We had visitors in August! It was great to see Linda & Phil as well as Rod, Kathy, Luke & Mark. We also went to the Howard County Fair, Dutch Wonderland, and Elioaks. August was also when Abby started Kindergarten. :) It was a busy month!
We took Linda & Phil to the B&O Railroad Museum. It has become one of our favorite places to take visitors. Ben loves trains but it honestly is a cool place to visit.
Maddy, doing what Maddy did best in August - chillaxin'
Riding the trains at the B&O
Standing outside of the RV that Rod & Kathy and the boys drove the whole way east then the whole way back west again. Abby & Ben thought their "house on wheels" was the coolest thing.
So we had Linda & Phil for a few days, then Rod & Kathy & boys for a few days, then Linda & Phil again. Here we took Linda & Phil duckpin bowling!
I have many pictures of Abby & Ben posing with bowling balls. Looks like this is another one of our favorite places to take people when they visit. (I think Rod & Kathy, Luke & Mark, and Beth & Sarah have all been here...)
The kids posing with Linda & Phil...
Ahh...Dutch Wonderland. Jo-Jo and Ben got the front seat on the train!
I really wanted to go down the slide with Ben but he HAD to choose his buddy, PaPaw. Figures! Next year I'm going even if I don't have a child to sit on my lap!
Ben became quite the ride fanatic. He loves roller coasters! Even the ones that is ALMOST too small for. He had just ridden the biggest roller coaster at Dutch Wonderland and when we asked him if he enjoyed it he gave us a big thumbs up!
Riding the monster trucks!
Dutch Wonderland also has a water park attached to it. Ben was not nearly as fond of the water rides as he was about the non-water rides.
Abby on the other hand, loved the water rides - but not the non-water rides. Funny.
Now it is time for the Howard County Fair...
It was a dark and stormy night....but we went anyway. Needless to say we played farmer...
Farmer Abby
played in the corn...
then ended up in the bingo hall b/c it dumped rain on us. Not just a little bit of rain but it rained for a LONG time. We ended up not waiting for it to be entirely over and then we went to get ice cream. Ben was bummed that he didn't get to go on the rides but the ice cream seemed to make it a bit better....
Maddy's first picture with the dish and the spoon. We have WAY too many of these pictures.
Ben in the boat at Elioaks. He was the captain....
Amy & Abby were the passengers
Ben really wanted to go on a hayride and fortunately for him, Aunt Amy was willing to go along.
Me and the kiddos posing in the maze of broken up pine trees.
As you walk through the maze of broken up pine trees you got to play a game. At the end of the game, you looked at a pattern on your fingers (trust me, it sounds strange but it was fun) to determine what you are and what you are doing. Amy is flying a kite, I think Abby was a cat and Ben was a frog. Fun times!
This is Abby & Ben's car. It is our little trampoline. They loaded it up with their build-a-bears and bags filled with stuff and off they went!
Somewhere along the line they picked up Maddy.
Kindergarten Orientation which was the week before school actually began. It was me and the 3 kids and we walked to school. It is .7 miles and that walk was not tons of fun. Now, though, over two months into school and walking to and from school everyday those kids are pros! No one can say my kids don't get their exercise!
Abby posing with her "cubby".
Maddy, hanging out in the classroom.
We met Ben & Leah & Zack at the park that afternoon and Ben found a praying mantis. Ben decided he wanted to have a staring contest with it and I do think that Ben won!
First day of School! Oh what a day! I was sad, yet so proud, yet so sad at the same time! She did great and still loves it!
Ben had almost as hard of a time letter her go as I did!
What do we do to nurse the sadness of our daughter/big sister going away to Kindergarten? We meet friends who are doing the same thing for breakfast and drown our sorrows in chocolate milk.
