Andrew the Builder

 We have 3 fun scooters that are always falling over in the garage.  Andrew set out to fix that problem.

Scooter rack works!  Great job, Bubba.

Fall Excitement

 "The tallest tower EVER"

 Fun at the CKs for the Superbowl of the Saints

 St. Rafka, Mary with baby Jesus, & St. Andrew 

 with my old roomie Sr. Edith Marie!

Fun in the leaves with cousin Jonathan

Goin' to Kansas City

 Here we go...

 First time at a Chick-fil-A

Tasty food, huge walking cow, Christian music, AND a clean AND fun play area for the kids.  What a hit!

 After we checked in to our gigantic hotel, we headed over to Legoland!

 The miniature room was super cool with all kinds of displays.  They had the entire KC skyline, sports stadiums, & here they even had the spinning house, Munchkinland, & the Emerald City all from the Wizard of Oz.  Very impressive.

 Andrew was overwhelmed at the thought of having that many "Lego guys".

 We built this tower ourselves.  :)  There were tiny, medium, & big Legos EVERYWHERE to just build & build & build.  The most unique were cupcake Legos!

 Enjoyed the 3-D Lego movie complete with flashing lights, "snow", & "rain" on us while we watched to complete the experience.

 Andrew's favorite part was making vehicles to race down the ramps.

Rebecca just wanted a picture with everything cute!

 This ride at the end was pretty cool.  Rebecca was too scared to go, but that didn't stop Andrew

 or barely tall enough Teresa from enjoying it!

 For supper we went to Fritz's Railroad Cafe.

 The food was brought to the table by a model train that drove on a track around the restaurant dropping it's attached basket at the appropriate table.

 Then the tray lowered the food to the table to enjoy!  It was novel.

Before collapsing back at the hotel, we hit the free dinosaur exhibit. Pretty cool, especially for free!

 Rebecca's shirt was quite the mess!  Our room was on the 24th floor of the hotel.  After so much dry air-conditioned air & plummetting altitudes in the elevator, her nose was not happy.  She had 4 nosebleeds in 2 days!  Ah, the surprises are what makes it fun, right?

We enjoyed a little bit of Olympic soccer & then off to Dreamland.

Good night, Kansas City! 

What we've been up to

 Castle construction

(complete with the purple "logs" to roll down on you if you cross the moat)

 Rocket rendering

 Grandparent reading

 Pretty posing

 Too tall tower building

(This one actually touched the basement ceiling!)

Still not sure...

A work in progress

 Our summer is a work in progress.  We've accomplished a lot of tasks around the house, enjoyed cousins & friends, & had a few excursions.  But I feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants!  Usually, I have a rather set routine for each day & a schedule of possible activities for the whole summer written out on a lovely door calendar.  We have a routine & a plan that we can choose to stick to or not.  sigh  Not yet.  I haven't gotten there & I'm not sure that I will. 

After Darren leaves for work, the morning routine is done, & I sit down at my desk to check e-mail, write cards, or simply tidy up MY office (which has really become the arts & crafts room when I'm not looking) I'm occasionally lucky enough to not be pulled from it immediately.  On one particular morning this week when no one was fighting, no one was crying, no one was asking me for anything, & no one wet their pants for a good 20 minutes, I started to get suspicious.  I went out to the living room & found this castle construction!

Some creations just deserve focus.  :) 

Makes me remember SO many creations we made with couch pillows growing up...

Under construction

Andrew won this great prize through the Summer Math Program. For every 15 minutes of flashcards, they could throw their name in a raffle. He came away with this awesome construction set! The tools actually work & the "wood" is actually a kind a super tough foam.
We spent the first Husker game on the radio cheering on our team & constructing.
Rebecca was collecting random scraps to make her own creations. The final products: a fort & a jet. And there's still more "wood" left over!

A Work in Progress