Fritz's

This is a REALLY cool restaurant in Kansas....I think it's only in Kansas, but I could be totally wrong.  We had fun there, it's all about the trains!  You call in your order from your booth/table, and a train brings your food to you!  Dylan was the most excited by far, but we all had fun! 

We also enjoyed the complimentary engineer hats:

This next pic is a little disturbing..he was being silly, but look at his neck!!!

Ahh....much better:

Here's a train:

And, our basket of food being lowered to us:  

Pretty neat, huh?  The food was good, too!  Almost reminded us of Freddy's, here in Edmond.  YUM!

School time!

We have started this school year wonderfully!  I really am having a difficult time realizing I have a 5th grader, though.  WOW!  Thankfully, he loves his teacher, loves his friends, and was excited to head back to school....last year in elementary school.  

Our sweet little 2nd grader was SO ready for school to start!  She loves everything about school.  She got a new teacher this year (meaning new to the school, and we didn't know her yet), and we are both so happy with her! I already received a nice phone call from her about how helpful Jodee was, and how pleased she was to have Jo in the class.  

And, our fun little first grader.  He got a teacher that Dustin had in 1st grade, so that is a huge blessing!  She is great with boys, so I know Dylan will do just fine!  He was all smiles when we went to meet her on Tuesday.  So cute!

Ah, yes, our annual pic in front of the sign.  They don't fight me on it, so I just keep doing it!  We love Orvis Risner....such a diverse group of kids, so good for them to all learn how to get along with everyone!  

Dylan did have a birthday this summer!

We drove the 5 hours to spend Dylan's 6th birthday with friends and family in Oklahoma.  It was wonderful!  We had just a small party at Chuck E. Cheese--one of our favorite places!

Here are some of the boys on our way to CEC:

The group:

Having fun:

We celebrated with family that night....love this reaction!

And, his beloved pillow pet:

This was after opening and enjoying his other gifts....DS and pillow pet...what more could a 6 year old boy want?

Dylan with Tasha Grandma:

Dylan (being cheesy!) with Grandma:

Happy Birthday to my sweet 6 year old.  He's starting first grade tomorrow.  I cannot believe how fast the time has gone!

Summer Miscellany

These pictures are so out of order it's not even funny.  But, I felt the need to get them on here so I don't forget certain things about our crazy summer!

First, Josh and I had the wonderful opportunity to go on a date before we moved to Olathe.  We went downtown, rode the boat on the canal (he had never done that!!), ate dinner and bowled at Red Pin. It was a great date!

Had to show that I beat him at bowling....this never happens!  I loved it! 

I took the kids on one last excursion to the OKC Zoo before we left for Kansas...look at my little hoodlums!

This pic cracks me up!

Also, one last trip to Martin Park:

'

These next few are some faves from Olathe...they have amazing city swimming pools there!  Dustin and Jodee jumped off the high dive!  They absolutely loved it!

They also had a basketball goal....here is Dylan about to make a basket:

Fun times had by all....

McCracken's Gymnastics

The kids had a blast this summer taking classes at McCracken's in Olathe.  We also were able to go to open gym our last 'free' Saturday in Kansas--it was so much fun!

American Girl....Chicago style!!!

While at the pier, we saw so many people with American Girl shopping bags, so we figured it must be close by.  We got directions, and Jodee and I were on our way!  

First stop--the mac-n-cheese statue.....if you know Jodee, you know this statue is ALL Jodee!!!  This girl would eat macaroni and cheese for every meal if I let her!

Our walk, I mean hike, I mean marathon to the American Girl store took us right by Lake Michigan.  

She had to stop to play in the sand:

After walking for what felt like forever...and realizing we missed our tunnel that we were supposed to take so we ended up walking farther than we should have, we finally found it!

This one is incredible.  We found Jodee's doll, Julie....

And another setup of Julie.....this one was cool because it was all stuff from the 70's.  They have a bike you can purchase for the doll....only $80!!!  I told Jo that was more than her own bike was worth, so Julie could just ride along with her on her big bike.  Craziness!!  

We spent a good 1 1/2 hours walking around in there.  Only spent a little bit...bought 1 birthday present, and Jo spent some of her own money.  It was so fun though!! We were glad we went.  

 We were wiped out and starving after the long walk and missing out on dinner with the boys, so we stopped at Jamba Juice...YUM!

This was our view walking back to the pier....

And a random, neat looking building...

This just about does it for Chicago, I think.  Once again, thanks to NAWGJ for sending me to Chicago for the symposium!  Our vacation would have been Kansas City had it not been for my judging!!  

Navy Pier

One of the coolest places we visited in Chicago:

It was hard for the kids to believe this was a lake, not the ocean!

Anyone recognize this car???

One of the free shows inside (nice and air conditioned!) the Navy Pier mall:

Of course, our least outgoing child gets picked to be part of the magic show--but she did it!  I was so proud of her!!

Dylan was WORN OUT!  We took a boat tour around the pier, but he was asleep before we left the dock!

My sweet family:

The enormous ferris wheel!  It was amazing.  It was continuous---didn't even stop to let people on or off--you have to be quick! And it took 7 minutes to go around once.  SO TALL!!  It was fun!

Miniature golf while Jodee and I went on a forever long hike to the American Girl store:

Beautiful.

We rode again at night...Dylan suffered through this ride. Can you see him holding himself?  He had to use the restroom SO bad! I felt terrible for my little guy!  

fireworks..love 'em.

They had a great, exhausting day!