The Robole Family: September 2013

Monday, September 30, 2013

Vino In The Valley

For Julie's Dad's birthday we went to a vineyard and restaurant in Wisconsin for lunch. It is an open air venue with very delicious food. It was a bit breezy but with a light jacket was nice to be in the fresh air. Julie's brother and family was there as well. Even with a lost reservation it turned out to be a wonderful day. After we ate we took a walk around the property and down to the river. When we left the vineyard we drove to Plum City where the kids fed some fish in the central park pond. Dru kept trying to pet them. It was a nice day to spend with family.

View from the parking lot

Mike, Nick, Vicki, Jake, Zach

Marlys and Bob (the birthday boy)

The "Original" Robole Family

The kids by Rush River

Feeding the trout

Monday, September 23, 2013

Parade and Apple Orchard

This past Saturday was a beautiful day to spend outside. We started out the day by watching the Bloomington Heritage Day parade. The kids collected a TON of candy and other stuff. We enjoyed seeing some familiar faces and hanging out with my parent's neighbors.

Unicycles

Indian dancers

Annabelle (a friend's granddaughter)

Former Minnesota Twins player Tony Oliva supporting his son's campaign

Sugar crazed kids

After the parade, a hot dog at Ken's and a stop at Denise's garage sale we headed to Delano to Apple Jack's Orchard. It was extremely crowded so it quickly became our least favorite visit to an orchard. They roped off most of the orchard and the trees that weren't roped off didn't have any apples left that the kids could reach. It was a bit chaotic with people climbing the trees and breaking branches, others going under the ropes to pick apples anyway and people everywhere. They also made you pay for everything. Luckily we had a perfect fall day to spend with family that made up for it.

Cousins

Tractor ride

Reed

Dru

Leo

Me and my littles

Kindergarten - Week 2

Every morning each student is given a breakfast so that all students start the day with a full stomach. They walk through the line and take their bag to their classroom. I was able to go along with her on Tuesday to see her morning routine. She is loving kindergarten and comes home most days with a new song to sing for us. She has met lots of new friends and says enjoys recess and the before/after school program the most.

Breakfast line

She has to put in code for breakfast and lunch

Hanging her back pack on her hook

And lunch bag

At her table spot

Lots of food, no wonder she doesn't eat much lunch

Michelle's Wedding

My good friend Michelle, who I've known since we were preschoolers, got married on September 8th. The ceremony and reception was on a river boat that left out of Stillwater. The kids absolutely loved it. Michelle was such a beautiful bride and looks so happy with her new husband Eric. The ceremony was on the top deck of the boat with a brunch buffet that followed on a lower deck. The boat then cruised for about two hours. We are grateful to have been invited to celebrate with them.

Michelle

Eric

The ceremony

The kiss

The new family with Michelle's son Nate

Our kids loving the boat

The happy couple

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Dru's First Day of Kindergarten

Dru started kindergarten last Monday. It surprised me not so much the emotions I would feel but of the significant changes in our whole family that comes with a child starting school. The kids are now separate during the day and that is a huge change for them. We also now are commuting separately in the mornings. I am still figuring out the best way to work my afternoons.

She has done better than I thought she would with her energy level. I expected her to be just plain worn out when I picked her up. She seems to be handling the stress fairly well. She makes friends easily so that part has been just fine. Her favorite part so far is recess, of course.

Almost each day we have had a report from her or her teacher that she had a time out. I'm not sure whether she is bored or loses focus. From somersaults in the classroom to being too much of a teacher's "helper" has gotten her in trouble. This Monday her teacher made sure to tell her to work on focusing on her own work. She surprised us by requesting lunch from home instead of taking school lunch. I thought it would be nice to not have to spend time making her lunch, but now I like seeing what and how much she is eating. Every child receives a free breakfast and when she eats school lunch it is $1.95.

I still find it strange that we have a kindergartner. Where did the last almost 6 years go!?

Our big girl

With her butterfly backpack

Her dress of choice, and sparkly shoes

Silly face

Best Buds

Running to school!

Leo's First Day of Preschool

Leo's first day off preschool was September 4, 2013. Even though he went to the same building and the same room it officially started his last year before kindergarten. One of his teachers stayed the same and another teacher he was familiar with joined the class. So to him it was like any other day at school. This way there were no anxiety issues and it was our normal routine. His teachers Ms. Jane and Ms. Melissa are wonderful and he will be extremely prepared to start school next fall.

He did well on writing his name.

Handsome :)

The bonk on his head came from the class bombarding the window at school to see a squirrel. Geez.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

2013 MN State Fair

Due to my back being out and a stomach bug that went through the house, we only went to the fair once this year. It was with the kids so we spent much of the day making sure they were entertained. Not pictured are them making a project at the Home Depot booth, Grandpa John taking the kids down the Giant Slide and him also taking the kids into the Butterfly House. We sure did a lot that was kid focused and they lasted all day without a stroller. Maybe next year we'll get an adult day :)