Esme is in her very first musical this fall. She is in the chorus for Finding Nemo Kids and will have 4 performances in November. She has once weekly rehearsals that take place at our church which is really convenient.
Esme and I got matching haircuts recently as well. It's been a few years since I chopped my hair and it was time for Esme.
I had friends join to help with the fall demo derby again this year. There were threats of rain, but it held off for us.
There was one class that was huge and it was so fun to watch. It was won by a young woman in the youth class.
We also bid farewell to pool season this weekend.
Our pool streak ended with 108 consecutive days and 109 total. It's going to be hard to beat that! Bring on fall!
Summer is officially over and school is back in session. Esme started 2nd grade and Parker started middle school, 6th grade!
They get picked up at the same time again, but our bus stop is on the other end of our block. This is closer to easier to see from home which is nice.
Off to his first day of middle school!
This year is the first that Esme will ride the bus to and from school. She has a longer ride home, so we've got books and activities planned for her ride.
Esme said the first day was just so-so. We missed open house so she didn't know where her classroom was which caused some distress. Parker gave his first day a big thumbs up!
I can tell the new building and new schedule is wearing him out a bit. He just sat out front for a while on Tuesday evening. Just looking around and observing. This is very unlike him. I am sure he will get in a new groove soon.
I bought tickets to Bluey's Big Play months ago and didn't tell Esme about it until the day of! I was hoping she would still be in to Bluey and she had a big resurgence in the weeks leading up to it. I decided we would grab some dinner at Pizza Hut near the parking garage I like to use downtown. I really underestimating how much has been downsized post-covid. I was just glad we could order and had a place to sit, but there wasn't a public bathroom or even a good way to wash up after we ate.
The show was at the State Theater, which was the same venue we saw Paw Patrol Live at in 2019.
We brought her Bingo and Bluey stuffies and while I told her she could only get one of the Chili and Bandit ones, I ended up getting both for her!
I loved the use of puppets instead of people in costume. It was a fun riff on the kids show trend.
At the end of the show they had huge balls to play keepy uppy and bubbles. We tried out best to get one of the balls, but couldn't.
We finished the evening with ice cream cones, such a fun mom and daughter night out.
Our Panera Labor Day tradition continued, but it's become just a little snack stop since the kids are picky. I got my bearclaw and the kids got cookies before heading to the park.
The bees are officially out in full force and Parker really doesn't like that. There are usually flowers around the park signs, so he is keeping his distance.
Key Features
An old school glider is always a fun feature. Esme really likes them, but she usually isn't tall enough to do it herself so we have to lift her up. This one extra tricky since it was curved, so both Jimmy and I had to assist.
It's rare to see something new after so many parks. This weird cycling thing that Jimmy is on was a first though.
This one gets a 7 mainly for size. It was pretty big, but definitely dated.
The weather cleared up by our last full day and we were looking forward to a fun time.
Biscuits and gravy for breakfast.
My dad and brotherwent on a 4 hour inland fishing excurision in the morning. I dropped them off with their Captain, Todd Philcox.
They had great success and caught at least 11 different species.
This redfish was that largest at 39".
They kept a smaller redfish and a black drum that Todd filleted for us to take back to the house.
The rest of us took a trip back to the beach Thursday morning. The surf was much calmer than Tuesday which made it much easier to play in.
Parker really got comfortable this day. We brought his goggles and he loved to float face down and let the waves wash over him.
We built sand castles that Jaxxon loved destroying!
We headed back to the house for lunch and I went to pick up the guys from fishing. After an afternoon rest, Jimmy, myself, parker, Esme, and my dad took another trip to the beach. My dad really wanted one more dip since he was fishing in the morning. We took this chance to do some souvenir shopping as well. Esme got an adorable sea turtle she dubbed Pinky Pie. There were these cool bike racks outside the store. Esme climbed in and said, "look mom, the shark ate me!"
The surf was a little rougher in the afternoon, but still enjoyable.
Jayden, Sean, and Kelsey went out for sushi on the last night, then stopped for a special cocktail and creme brulee dessert.
Thursday night the Huskers played the Gophers. I brought my Nebresota shirt along to support my teams. When booking this trip my dad said I had to guarantee he would be able to watch this wherever we went. Luckily I was able to pull through.
I fried up the fish my dad and brother caught for a halftime snack. Bothe were really tasty!
Friday morning was a bit of a flurry to get out of te house by 10. The kids took an early dip then we started packing and cleaning to head to the airport.
The time stamp on this picture is 9:56:50 and we managed to get out of the house by the 10:00 checkout time.
Getting to the airport and going through security was pretty smooth and we boarded smoothly and on time.
Jameson was a little crabby to start but fell asleep and was out nearly the entire time. Jaxxon stayed up, but didn't make too much noise.
Here is last of our videos. What a great family trip!
