good of a skater she has become.  We skated for 2 hours and loved it! 

We took Ginger to the local community pool for a puppy pool party.  She did not like swimming, or the fact that I pushed her into the pool.  

She has resorted to eating my flip flops since she destroys toys instantly.  Ugh, Ginger.  

Soccer is in full swing and has been for over a month now.  Lauren loves her new competitive team and has made lots of new friends.  Lauren is learning so many new skills and growing as a soccer player.  It is so fun to watch her play each weekend.  

Addison photobombing at it's best. 

Girl scouts started this past week and I am the leader for Addison's troop again.  All my girls came back, plus we added one more. This is a great group of girls.  They are so much fun.  

Our first meeting was at a local park because I knew these girls would be wound up and so excited to be back in Girl Scouts.  

Addison started level 4 swim lessons.  Mark noticed this summer how good of a swimmer Addison is.  She really enjoyed watching swimming during the Olympics this summer.  So, we are working towards joining the swim team next summer with a goal to swim for the USA Olympic team.  Addison likes to dream big.  

School of Religion started this week as well and it is a big year for Addison with her First Communion happening in the Spring.  

Lauren has joined the school choir, and she is also playing the violin.  5th grade and 2nd grade are off to a very busy start!  

Seattle- Our Last Day of Vacation

We have been home from vacation for over a month now, but I still had one more post to share.  We spent our last morning together with family before heading back home.  

We enjoyed breakfast from the buffet that morning.  

It was nice to sit around and talk one last time.  

This it was time to say goodbye and head our separate ways.  We had a later flight than the rest of the family, so we got off the boat a little later than everyone else.  We took a bus ride to the airport and got all of our luggage checked in.  We had over 8 hours until our direct flight took off around 6:30 that evening to head back home.  

Mark and I did some quick research and decided to take the train to downtown Seattle to kill some time and explore a little more.  So far we had been on a boat, a bus, and now a train...before the airplane ride to Kansas City and then the car ride home...yep...it was quite a busy day!  

And we were all exhausted after we spent the day in downtown Seattle.  

The ride downtown was fun.  It was awesome to see the city and educate the girls on public transportation.  Mark and I had been looking to take a taxi back downtown, but that was going to cost over $100.  The train was less than $20 for all 4 of us.  

This is one of the many selfies Lauren took on the trip.  She had fun with the little camera I purchased for the trip.  

We wanted to ride the ferris wheel, so that is where we headed!  

It was fun and we had so many great views of downtown Seattle.  

Then it was finally time to head home!  We had a great day in Seattle, but it felt good to get on that plane that evening and head home...even though we know it would be close to 2 AM when we finally got to sleep in our beds...

Addison took this amazing picture out her window as we flew out of Seattle.  She was so excited to see this mountain top in the clouds.  It really was a beautiful sight to see.  

Alaska was an amazing vacation with so many memories made.  I have already finished my scrapbook and love looking at it!