Heritage Day

This year, I helped set up our township's Heritage Day. After I got home, the kids got ready and we went back. Jonathon and Christian helped run a booth with small games for kids and the rest of us (excluding Michael since he was at a meeting in Morristown) walked around.

The kids went on a couple of rides, like the elephant ride, one of those air-filled trampolines, and a small fun house.

Katie fell asleep while we were getting hot dogs and slept like this for about half an hour. We saw Whitney and her kids and they played on the playground while Katie slept.

Then we got some really expensive ice cream ($5 for a cone and $4 for a snow cone). We only got one of each... Then the kids rode on this trackless train.

Nathaniel, Eliza and Timmy got to go on a pony ride.

Then we went on a carriage ride.

The kids got to climb into a fire truck and rescue vehicle.

They had a small petting zoo.
By then they were starting to close up, so we grabbed Jonathon and Christian and called it a day... a fun day!

Trip to the Dentist

I had an appointment with the dentist today. I found out when I got there that Timmy did too. Since my mom was meeting me there to pick him and Katie up, he got to go first. I was filling out his paperwork when the hygienist brought me a penny. She said that when she asked him to open his mouth, she found it sitting on his tongue. Ooops. I guess I should take away all the money he finds from now on.

When I was finished filling out the form for Timmy, I found him sitting docilely in the chair with his mouth open, letting Barbara clean his teeth with the cleaning-tool (whatever it's called!) She said that he was being so good and opening his mouth when she asked and not making a sound. She even got him to do the fluoride treatment!

When the dentist came in, Timmy again opened his mouth, and let him put his mirror and metal "toothpick" in his mouth.

He got to pick out two toys, too!

Barbara said she was amazed at how good he was. The only bad thing that happened is that he has two small cavities on his deeply-creviced molars. So I'm going to take him to a dentist that works exclusively with children. Hopefully, he is just as good!

First Day of School

Jonathon and Christian still take the bus to the middle school and have to be out the door at 7:32 a.m. Jonathon is in 8th grade and Christian is in 7th.

It has become a tradition for my mom to bring us donuts for breakfast on the first day of school.

At about 8:40 a.m. the rest of us (Michael had to go to work, but he usually walk with us) walked to school to drop off Nathaniel and Eliza. Nathaniel is in 5th grade and Eliza is in 1st this year.

When we got home, Katie entertained herself by going through my purse.

Then we went and hung out at Whitney's house for a while.

The kids got home around 3:30...a successful first day for everyone!

A Fun Farewell to Summer Vacation

On Labor Day, we usually like to get together with Michael's side of the family and have munchies and play some softball at the elementary school. This year, my family came also and since both sides of our family are fun to be with, it was double the fun!

We had a BBQ and then went to the school for some softball playing, chatting, and playground playing.

Since it was the last day of summer vacation, I decided to get the kids ice cream from the ice cream truck...

I made this from the videos that I took. Everyone backed up considerably after the first ball that Whitney hit...

Two Front Teeth

Eliza's first front tooth came out last week when I tugged on it. The other one was a little more stubborn. A couple days later, she could bend it all the way back flat. Michael gently flicked it back straight and it flew out of her mouth. So now she has a somewhat toothless grin!

Pool Party!

The kids LOVE swimming. So when they found out that Michael's boss invited him to a swimming party, they were kind of sad...until they found out that they were invited too!

The four oldest kids were in the pool almost the entire 4 hours that we were there. They came out for a few minutes to eat hamburgers and again to eat dessert.

One of the highlights for all the older kids was when Michael threw balls to the person at the diving board and they tried to catch it while jumping... It kept them busy for quite a while!