End of summer, part 1

Our summer ended with a bang . . . . twice!

We were first treated to a visit home from Uncle Bennett! He got to come home for 3 days before heading back to college. It was awesome! We got to go to the lake with him and then he spent the night Sunday night (Aug. 8th) with us. We got up Monday morning and headed to Jump Street. I have never seen so many sweaty people in my life. We had a blast jumping on all the trampolines and playing dodge ball. We went out to lunch and then had to say goodbye . . . . again. :( I hate seeing my kids cry!!! Of course, Uncle B was a puddle of tears, too. We will see him again at Thanksgiving, but the goodbyes always suck! But, we are planning a Caribbean cruise over Christmas with Bennett and the whole family. Can't wait!!

Loved this pic--Kinley's arms are getting buff like her sister's!

Relaxing in the hammock

Jump Street with Uncle B

Sweaty fun!

The rest of the week was filled with full-blown preparations for the big Lindhardt Family Reunion. We made multiple trips to Costco and other stores getting ready (spent $1400 to feed 42 people for 4 days . . . yikes!). We had lists about our lists and every day was filled with getting things ready. We got new furniture and a new kitchen island countertop installed and spent plenty of time getting the house and yard ready. It was a ton of work, but fun to plan and see it all come together.

Of course, we made it to the pool a few times before the week was over. Kaiya got quite good at putting on a show off the diving board and I am now an expert on removing green color from blonde hair.

Look closely--Kaiya is upside down!

We also attended Cooper's year end baseball party. His coach's comments almost brought me to tears talking about how hard he works and how other teams and even the umpires always made comments about his work ethic and sportsmanship.

Super cute cake by one the team moms

All of the third year players (minus Kaden, who was on vacay)

Neat speech--made his mom cry

Kicking back

Kinley also had her year end Daisy celebration. She absolutely loved Daisies this year and they did so many neat crafts and service projects. It was fun to see all the girls together.

Daisy end of summer party

Not ready for summer to be over!!!! :(

A little of this & a little of that

As the summer is winding down, so is my body. We have packed so much into this summer, but it has been great. I absolutely love summer and I'm not really ready for the routine of school to kick in.

In the last couple weeks, we have . . .

1. Finished Cooper's summer baseball season. They won the first game and then lost the next two, but had an awesome season. Cooper caught 16 straight innings in the tournament in the heat and did great. There were a few tears after the last loss--he HATES losing. So proud of that kid!

Great shots taken by my amazing photographer friend (thanks, Kris!!!)

2. Attended a fun outdoor concert with my dad.

Waiting for the music to start!

3. Sent Cooper on his first week-long scout camp . . . with no dad! He did so great and we could not be more pleased with the report we got from his leaders about how he did. Oh, and did I mention that his camp was visited on numerous occasion by BEARS! I still can't really think about it.

4. Had one car break down and got the other one into a parking lot accident that is still not resolved. Grrr!! After working for the at-fault driver's insurance company for 10 years and knowing the system, I am not happy!

5. Attended my 20-year high school reunion. So fun!!! Saw everyone I wanted to and some I didn't. Ha!

My bestest high school buddies

6. Attended Kaiya's first USAG Level 5 meet. She just missed qualifying for the state meet on her first try. Six more meets to go between now and November.

A fun goodie bag after the meet

Kaiya and her best gym buddy, Sara

7. Shuttled Kinley to and from dance all week (thank goodness for a wonderful carpool buddy!) and gearing up for her winter Nutcracker performance for which she auditioned and got 4 parts.

8. Got 24 hours with my best friend, Lori, in town. We stayed up chatting til 3:30 a.m. and then went for a run the next morning before I had to ship her off to her own 20 yr. high school reunion in Denver.

9. Started the final preparations for the big Lindhardt Family Reunion, which we are hosting in Estes Park in two weeks. Many hours spent creating a theme, planning activities, etc.! This is our logo--Doug's parents were married in 1962 and there will be 42 people at the reunion representing just his immediate family and their spouses and children. Whew!!

10. Served as Cooper's caddy in a golf tournament (he still has two days to go in the tournament, but so far, so good!!).

Whew!!!!

Logger Mania!

We just returned from a trip to La Crosse, Wisconsin to see my little brother, who is spending his summer there playing baseball. He left right after school got out and will go straight from La Crosse back to college in Tulsa. It's nothing but baseball, but he is loving it.

