Keira's First Day of School!

This week was very exciting for us. It started off with Keira's first day of school! We also had some great weather toward the end of the week, and were able to spend lot of time outside.

Tuesday morning, was Keira's first day of preschool! She started with half of her class today, and the other half of her class will start on Thursday, and then her whole class will meet the following week for the remainder of the school year. It was a dreary day, but the rain held off for some pictures outside.
This is outside of her school.
I dropped Keira off without any incident, and took Soren home for a nap. When I picked Keira up, she was happy about her day. She had painted a beautiful picture and met lots of friends.
This is after her school outside. The drop off was so quick, I wanted to get a few more shots.


We grabbed lunch a McDonald's for a first day of school treat. Hopefully she won't think this is routine, as I don't think my stomach or budget could take it two times a week.

That evening, Ryan didn't have scouts and since his buddies didn't plan to ride, I was able to attend a Triathletes in Action workout at Island Lake with Cristina. This was my first workout since officially joining. Due to being caught in rain on the way over and a second storm pending, we opted to run 7 miles of trail. I was gone a long time to just run 7 miles, but it was really great to run with a group and really be pushed.

On Wednesday, we didn't do much during the day because I was pretty sore and tired from my trail run. I did get Soren on video making his kissy face.


When Ryan got home, we headed to Maybury so he could ride, and I just went on a walk. Keira requested that I take swinging pictures, so there are a lot of swinging pictures this week.


On Thursday, since Keira didn't have school, we were able to attend a Kindermusik class that Keira typically won't be able to attend anymore. Soren loved it. He is really enjoying these classes, and I will likely take him by himself when Keira is at school.

Soren wasn't shy at all during the class! Lately, he has been pretty shy, so I was surprised he got right up front.
More Soren news, he will take one or two steps at a time before falling or squatting to crawl. He also stood up in space without the aid of anything today.
We also returned to Maybury in the evening where I ran and Ryan rode. We did more swinging. My pictures didn't turn out so great since it was starting to get dark. They were either washed out or blurry.


Friday was September 11, so I spent some time remembering the attacks of 2001. We hung out at home a bit and did more swinging.



We also were able to go over to the DePotter's home for a little bit to play outside with Katie, Luke, and Katie's cousin Ava.
Keira and Soren LOVED this little garden. It had a door with a knob, so Soren was in heaven.
Keira mastered the rock climb all by herself.
Soren and Luke. We wanted a shot of them both peeking through the arch, but couldn't get them both smiling and looking.
Soren, Ava, and Katie are hanging out on the sandbox cover. Katie liked listening to Soren "talk" to her.

Saturday was a big day. Ryan rode with the wolverines in the morning, about 55 miles. While he rode, I took Keira and Soren to the library for Kiddie Crafts. They made puzzles from pictures they colored. I must say that puzzles made from Keira's artwork are not the easiest to do, due to their abstract nature. She really loves puzzles, though, and didn't seem to deterred by how challenging hers turned out.

Soren just liked holding the crayons. He didn't color with them at all, and didn't want to give them back either.


Once Ryan got home, I went on an 8 mile run around the neighborhood, doing 4 laps around the pond/lake in Village Oaks sub. It wasn't very exciting, but it was cheaper and faster than driving to Kensington. We spent the rest of the day watching football. Ryan was very pleased that both BYU and UM won their games, and I was disappointed that OSU was defeated in the last minutes by USC.

Sunday was a pretty typical day, we made it to church on time. Soren and Keira were both unusually difficult today, likely due to being tired. Soren is only wanting to eat normal food, so I feel like it is hard to get him to eat enough finger foods. He did eat pizza last night and beans and rice tonight. Here are just some pictures of us clowning around at home.


Soren almost walking. He is so close!

Up for next week, Keira will go to school both days, and I have a presidency meeting. Storytimes at the library resume, and Soren is just about old enough for one for his age group, so we will try to attend that this week, since we will miss Keira's this week. I am sure we will also get some more training in.

Happy Birthday to Ryan and Happy Labor Day

This week had a lot of significance. First, it was because it contained Ryan's birthday. The second item was that it contained Labor Day, and that signified the end of summer. Being the end of summer, this meant that college football season started as well as the opening of the cider mill. Finally, it marked the last week before Keira starts preschool!

