A budding (stubborn) reader

I love to read, and scenes like this make me happy.  But lately, if you ask Karsten if he likes to read, you'll get a quick NO!  We've been reading together at bedtime since the boys were tiny babies, and lately, either Karsten is reading to us, or we're co-reading the book (he reads a page, we read the next one) at bedtime.  After a meltdown last night because he didn't know a few words and translated it into 'I don't know how to read!', we decided to try having him practice reading earlier in the day.  

This worked much better, please keep your fingers crossed that it continues!  I really want him to enjoy reading as much as I do!  

Jumping Dogs!

Last night, Scott saw that the local Scheels was having a Family Fun weekend with Dog Jumping.  I remember people talking about this event last summer, so we decided to check it out after church.  It was raining after church, but we still headed to Scheels with the hope that it wouldn't be raining there - the weather is crazy here, so that scenario is very possible.

When we got there, we were excited to see there were already dogs jumping off the dock into the water.  The goal is for the dogs to see how far they can jump into the pool.  The boys weren't sure of what to think when we got there, so they stayed back.

 The uncertainty only lasted one jump, then Karsten was right next to the pool to get a closer look, and maybe get sprayed with some water.

The dogs (and their trainers) were pretty impressive.  Some of them jumped as far as 23 feet, but most were in the 8-13 range.

Right after this photo was taken, the guy next to Karsten took his little guy right up to kneel on the side of the pool and completely blocked Karsten's view.  So I picked him up so he could see the next dog that the announcer said would jump far.  Let's just say, the dog did jump far and made a great big splash - both Karsten and I got very wet.  Good thing there's no pics of that!

Liam enjoyed watching as long as someone could hold him so he could see above the sides of the pool.

They had a brief intermission, so we went inside Scheels to walk around.  Such an impressive store, there's a million things to look at!

They have cool photo-ops like this all over the store.

Soon, we headed back outside to catch the next group of dogs. This group had a lot of big jumpers in it that really made it far!

I'd say this was a big success - look at that smile!

KC Streetcar

We made a list of fun stuff we wanted to do this summer, and since summer is quickly drawing to a close, we need to check a few more items off the list.  Today's adventure was riding the new KC Streetcar.  We enjoy going to the downtown farmer's market, so we decided to park at Crown Center then take the Streetcar to the River Market.

On our walk to the Streetcar, we passed the fountains at Crown Center. Until a few years ago, you were able to play in these fountains.  I have a photo of Karsten splashing in the fountains when he was probably almost two.  The fountains are still impressive, even if we can't go into them and play.

Turns out lots of people thought this weekend would be perfect for a ride on the Streetcar, so it was quite packed.  We lucked into seats, and were able to see out and enjoy the view.

See that red button near Karsten?  He desperately wanted to push it to tell the train conductor where we wanted to get off.  He had to wait through many stops before he could push it at the River Market.  I think most everyone on the train got off as well, but that detail doesn't matter, he still got to push the button and let them know.  :)

It's a great view of downtown KC.  I love seeing the Western Auto sign sneak into the upper left corner of the photo - I really like that sign!

After getting a few tomatoes, some peaches and kale at the farmer's market, we stopped for lunch at a great Middle Eastern place, then went back to catch the Streetcar back to our car.  We had to wait for a bit for the Streetcar to arrive, then we packed into it with a ton of other people.  I'm glad we checked out the Streetcar, I just hope next time we ride it, it isn't so full!  I'm thankful our everyday transportation is in our own cars where we control the arrival/departure times and who is riding with us. :)

The boys wanted to try on my hat on the way home - they look pretty cute don't they!

Karsten's request for the day was a trip to the pool.  When we got there, it was nice and sunny.  About 20 minutes later, there were storm clouds rolling in and thunder to the west.  Unfortunately, that cut our trip a bit shorter than we had hoped.

Scott and the boys went to the pool several times a week this summer, and it's really boost the boys confidence level in the pool.  Karsten is now jumping in regularly without us closely spotting him.

Lime Lover

Liam loves lemons and limes.  If you have one on your drink, chances are he would try to convince him to give it to him.  We bought some limes to have on hand for mojitos...and cooking, and when Liam spotted one in the fridge, asked if it could be his fruit for dinner tonight.

Happy Hour Date

The boys stayed at my parents house tonight (thank you!), so Scott and I were excited to have a date night.  A last minute work dinner for him changed our plans a bit, so we had a Happy Hour Date instead.  It was fun to go to happy hour - something we rarely get to do anymore!

We had some great appetizers, drinks and conversation before he had to leave for dinner and I headed home to relax in a quiet house!

Wordless Wednesday - New stuffed friends from Grandma and Papa

After dinner games!

We've started a fun routine of playing some sort of game together as a family after dinner.  Karsten received Sorry! for his birthday and it's becoming well worn!

When we started playing, we were flexible with the rules and didn't pay too much attention to rules like only allowing one player on a place at a time.  Now, the boys anxiously count to see which card they hope to draw so they can send someone else back to Start.

Having so much fun - he likes to draw cards for everyone and also help you move your pieces. With him, you have to be quick if you want to draw and move your own guys!