We started our trip super early on Saturday morning. Our flight left at 6:40 a.m. , but the kids shot out of bed at 3:30 when we woke them to go to the airport. My mom and stepdad also went on the trip and we met them at the airport. Lucky for the kids, Papa Jay was able to give them a full tour of the airplane before we left since we were flying on Frontier for whom he is a pilot! They got to go stand and look at the engine and then tour the cockpit. Have to say even I was jealous!'

Personal jet tour!

We flew into Milwaukee, which was a full 3 hour drive from La Crosse, but it was such a pretty drive. That part of the country is so green and all the farms with red barns along the way were amazing. We got checked into our hotel, went for a quick dip in the pool and then headed for the ballfield. One of my best buddies from nursing school is now a Ph.D student in Minnesota and she was able to make the drive and join us. It was so good to see her!

My good buddy, Karen

The town of La Crosse is not big, but they sure love their Loggers! As soon as we got to the field (which sits right by the Mississippi River), we found Bennett who was busy signing autographs for tons of kids. So fun! The kids were so happy to see him.

Hi, Uncle B!

Signing autographs

The whole atmosphere of the game was great--funny games between innings like musical chairs and the toilet seat toss (redneck country?). There were over 3,000 fans there each night and they are die hard! The first night was almost rained out and yet not many people left. We sat through a two hour rain delay and watched a heck of a thunder storm. Bennett only played a couple innings because they were bringing in a new guy to rotate in due to an injury to another catcher.

Before the game

Massive thunder storm!

We spent Sunday just walking around La Crosse and met Bennett for lunch before his game. The town borders right on the Mississippi River, so we walked along the river. The game Sunday night was a great game--Loggers won in extra innings! After the game, the kids got to play with Bennett on the field for over an hour. That might have been their favorite part!

Cheese heads!

Right on the Mississippi

Playing catch on the field after the game

We got to meet the family that is hosting Bennett and their daughter, Rayna, and my girls became instant buddies. They played and entertained each other all weekend at the field. Bennett and one of his roommates are living in the basement of their host family for the summer and they are so good to him and obviously huge Logger fans.

Rayna's new buddies

Doug and Cooper headed back home on Monday morning because Cooper had a baseball game of his own and Doug had some things to do to get ready for his big family reunion. Poor Cooper was so conflicted--he really wanted to stay and go to the water park, but didn't want to miss his game.

Monday was a rare day off for Bennett, so we got up and headed to the country's largest water park called Noah's Ark. It made Water World in Denver look puny. We got there a little before 11:00 and didn't leave until 7 p.m. The girls were tall enough to ride all the big rides and we had a blast! The lines weren't bad at all and it gave us time to just visit when we did have to wait. We couldn't have asked for a better day!

Ready for fun!

What a day!

Rode every ride

The girls and I left super early on Tuesday morning (left our hotel at 3:45 a.m.) and because we were flying on buddy passes, we had to get a little creative to get home. The direct flights back to Denver were all full, so we flew to Omaha and then from Omaha back to Denver. We were stuck in Omaha for about 5 hours before a flight became open, but the girls were such troopers. We read books, played games, watched movies and just hung out. Honestly, as much running around as we do, I had no complaints to just spend that time with them.

Hanging out in Omaha

What a memorable long weekend! We affectionately refer to ourselves now as Team Bennett. :)

Fabulous 4th

I think I've been slow posting pics from the 4th of July weekend because I'm in denial. I always feel like the summer flies by after the 4th and I'm in no way ready for it to be nearly over!

We had a great 4th of July weekend complete with the traditional homemade root beer floats, the parade, a BBQ and fireworks. This was Kinley's big day because she got to be in the parade. Honestly, I think she looked forward to this day as much or more than Christmas. She worked hard learning the dance that they had to do while walking about 1.5 miles along the route. Then, after the parade, they were all treated to a ride in the limo that they danced behind in the parade. She was in heaven. We had my family over for a BBQ and then headed back to the park for Kinley's performance there. There were only 3 kids in her group and they did a good job. She told me ballet in the grass doesn't work too well, though.

We enjoyed some carnival rides and just as we were leaving, it started pouring rain. We didn't even make it to the town's big fireworks display because it never stopped raining. So, we did our own with our neighbors and friends in the driveway. The kids were so happy to just shoot off our own that I don't think they even missed the big show. What a great weekend!!

Getting ready for the parade with buddy, Maddie

Kinley's personal cheering section

Cheering on sis/scouting for candy

Axis of Movement Dance Co.

All smiles!

Their ride after!

The whole crew

Park performance

Concentrating!

Staying dry while the boys shoot off fireworks