Thursday, September 26, 2013

1st Day of School 2013

This August was an exciting one for us--all three boys are in preschool two days each week. Eli and Micah had been unsure about what to expect, but after "meet the teacher" morning, they were excited to start their new year!

Joshua warmed up quickly to his teachers and rolled his backpack around the house after he met his teachers saying, "Bye-bye!" Even on the first day of school, Joshua didn't shed one tear. He is happy and busy during the school day, but so happy to see me in the afternoons! He often tells me, "Miss me" when I pick him up.

Here are our big boys on their first day this year!
Micah

Eli

Joshua

 Eli and Micah wanted me to take a picture of them in their room. ;-)

Eli and Micah will have "homework" occasionally sent home. It's obviously not for a grade, but extra practice. Well, both boys were excited to do their work and take it back the next school day to show their teacher. I am just so thankful they love school this year, like and respect their teachers, and seem to be soaking up any bit of new information presented to them!






Tuesday, September 3, 2013

There's no place like HOME!

For me (Kristy), there is no place like home (i.e. Kansas). It's always a great trip and I often have little responsibility for cleaning, laundry or dishes. It's such a nice break from my every day routine.

This year, we left Wilson's and went straight to Kansas. It was a short trip with a stop at a park and a surprise stop to meet up with Nana and Papa!

While we were still at Wilson's, I was online looking for a park on our way to Nana and Papa's house with a picnic area and a restroom. While I was naming out loud some of the options to my Sister-in-Law, my niece, Kaelyn, suggested we stop at Electric Park. She was curious what an "electric" park might be like. So, Kaelyn, thanks for the suggestion. It was a really great stop for us!
 
 

After lunch, we had a short drive to an outlet mall to meet Nana and Papa for a little shopping, eating frozen yogurt, and playing in this fountain. By far, this fountain was the highlight of the stop for Joshua. See the last picture? Joshua's saying, "Where did the water go?"

We visited the zoo and Nana held an alligator so Eli (in green) and Micah could pet it. The alligator didn't like the extra attention, but the boys thought it was great!

Eli and Micah's Star Wars obsession was really just beginning this summer. When they found Papa's Star Wars Monopoly game, they had to learn how to play! They actually did a great job with all the math and Paul said, "I think if we have Star Wars, we could teach them anything!" He may just be right!
 
The boys' favorite stop in Kansas is always the children's museum. There's so much to explore and do, and with 4 adults with 5 kids, they can all go their own directions, so there's little compromising. It's really a win for everyone! 
Here are Joshua, Eli and Micah outside the museum.

The 5 grand kids!
Amory, Nevaeh, Eli, Joshua, Micah

The "big kids" decided to hold hands and walk in together. So sweet!
I also love how Amory and Neveah had matching shirts, so Eli and Micah chose matching shirts, too! These boys really love all of their cousins!

Painting the wall is everyone's favorite activity.

Amory and Joshua had lots of time together exploring and playing, 

while Eli and Micah were building cars with Paul in the construction area. 





One evening, Taylor and Roxy came over for dinner. Joshua took a real liking to Uncle Taylor and now when he sees a picture of Taylor, he says, "Tay-Tay." :-)
As always, we had a great (and much too short) visit with our family in Kansas. Because of #4 (or Mac, as Uncle Taylor now calls him), we won't be making another trip until next summer, but we're already looking forward to it!

Wilson's Resort

Do you remember this blog post about our gift to Bob and Kay? Well, we finally got to go to Wilson's! (You may have to click on the pictures to enlarge, especially those with multiple pictures.)

Since Wilson's is a fishing resort, there was a lot of fishing!

 Eli even got good at baiting his own hook.

Sometimes the fishing wasn't so good, but sometimes it was!
 I think I caught the most unique fish. The line was wrapped all around this stick. I pulled in the fish and the stick! 
Paul caught the biggest fish of the week with this catfish!

Joshua couldn't fish and didn't always like wearing his life jacket near the water (have I mentioned he has no fear of water and LOVES all water?!), so he spent a lot of time playing on the playground
 and swinging with Aunt Rebecca. (See him signing "more" in the second picture?)

 When Micah and Eli weren't fishing, they learned to play shuffleboard.

We even had time for some play-do.

All the kids got to swim in the lake. Joshua and Kaelyn are with Paul in the first picture while Eli, Micah, Britton and Kaelyn are with Paul and Rebecca in the second picture.

 We did a few smoke bombs on the 4th. 

The 5 Cheney grand kids!
Kaelyn, Britton, Eli, Micah and Joshua

We even got a picture of all 11 of us!

 On our last full day at the lake, we rented a boat large enough for all of us. Paul, Rebecca and Mark got to water ski and the kids took turns tubing. We all had a fun morning. 
Here's Micah as we're heading out--he sat in the back with Britton, Joshua and me.

 Here's everyone else.

The kids had a great time tubing, especially Britton and Kaelyn. I think they would have stayed out there all day if we would have let them!

Our little ones were getting pretty sleepy on the way back to the resort. Actually, Joshua did end up napping a little bit on the boat. Kaelyn, Micah and Eli snuggled up with Grandpa on the way in.

 There were a lot of stairs from the cabin where we stayed down to the lake. Micah and Eli were good big brothers and helped Joshua up the stairs for the last time before we left.

The Cheney family back at their favorite family vacation spot. 
This was a really fun trip for everyone. We hope we can do it again soon!

Swimming Lessons

Everyone took swim lessons our last week in June. All three boys love being in the water and our swim teacher is so patient and encouraging, so swim lessons are lots of fun for Eli, Micah and Joshua.

Micah (left) and Eli (right) practiced swimming with kick boards...

 and without! 
Eli
 Micah

They also practiced jumping in off the diving board.
Micah
 Eli

 Joshua also had a turn in the pool collecting rings,
 jumping off the side (more like walking off, really),
 and "swimming."