As a result of this being the last "official" week of summer, we finally made it to the Kensington Farm. Keira has spent Sunday night at Nana and Papa's house, and Soren failed his attempt to sleep through the night in his own room, but we expected that. Monday morning Nana picked up Soren and I to take us to the Kensington farm. We had a great time seeing all the animals. Keira loved running around from area to area. Soren enjoyed being out of the stroller for a while on a "stage" area where he and Keira climbed around. We also hit Maybury that evening with Ryan.

On Tuesday, we did errands during the day and walked to our playground in the evening while Ryan was at scouts. Soren has been napping during the morning and the afternoon, so on days when I don't disrupt his naps, I feel like we only have an hour or so after lunch where we can do things before afternoon naps.





On Wednesday, I had a presidency meeting in the late morning, so it pretty much took up most of the day. We didn't get anything done before the meeting, and hung out at home once we got back.



We did have some more fun at our playground today. Keira really enjoyed being able to push Soren on the swings. I was able to get in a run too.




Thursday was a huge day. It was Ryan's birthday, but I also had a meeting in the morning for Keira's preschool. Linda came up to watch Keira and Soren for the meeting. The meeting was in Keira's classroom, and while I already knew her teacher, it was good to have the meeting with her and the other parents to know a bit more about what to expect. After the meeting, I picked up Keira and Soren from our house and drove them to Dearborn to have a late lunch with Ryan at Buddy's. That evening, Ryan rode Maybury, and then we met up with Kris and Linda at Pei Wei, which is turning into the "birthday" restaurant for us.





Linda made her famous "birthday cake" for Ryan, and we enjoyed it with ice cream at our place after dinner.

I was also able to get a few pictures of Soren doing his "ahh" snuggle. He has been putting his head down on our IKEA stuffed animals (mainly the hippo) or anything soft and saying, "ahh". It is so adorable, but most of the pictures I have taken aren't a good angle. These two are OK.


On Friday, we made it to Kindermusik with Lisa, Dominic, and Lucas, and Emily and Brooklyn. Keira had a great time. The Friday class will probably be her only class she goes to on a regular basis once school starts.


Keira was trying on my heels. She didn't try to stand, fortunately. In the background, Soren is doing his "ah" on the hippo.

Saturday was a really big day. It started with Ryan leading the Wolverines on a 67 mile ride. They were just shy of a 20mph pace. While he rode, I did a 6.5 mile run with both Keira and Soren in the double jogger. Soren slept, and Keira read her princess book, so I didn't feel too bad about having them in the jogger for almost an hour. I was pleased to do this run at a pace that was below 9 minutes per mile. After our own athletics, we met up at Parmenters for some cider and donuts. Keira and Soren LOVED playing there, and both enjoyed the donuts as well.





That afternoon, Ryan went to the Michigan game against Western Michigan with Brian. He had a great time at the game, especially since Michigan won. I was happy that OSU won over Navy, and we were both happy that BYU beat Oklahoma that evening.
Here are some pictures of Keira and Soren sporting the school colors.




Sunday was a pretty standard day. We went to church and spent a relaxing evening at home. Soren is also starting to refuse baby food, and enjoyed regular food today. He did not like the salmon, though, but was a good sport and tried it. Soren also realized that he can reach the basement doorknob. I am hoping that it takes him a bit longer to figure out how to open it. This is one of our few doors that actually does lock, though. He is on a step to reach it, so hopefully we won't have too many falls from him hanging on the doorknob.


We also had some fun with bubbles outside before bed.

Monday was Labor Day. It was a rather gray day, and Ryan woke up to rain. Although it stopped before ride time, he decided to skip a ride with Kent and David today to rest a bit. Soren slept really poorly last night, so I was happy to have Ryan around. Keira and Soren wore their festive pjs last night.

We went out to breakfast to Panera, and then we were able to go to our stake picnic. It was pretty fun, and the weather held out for it. Soren got more comfortable with Papa today. Keira enjoyed the playground.




Up for next week, we have Keira's first day of school! I also got signed up for the Detroit Half Marathon in Oct, so I am sure to be doing a lot more running in these upcoming weeks. We will sure to be spending more time at Maybury as well.

Novi News Photo Again!

Here is the swinging photo from last Tuesday's Puppets in the Park. It appeared on page A16 of the Novi News in today's paper.