Time flies when you're
havin' fun! Where did the last month go? We've been busy and done a lot of things. I only hope I can remember them all!
Preschool started up again shortly after we celebrated Lauren's 4
th birthday. She is going 5 days a week and absolutely loves it. We have seen changes in her in just the few short weeks she has been there. She has such a quest for knowledge right now and truly enjoys the process of learning something new. I only hope that she isn't bored when Kindergarten rolls around next year. :) Here is a picture of her on the first day of school this year.
Lauren's 4 year check-up at the doctor went great. She is 44 inches and 42 pounds. That puts her off the charts. Her growth has to slow down at some point! I bought her size 6 jeans for school this year and they fit perfect . . . not sure we'll make it through the whole year in them, though. Lauren loves to craft, play games like Yahtzee and Go Fish!, complete puzzles and practice writing letters and numbers.
Andrew's 2 year check-up was just as great. He is 36 inches and 30 pounds. That puts him in the 75%. He has met or surpassed all the development milestones for his age. He's been potty trained now for 4 months, yippee!! He loves to be outside and just generally loves life. He is starting to develop quite a personality and has a huge vocabulary. We hear new phrases each day. Some of the most recent are, "That's not fair." "Where have you been?" and "Lauren isn't sharing with me."
The beginning of the school year also brought on dance class. This is her first year to dance as she had been doing gymnastics. She is really enjoying it and loves her new tap shoes. Yesterday, we got to see a picture of her costume for recital and it is very cute. I can't wait until May to see her in it!
Lauren & Ethan w/ some huge snake.
Elliott & Andrew w/ some turtle.
Ethan, Andrew & Elliott in the bear cage. All the kids really enjoyed crawling through the tunnel. . . including Elliott! :) Actually, Lauren refused to go until Elliott said he would go with her. Such a good daddy! 
They could have rode the rides all night long.
On this ride the kids could make Dumbo go up and down. Andrew didn't like it. By the end, he was in tears and ready to jump off. Lauren loved it and probably rode it 5 times that night.
First time on a Ferris Wheel for all of them and they all loved it! I stayed on the ground w/ the stroller and the rest of our loot from the day.
Lauren was bound and determined to go down the Super Slide. We were hesitant but she really wanted to do it. (She is the one on the far right.) She climbed right up the stairs all by herself and was super excited until they let her go from the top. The look on her face at the bottom was priceless. She has decided that she'll ride again next year but only if I go with her this time. 
Here are a few shots of the kids enjoying the rides at the fair up home when we were visiting Grandma & Grandpa. Elliott went on a week long fishing trip to the mountains of Colorado so we headed for Jewell County. Lauren was really excited for the rides. She told us that she had "super fun".
Elliott and our neighbor cleaned off the porch so I could open the door but we still have lots to do this evening. To top it all off, about 1 hour after all this took place a transformer blew in the yard directly beside us and started a tree on fire. So we had fire trucks everywhere for a while. Thankfully, there was no damage to anyones house from the fire!
Andrew is 2!!
