Library Time

We had a nice two days of Christmas (with one more on the way). Today we are hanging out around the house playing with the new gifts and at the library getting books. Nice day of unwinding.

Baby Jesus

Evelyn is very excited about Baby Jesus since attending Christmas mass tonight.

Getting Their Energy Out

Kelley has some cooking and other things around the house to do so I took the kids to Monkey Joe's. It helps tame some Christmas excitement. Evelyn is running around Monkey Joe's while screaming "Monkey Joe's"

Awesome gift

My friends got me a port-a-potty for tailgating. Hilarious...and useful.

Christmas Better Come Soon

Emma is about to burst she is so excited for Christmas.  She's asking each day how much longer till Christmas and luckily her friends the Ryersons are coming over tonight.  That will hold her over till Christmas Eve, but she is disappointed they were not coming over this morning then staying through the night.

Jingle Bell 5K

The other weekend, Kelley and I ran the first Jingle Bell 5K in Geneseo.  Great course and well attended with over 200 participants.  Kelley took 2nd place in women's and 1st in her division.  I took 1st overall.

Breakfast with Santa

The girls and I are having breakfast with Santa. They love this event.

Legos

Emma loves her Lego Star Wars. She's really good building from the instructions and using her imagination. The past two days, she's been building different planes of her on invention.

Waiting for the Flood

I came home from work tonight to find Evelyn wearing a life vest...and very proud of the life vest she was wearing.

Snow Evy

Guess Who's Getting Coal

Bear Down

Kelley and I were at the Bears game today. Horrible game, but we had a lot of fun.

A Night with Santa

Tonight Santa came to my school and visited with staff families. Emma loved it. Evelyn was skeptical then became a fan.

My Boots are Made for Walking

X-Man

Here is Evelyn as Wolverine.

Ready for the Holidays

We are ready for the holidays. Just had a great Nicholson Thanksgiving, house is decorated for Christmas, several gifts purchased (but we're not done), and DeBaene Thanksgiving tomorrow. Ready to slow down and enjoy the season.

New Truck

My Honda Ridgeline

I forgot to post that I got a new truck.  It worked out great for me after having that deer plow into the side of my truck.  I've wanted a Honda Ridgeline for a long time and everything just worked out well for me to get one.

Emma and The Chipmunks

At the Movies

We took the girls to see The Muppets today. They loved the large displays in the lobby.

Happy Birthday Evelyn

Today is Evelyn's second birthday.  She is pretty excited today and seems like she knows something special is going on.  Tonight we'll eat Mexican (Evy loves quesadillas) then head over to Monkey Joe's to let her bounce around.

 

Emma at School

Emma got a very good report from her teacher and PE teacher during conferences.  Here are a couple pictures of her that Emma's teacher had sent.

Tyranena Run

The Tyranena race was gorgeous.  The course was tough with early, steep hills.  With the wind kicking in, it made some of the flat areas very tough.  Around mile 11 or 12 there was a killer headwind.  With all things considered, the race was fun with a beautiful fall course around a lake.

Dinner Time

Captain Evelyn and the Cheerleader

Deer versus Truck

A deer ran into my truck on the way to work Friday. I'm hoping it doesn't total my truck, but it is possible.

Emma Dresses Herself

We came home from Wisconsin. Emma got to dress herself.

Kelley's Award

Kelley and her 2nd place award.

Tyranena Run

We all just finished our Tyranena race and are in a huge post race party. Everyone nailed their race and feeling good.

Evelyn's Sleepover

Somehow, Emma got Evelyn to stay still long enough to play sleepover.

Two Darths

I never knew Darth Maul was taller than Vader.

Darth Evelyn

Darth Emma

Fun with Pans

For everyone asking what our kids want for Christmas, don't bother. The pans are working just fine as toys.

Go Bears

Evelyn is saying, "Go Bears."

Bear Down

The Bears games are more fun because our girls enjoy them so much.

Evelyn's Bathroom Seat

The Moline library has a chair in the women's restroom to strap your kid into while you use the toilet. Evelyn looks like she loves it.

More Music in the Basement

Evelyn loves to slap the base while Emma sings.  I'm more like Joe Jackson.  When Evelyn does sing, she puts on her metal face.

Evelyn slapping the base

Metal Face!

Footloose in the Basement

Living with all girls means dance party every night.

Goalie

Emma's second soccer game is today. During the 4th quarter, she got to play goalie.

Hy-Vee Triathlon

Emily and I had a lot of fun at the Hy-Vee Triathlon this past weekend.  Dave and Kelley came out and ran (literally) from different points of the race.  It was a great time.  Can't wait for another triathlon and am disappointed it is the end of the season.  My new goal...Ironman 70.3 next summer!

