August 2014- A Finger, The Fair, and Family

August did not start off on the best of notes.

Now, if you know Reese at all, you know that something as minor as a hangnail can send her into a fit of hysterics. She takes after her daddy in terms of pain threshold and drama factor. They are both complete pansies. That being said, this injury was a doozy and I knew when she was NOT crying, that the injury was significant. I’ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say we left the ER plus one broken finger and minus one fingernail. She was a trooper. John on the other hand, was thankful for the painkillers.

You know what cures a broken finger more than anything? Yup, a trip to Estes Park for bumper boats, bungee, and bulk candy. The cast did not slow her down one bit.

See what I mean? What broken finger?

Two days later, in the spirit of cramming as much summer into August as we can, we packed up the BSSB and headed to the County Fair. Jackson seems to have found his people…

And both of my big kids missed their calling as cowboys….especially in flip flops.

The county fair is just not complete without motion-sickness vomiting courtesy of the awful rides. Just kidding, no one vomited. The “carnies” did however take a liking to my friend Beth and let us have multiple rides for free.

Beth’s response? “EWWWW.”

In mid-August our favorite families from Iowa came to visit. If you rewind exactly one year, we were visiting them in Indianola for a GREAT time. This visit was no different. All of the cousins were a little older (big and little), and there wasn’t a tantrum to be had (minus Aly:-). We enjoyed margaritas (a theme?), a little golf, the lake and just hanging out.

I take back what I said before about the tantrums. There may have been a wee one when Malory sat in the middle of the sandcastle that the kids were building. Good thing she’s cute.

Next Up….the EVENT WE’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR….(maybe just me:-)….THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Because we have moved to a new neighborhood, we are also going to a new school. Tavelli Elementary, Home of the Tigers, is a stone’s throw away from our front door and has the BEST playground around. A bonus though was the phone call I received the day before school started from our bus driver, who told me he’d be picking up “John” and Reese at the corner of Linden Way and Linden Lake Road. Yup, that’s right….a mere 30 yards from my front door. AND, because I am the luckiest Mom around….he isn’t picking them up until 8:41!!! Here they are waiting for the bus:

(This picture may look blurry and far away….that’s because I was busy running back to the house….freedom awaited. Oh wait….Habanero!)

Speaking of Habanero, she hasn’t been in the spotlight much in the past couple of months. Never fear, the little lady was the proud recipient of her first haircut. How’s that for a milestone?

BEFORE AFTER

Honestly, do you see a difference in these two pictures? I realize that there wasn’t a lot to work with, but I paid $22.00 for this? Oh well, she thought she was HOT S%&T, and that’s all that matters.

Last but not least, we celebrated the hubby’s 35th birthday with some of our oldest and dearest friends, the Lowens. I have no pictures of the adults in the group, but have two AWESOME ones of these great friends. They don’t see each other often, but when they do, they don’t miss a beat.

Ahhhhh…..Summer. We are always sad to see you go, but fall for this family is full of exciting stuff. Bring on September!