Homecoming

 We are still getting used to the idea of being WDM Tigers instead of Ankeny Jaguars, but a week of homecoming celebrations helped a lot!

As a member of the Jordan Creek Lighthouse Leadership Committee, Emma walked in the homecoming parade!

The rest of us caught candy. 

It was such a cute little parade- just WDM school groups and sports and the band and lots of candy!

And Emma!

And the WDM Tiger. 

Leah and Daddy went to a homecoming game... it just happened to be for Ankeny to support Leah's bestie Sarah in the marching band while Adam was at Ben's birthday party. 

And Leah went to the homecoming dance!

We had lots of conversations about the differences  between a school dance and a stake dance, from the types of music to the types of dancing to the types of people, but she was excited and curious to check it out with some of her new school friends Erin and Cam. 

Who doesn't want to get dressed up and be fancy for a night? 

It was super surreal- high school homecoming for our baby?!

Emma was curious about it all, too. :) 

This cute little group ate dinner at one of the girl's homes, then headed over to the dance which, according to Leah and some adult chaperones that sent me a few updates throughout the night, was loud, dark, and hot. There wasn't a single slow dance to even think about being asked to dance with a boy, and there were tons of kids there all having fun and being silly and probably a bit stupid, as high schoolers do. 

She came home happy and tired and said that the takeout Olive Garden and the getting fancied up- she found the perfect modest dress online and ended up rocking my wedding shoes with it!- were the best parts of the night, and that she much prefers the fun and friends of stake dances.  And now she knows a little more about what homecoming is all about!

Noah's Baptism Pictures

 Look at this handsome little missionary!  

Noah has been waiting and waiting and waiting for his turn to be baptized.  And this fall, his turn finally came!  

In preparation for his baptism, we had his pictures taken at the location of his choice- in our backyard. 

It rained and rained the day the pictures were scheduled, but it cleared up just in time and we had a beautiful green backdrop for the pictures. 

Unlike Emma before him, Noah was not really all that interested in taking more than two or three pictures.  He pasted on a fake smile that we had to shake up with a frown or a silly face a few times. 

But he was very excited about taking some jumping shots!

Such a handsome little fellow, and definitely ready to be baptized!

Famiversary #18

The ice cream was unremarkable, but the company is unforgettable.  

It's always fun to celebrate the anniversary of our first date!

Mall of America 4.0!

Holy smokes it's been four years since we last took a birthday trip to the Mall of America!  We had all the plans to go last year, when Noah turned 7, but for the first part of the summer they were still closed and then the rides and capacity were greatly reduced because of Covid-19.  So we decided to go this year!  This trip has been looooong anticipated, and a few weeks ago, we finally headed north for our fourth birthday trip. 

First stop- IKEA for a table full of meatballs, Swiss chocolates, and smiles!  

We didn't do much shopping, we wanted to make sure we had time to swim!

 Our hotel was pretty snazzy, and the boys needed a picture next to this red fire hydrant (I think that is the source of The Pug's power, but I'm sure they'll correct me if that's not right). 

After a whole lot of swimming, everyone was happy and tucked in and ready for the big day!

Fancy breakfast in the morning!

We got to the mall waaaay earlier than we needed to, but that gave us plenty of time to see all that has changed since we were last here four years ago. 

In sad news, the American Girl and Disney stores are both gone.  Thankfully the LEGO store is still here!

And while Jimmy Neutron's Atomic Collider has been replaced, his memory still lives on!

Waiting... waiting... 

It was nice to be in the park basically by ourselves, and when the rides finally started running at 10 we were ready for some fun!  We probably could have strategized a little better to avoid long lines later in the day, but everyone wanted to start with the Backyardigans Swing Along

and the Orange Streak. 

Which Noah hated. I guess he's not quite grown out of his dislike for roller coasters.  

Then again, neither have I. 

The bumper cars were a family favorite, and in the name of Noah's birthday, the kids all rode the Big Rigs with him.  Ha!

He loved the Barnyard Hayride most of all, and, not unlike four years ago, he and I spent a lot of time together while Daddy and the rest of the kids checked out the big rides. 

Yikes!

Emma was the perfect in between- happy to go on the easy rides and also crazy enough to go on most of the big ones!

Those are her feet are dangling upside down!

Adam and Emma even went on the worst ride of all- Swiper's Sweeper. 

Blech. 

We took breaks for plenty of shopping too, especially for Legos!

A rare sighting of Adam tolerating M&Ms!  

By the end of the day everyone was spent!  We had a whole lot of fun together- screaming on rides,  holding hands, checking out the shops, savoring the good food, taking a quick break from life and most of all, celebrating Noah! 

The Best Part of Every Day...

 ...is when the babies come home and it's time to play!

We've had lots of happy school days so far this year. Everyone still prefers in-person school over online school, and they are all working hard and having fun at school.  But there is a special kind of excitement (and crazy) that comes when these best friends are all together and ready to be silly!