Family Fun at the Railroad Festival

Last Saturday we ventured out as a family to the Railroad Festival at the Great Overland Station. Bob has taken the boys there before, but for Ella and I, it was our first visit. They had a lot of activities for the kids, but we mainly participated in the indoor activities, due to the heat!

Bob wanted a picture of the boys in front of this statue so badly, but as you can see, it didn't exactly go well!

They're all at least in the picture, right?!

Maybe a change of location would help? (Please ignore the fact that Brennen had to go potty in this picture!)

The suckers they were given weren't helping our cause at all either!

Could Preston have a more disgusted look on his face?!

The boys got to sit at the controls of a real train. Maddox isn't terribly into trains, so he waited with me.

It is a physical impossibility to get a picture of my kids all looking at the camera!

Enjoying the view!

Brennen trying to figure out which set of controls would get this thing moving!

Surely pulling the lever will work!

Bob opted to take a picture of just one kid this time and still can't get him to look at the camera!

They had all kind of model trains set up inside of the museum. It is amazing to see the amount of detail that is put into these sets.

They're pretty mesmerizing!

Watching more trains.

Upstairs at the museum, there was a Star Wars exhibit going on. This was like heaven for Maddox. Now you would think that he would love that they had characters walking around, but no. What he was drawn to was the memorabilia displays. He was actually pretty freaked out by Darth Vader!

He could have spent all day long looking at the memorabilia, though!

Brennen didn't mind stopping and taking a picture with a Storm Trooper and R2D2!

Ella found R2D2's noises a little odd!

As soon as the trains started by, that just grabbed the attention of the boys.

There were trains about every 10 minutes. I had no idea trains went by there that much.

Finally - a kid looking at the camera!!!

Two in a row!!

All in all, we had a great time. I look forward to going again next year!

First day of school! First day of school!!

Well, I made it through another emotional first day of school. I shed a few tears, but all in all, not a tremendous amount. I know, you're probably thinking, a few things. First, "Wouldn't she be happy to have two less kids in the house?" You would think I would, but frankly, I'm sending away my two most independent children. They're my helpers, and now I'm left with the three needy ones and no extra hands!

I'm sure you're also probably thinking, "Goodness Lisa, it wasn't a first day of kindergarten. It was first and third grade!" Yes, I know, but I have a difficult time letting my children go. I chose to be a stay-at-home mom because I can take care of my children better than anyone else. Maybe I'm full of myself, or a control freak, or a little of both, but that's how I feel. So, unlike my children, I always experience a little bit of separation anxiety. After they're gone, I do fine, and I love that they like school.

We have a fun tradition in our house for the first day of school. Bob always goes in late and makes the kids a special breakfast. Today he made cinnamon rolls and a delicious breakfast casserole. Are the kids and I blessed or what?!

Maddox waiting for his breakfast!

Brennen and Preston didn't go to school today, but definitely wanted to participate in "first day of school breakfast"!

Caden getting the ketchup ready. He will not eat eggs without it. Ella's in the background. Not the most flattering picture of her!

Here is a picture that shows Caden's backpack. He's on an orange kick right now and so that influenced his choice of backpacks this year. Bob was less than thrilled with his choice!

And my Maddox is now in first grade. Growing up right before my eyes!

Caden loves taking pictures with his brother!

Soon it was time to head down to the bus stop. Here's some of the kids on our culdesac. They were all geared up and excited to get the school year moving! Brennen and Preston were all ready to go with them, minus shoes even!

I made them wave for a picture. That way I can be called, "That Mom"!

Maddox and Josh getting on the bus!

And away they go!!!

Dad's Day Off

Last Friday was the boys' last day of summer vacation. Bob took the day off so that we could do stuff together as a family. We racked our brain to come up with something to do that didn't involve being out in the 105 degree temperatures. We opted to head for Art Lab. It's a hands on art experience for kids of all ages. Art Lab is located inside the Mulvane Art Museum on the campus of Washburn University. Best of all - it's free!!

The museum had a robot exhibit going on right now. This was right up the boys' alley, so we stopped and took a look. Here is a cute picture of Brennen and a robot he liked!

Inside the Art Lab, they had all kinds of stuff to do. Here's Ella finding a set of little fun tables just her size!

My pretty girl playing away.

This is the boys inside the hieroglyphics cave. They were given chalk and free reign on the walls. What kid wouldn't like that?!

Preston making some beautiful art!

Then the boys moved onto acrylic walls and washable dry erase markers. This was Bob's attempt at tracing Maddox and then Caden added the moustache. Looks just like him, right?!

The boys loved writing and drawing on these walls. I pray that's where it stays though!

They had such a great time!

Still drawing!

Caden intently making a masterpiece.

Next stop, the sculpture table. This table allowed the kids to build. Of course mine opted to build airplanes!

The color light table. I really thought this was neat. You could stack different colored transparent object to see what color they made when combined. Sadly enough, this entertained me for quite a while!

And the kids too!

Maddox didn't want people to know that he liked it!

My Ella at the block building station.

The last stop was a robot building area. They had just about any imaginable thing you could want to assist in building your robot. The boys each picked totally different objects, and each robot was unique.

Here is Caden's robot. I liked that he made his completely on his own, with no work required by me!

Brennen built a robot/rocket thing. Bob got to help sort this creation out!

I helped Maddox. Probably why his looks the most "normal". I am in no way creative, so this is what we got! It was Maddox's idea to only have one eye. Still don't understand that!

Here is Preston's. I think it turned out kind of cute. It has a zipper for a mouth. He made sure to tell me that he doesn't though. (Like I needed to be reminded of that!)

Carrying home our treasure!