Bison, Burgers & Bingo

 Friday was gorgeous and I am enjoying having those days off! In l&d I worked a lot of Fridays, so to start the weekend at 7pm stinks. The 3rd graders had an awesome day to have their field trip to Konza and Kingston and I joined them.

 Have I mentioned the best big brother EVER, and little brother for that matter, Jude man.

 Kingston was so excited about his first ride on a school bus.

 We split into groups, our group had several girls that were hungry and tired in the first 5 minutes of the hike, but Mr.Jim was the sweetest most knowledgable docent, I wanted to adopt him!

 teaching them about burning and grasses

 the bison bus tour was pretty awesome, the guide said he had never seen so many on the tour, it was pretty awesome, our bus got super close.

 One of the 3rd graders got out his personal cell phone and started taking pictures, What?!!!

 running Konza

 Jude and his good buddy Rylan

 my almost 5 year old, love hanging out with this guy on Fridays

 The event they have all been waiting for BBB at Marlatt, Monroe has taken the social life to the next level without gymnastics, I have never seen her so excited to meet up with these friends, they are pretty cute:)

One of my last labor patients for now anyway, Mrs.Downs and sweet baby Molly, what a doll!!! Love this Marlatt family:)

Get your shine on!

Ready for our first family 5k!

Pre-party warm up at the Bill Snyder Family Stadium

Gray's birthday party crew

 the girls shined up, what a way to celebrate your golden b day:)

think the selfie stick came in handy for them

 Happy 12th Birthday Grayson! Think she was colored way more colors than golden.

 Kingston did great, especially when he was carried on his dads shoulders!

 getting warmed up at the start, boys in sweatbands

Kingston was all about the color, he brought home some packets to color Strudel with

Jack/ Jackie totally pulled off the tutu

Proud Parents

 Kingston has been earning a quarter every night he sleeps in his bed, this kid loves money, I think I am in trouble.

 Jude, again my sweetest, reads to him every night and then tolerates him laying across him in a small twin sized bed, it's presh.

 We have snuggly boys, even Strudel!

 King has been riding his bike to preschool while the weather is nice, maybe this big boy will learn to ride without training wheels soon! We will have to wait til October when we have health insurance again;)

 Over a year earlier than any of my other kids, this child already lost a tooth an has another wiggly one, thankfully no big chic-lets coming in yet.

 Miss Deanell for preK this year, woot woot!

 Kingston is all about the playdates and friends, not sure where he gets it, here with one of his besties Beckham.

fake smile, but still cute on his first day

Tailgating & a wildcat win

 Say/Sham silliness in the Shamburg suite. I ended up sitting with the college moms since my daughter abandon me for her friend, I guess I should get used to this.

 Thanks to some friends we all had tickets to the first K State football game, typically Trav goes and takes turn with one of the kiddos, wow I forgot how exhausting this day can be:) I think we started too early, but we have to take advantage of the weather while it is still warm, which is what I like. The Massey boys, some college freshmen, some college parents and then there was us, it was a good time.

 We loved having Kenzie back for the weekend, dinners and running together, just like old times. The Schmitts bought an old Rv or camper, not sure what it is exactly called, but we enjoyed it while they were at soccer. It has been named the H2  ("Helmet" 1 has been replaced)

I love that the little kids can hang out inside and I don't have to worry about them getting hit in the parking lot every second.

I'm going to miss this..

Ericka, same size but 3 years older, moved to Topeka this summer and will be competing for Cage. We will have to go cheer her on, she has been one of Roe's biggest cheerleaders the past 2 seasons. 

(My last and one of my favorite pics of Roe in the gym, I don't get the photocreds on this)

2 weeks ago-ish, Monroe decided to take a break from gymnastics. This was a shock and a blessing at the same time. In 6 years, she never had an injury, bad season, a burnout or hated it, just had gone through a really rough summer of mental blocks (that she has gone through every year) but I feel like the timing was good. The skills continue to get tougher and scarier, and I think that if her heart were in it, she would have overcome the mental part. She is so driven and so hard on herself, it is hard to parent this. I am the supporter, cheerleader, encourager and hate to see her down on herself. She is a non-complainer and pretty quiet when it comes to her struggling. I am tremendously thankful to Nicole and her team for being so supportive through this. We have lost so many gymnasts who have quit or moved over the last 6 years, I never imagined mine being one of them.   I honestly think losing a coach and some of your best friends in the gym are part of where she is at right now. We talked, cried, prayed and decided a break was what was best for now, and Monroe has been finding her new identity outside the gym. Thankfully, she is a lover of a lot of things and gymnastics will always be a part of her and who she is.

Weekend at Grandparents

 Grandpa Lawrence & Granny Francis

 group hug with Granny

late post but love that my kids got a weekend with my parents before school started!

Buy me some peanuts & a Kc Royals hat...

 Kingston turned into the biggest fan and insisted on a Royals hat and peanuts

 We scored some awesome seats and attended our first Royals game of the year last week, wow the crowd has really grown since we attended last year!

 Jude is obsessed, he records every game and re-watches them, to actually be at the game, he was almost more fun to watch than the game.

So we got to watch Johnny Cueto pitch and I think our sign jinxed him because he was not en fuego, he stunk it up and the Royals were beat (the only one they lost of the series), but we still had a blast and enjoyed watching Moose hit one out.