2015 Adventure List

Alright, here's our family's adventure list for the new year! Everyone, including parents, got to contribute two ideas to the list.  We shall see how much we can accomplish throughout the year!  Can you guess who picked what??  hehe

1.  Watch a dolphin show.  

2.  Go to a Lego Museum.

3. Go to Lost in Fun.

4. Paint pottery.

5. Go to Amazing Pizza Machine.

6. Go to a professional baseball game.

7. Tour a factory.

8. Go to trampoline place.

9. Camp at Yellowsmoke. (Iowa)

10.  Go to a waterpark.  

2014 Adventure List -- In Review

Well, we didn't do so good on our adventure list this year. And I've already made stipulations for this year's requirement so that our adventures are more do-able! But here's our review...

1. Go ice skating. This was Hannah's birthday outing, and what a fun time we had!

2. Go swimming.  Well, I'm safe to say that this happened a lot. In fact, going to the pool a lot was a PRIORITY for the summer. We got the pool pass, skipped naptime, and aimed to learn how to swim just by frequent exposure! And it worked! On the very last day of pool opening, both Eli and Hannah swam the length of the pool and were allowed by me to go off the diving board. It was scary and amazing all at once, for me and them! So elated!

3. Go to REAL beach. Nope. Didn't happen. And because of algae levels we were barely lucky enough to even go to our local lake/beach. Fun times anyway!

4. Ride in a boat at (local lake).   ^^  That would've been the local lake. But no boat rental options. 

5. Go to inside playground. Carter's birthday outing! 

6. Go mini-golfing. Nope. Didn't happen. Mostly cuz I totally forgot about this list until a week ago!

7. Go to the races. Yes! So much fun!! Love taking advantage of our very own local options!! 

8. Stay in a hotel with a hot pool and water park. Honestly, I can't remember if we stayed at the Holiday Inn with the waterpark this year.

9. Go to LegoLand. Eli's birthday outing to Kansas City!

10. Go to Grandma's house. It's safe to say that this also happened many times. Both Grandmas. Not really documented by pictures though. 

11. See the mountains. Nope. Didn't happen.

12. Ride in an airplane. Nope. Too expensive.

So many great experiences in 2014!

2014 Top 10 Highlights

Gosh, it's been almost a year since I've written on here! I keep family update via Facebook so that's why I don't post much here anymore cuz I'm not sure I have any readers anymore!  This is what I included in our Christmas "letter" this year, so I thought I'd include here just to sum up what's been going on...

1. South Dakota vacation. Horseback riding, Mt. Rushmore, The Badlands, Bear Country, Storybook Island, waterfall swimming, alpine slides, and beautiful scenery!

2. Birthday celebrations. Lost in Fun (indoor play place) for Carter, Ice skating for Hannah, and LegoLand for Eli. 

3. Heavenly celebrations. As hard as it was to say goodbye to both of Kevin's grandmas, we can rest in the truth that they are rejoice in their perfect life with their Father.

4. Extracurriculars. Spring soccer for Eli, gymnastics for Hannah, and AWANA for all three kiddos!

5. Carter started all-day preschool (with Friday's off). So we entered the next phase of life where all the kids are in school during the day and Mom has the home to herself! Or the parents get free date time!

6. Mom freedom! Sarah finished her leadership position with MOPS and now serves on the church's Women's Ministry team, participates in two daytime Bible studies, and sings regularly on the worship team. And just for fun, she plays weekly volleyball at the gym.

7. Community involvement. Our family now volunteers to work at the local library once a month. We participated in the Father's Day run. And we periodically help at the school.

8. This fall we celebrated Sarah's dad's retirement and their official move!!

9. Kevin's still working hard at the power plant, including this year's 2-month Outage. He sacrifices much to provide for our family. 

10. Good health and fitness. Eli and Hannah even learned how to swim this summer!

We have been greatly blessed, and we are thankful for these moments and memories. We create many plans for ourselves, but it is God who directs our steps. We are thankful for His provision and care, in the good times and in the bad, in the highlights and in the mundane. May we love one another greatly to reflect the Joy that is within us. Happy New Year!!

Our favorite Valentine turns SIX!

Hannah 

Sweet. Caring. Thoughtful. Generous. Artistic. Creative. Smart. Loving. 

She is a dress-and-leggings lover, excellent reader, sloppy writer, messy-room haver, bead maker, card crafter, cook, and great friend.