Evelyn Loves Corn

Watermelon Stampede

Emma ran 400 meters Friday during the Watermelon Stampede in Muscatine. She did a great job. Kelley, Ryan and I ran the 10k this morning. Besides winning watermelons, Kelley took 1st in her age group and I took second.

Kindergarten

If Emma was scared about going to school, she totally fooled us.  Tuesday night we had her open house.  Emma got to meet her teacher Mrs. Chaney and unload her new school supplies.  While at school, Emma also met her PE, art, and music teachers.  All teachers were very welcoming.  Emma did not say a whole lot to them, but she did ask Mrs. Chaney before leaving why students do homework.

Today, Emma went to school and loved it.  She rode the bus home with no problems.  One of our very nice neighbor boys was her bus buddy and another couple neighbor boys said they won't let anyone mess with her (nice of them, but I think they may work for the mob).  Emma made a new friend, loved recess, enjoyed art and PE, and said Mrs. Chaney is the best and already wants her again next year.  I imagined that Emma would have been tired, but she did not seem fatigued.

Working at the middle school, I get to see all buses since kids from different schools get transfered to the middle school and then switch to their home buses.  It is a heck of a procedure to witness, but it really does work well for kids.  I was going to be able to see Emma as she loaded the bus and thought she would be happy to see me with so many kids around.  I was wrong.  She smiled at me, pointed to her bus and jumped on.  I was taken back a little by this but relieved that she was comfortable and confident enough to handle the buses so well.

Here are some pictures.  Enjoy.

Emma at open house

Emma at kindergarten today.  Mrs. Chaney sent us this photo.

Chillin' & Thinkin'

Emma Can Ride a Bike...and She's Fast!

Check this out, Emma can ride a bike.  She is very good at it and loves to ride her bike.

Suckers

The bank gave the kids suckers. Evelyn has a limited vocabulary so when she saw the suckers, she started yelling, "I suck! I suck."

Ultimate Rock Collection

The road to our subdivision has been recently oiled and graveled. Evelyn wants to collect every rock she sees. Needless to say, she can't stop picking at our new road.

Hot Zoo

I'm glad our zoo has shade.

Watching the Big Kids

Evelyn prefers the action from a distance.

Toronto

We just got back from our family vacation.  In our continued effort to visit every major league baseball stadium, we took a long trip to Toronto.  Kelley and I loaded the car and packed the kids.  Our trip took us a day going through Indiana, Michigan and then finally arriving in Ontario.  The kids were very well behaved and we had a lot of fun on the car ride.

Loaded and ready to go

Our first stop in Toronto was High Park where the kids could play and go through the free zoo.  After a long trip, stretching their legs was well needed.

Playing at High Park

We then went to the Hockey Hall of Fame.  This place was great.  Lots of great displays plus an interactive area where kids can try to shoot and defend goals.  Emma tried shooting goals and made one (a feat some adults could not do).

Us with the Stanley Cup

We had a chance to drive around Toronto a little and saw some of the famous features of the city such as the CN Tower and Casa Loma.

CN Tower

Casa Loma

The next morning we took a trip to the Toronto Islands.  You need to take a ferry there and it was the first boat trip for the girls.  Once there, we played and relaxed at the beach during the day.  Evelyn loved throwing sand and dumping it in her hair.

Taking a boat ride to the Toronto Islands

Evelyn is a big fan of sand

Coming back from the islands.  Evelyn was tired

After the islands, we walked the harbor then got some dinner. 

Emma playing along the harbor

The next morning was about going up the CN Tower and seeing the baseball game.  The CN Tower observation deck was amazing.  You could see all of Toronto from it.  Part of it is inside, outside, and even has a glass floor (yikes).  Our girls had no problem hanging out on the glass floor.  One tourist said, "If that little girl can do it, I can."  Evelyn especially liked being the daredevil.

Emma checking out the city

Evelyn has no fear

Sitting on the glass floor

We spent a long, hot day in the city then got tickets (14th row, 3rd base, looking at CN Tower) to the ballgame.  Having done our homework, we got a great deal on the seats.  It was a long day but the girls did very well at the game.  

The Rogers Centre - Home of the Blue Jays

View from our seats

Long, hot day but still having fun

Evelyn prefers her mascots from a distance

This is the time of night where Evelyn begins losing it if she is not sleeping.  Good thing it was the 9th inning.

Our final day of vacation was spent in Niagara Falls.  We walked the Canadian side of the falls then took the famous Maid of the Mist ride under the falls.  The girls seemed to like this a lot.  We then crossed to the USA.  Going through New York state and then Pennsylvania, we crossed into Ohio and spent the night in Cleveland.  We did Cleveland's famous West End Market in the morning and headed home.  

At the Falls

The Falls

Boarding the Maid of the Mist

As I write this, we are unpacked with laundry clean and folded.  It was a great vacation but great to be home.