Love her so much. Happy SIX birthday!

 

F.O.U.R.

Carter is FOUR!!!  I was looking back at his post and update from a year ago, and it's crazy how much he has grown and changed!

He loves...
* his cowboy boots and "John Deere pants" as he calls them.
* playing outside or in the snow
* his brother and sister, even though he's the button-pusher
* looking at books
* babies and always wants to hold them whenever he can
* preschool
* coloring and other art

He's enthusiastic and energetic and overall very HAPPY boy and quick to smile, that's pretty much always described him. His vocabulary has completely taken off in the past year, it's AMAZING. He talks in full sentences (although still a bit stuttery sometimes) and is pretty understandable to most anyone. He dresses himself and potties by himself although he often says he "needs a little help". As a mom, it's hard to know when he wants to do things by himself and when he still needs me. But he clearly lets me know!!!  LOL  He attends big-kid Sunday school class and usually sits in church with us instead of staying in nursery. He walks beside the shopping cart now instead of sitting in it. So many big adjustments!

He's a great little guy, and I'm so thankful he's part of our family!!!

2014 Adventure List

Alright, tonight after dinner we got out the big white board and together listed ideas for our 2014 Adventure List, with Kevin and I also contributing at least one idea each too!  =)  So here we go, most of these activities look very do-able and surprisingly different from last year's list! I kinda thought the kids would just say the same things (zoo, children's museum, etc) so I'm excited for some new experiences.... That's exactly what this list is all about!! A few of these are already in the works...

1. Go ice skating.

2. Go swimming.

3. Go to REAL beach.

4. Ride in a boat at (local lake).

5. Go to inside playground.

6. Go mini-golfing.

7. Go to the races.

8. Stay in a hotel with a hot pool and water park.

9. Go to LegoLand.

10. Go to Grandma's house.

11.  See the mountains.

12. Ride in an airplane.

Adventure List 2013 - In Review

Hard to believe we are saying Farewell to 2013 already! At the beginning of the year our family sat together to create a list of some fun family activities we hoped to accomplish throughout the year.  So I'm gonna take a minute to review the things we've done!  Pretty much the very week summer vacation started, we really got busy with our adventures...


1. A water park. "One that's allowed for babies and older kids."
This is our standard indoor water park we love to go to in the Omaha Holiday Inn. It's small so it's not too hard to keep an eye on all three kids at the same time. Basically it has a slide so that's all the kids need! They just love it! And the hot tub is right in the middle of the area which makes it perfect for us adults too. Although we don't mind some water slide action too! LOL.

2. The zoo.
We hit the zoo the same trip as the water park hotel stay.  Wanted to do this one before the intense summer heat hit!

3. Something like a pumpkin patch. Haunted house, jumping pillow, etc
This Adventure List greatly influenced our vacation pick for this year and the quest for a haunted house led us to to this Maze of Mirrors in Branson, MO.

But later in the fall, a turn of events also allowed all the kids to join me for a MOPS outing to the pumpkin patch where there was a haunted house, jumping pillow, etc.

4. The fair.
Of course. This was an easy one to accomplish, as it's right in town every July.

5. Children's museum.
This is a great winter activity so we did this in February, early in the year. Lincoln has a fantastic children's museum, always something new to explore!

6. Train ride.
This was planned for our Branson trip but at the last minute we decided to take a ferry ride, as we heard it was more exciting than the train. So unless you count the zoo train or kiddie train at the fair or Go-Kart place, this one didn't officially get done.

7. Carter's ice cream shop.
Early in the year Carter officially completed potty training and earned his reward to the ice cream shop, Freddy's in Omaha. Each child has "their place" and I'm pretty sure they'll never forget it!

8. Backyard camping.
We actually did this several times throughout the summer, though I'm not sure I actually got any pictures of it.  =)

9. Waterfall.
Yup. This one didn't happen. Boo to Sarah.  =( 

10.  Beach.
And by "beach" we really just mean the local lake. Such a gem for this farm area!! We love going here with friends!!

11. Geocaching.
I was so excited to get to do this one, although Kevin's the one who did the dirty work. In the end we found one cache and didn't find two.

12. Bike trail.
So excited the kids are old enough for this now!! We love this trail, and the view and nature finds are so pretty!

What a fun 2013!!  Of course these were just SOME of our adventures!!  =)