SUMMER IS OVER!!

Yep, summer 2011 has come to an end. It went way too fast. Here's what kept us busy:

• Jake finished up basketball camp. He loved it and can't wait to start playing ball again.


• We spent a weekend at Lake Thunderhead with friends. Both of the kids got to knee board & both kids got right up.


• We spent an afternoon at Lost Island with a bunch of friends. We had fun.


• Allie finished up tutoring for the summer.


• My parents came to see one of Jake's baseball games. My dad took the kids to Four Queens for ice cream and they were pretty happy with that.


• Jake and I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter. The movie was great. It was fun hanging out in line & people watching.


• We spent a week in the Ozarks with my family. I'll expand on that & add pictures in a different post.


• Jake played in a baseball tournament. Their team won one & lost one. The season is finally over. The team ended the day with a pool party.


• Allie went to Skylar's birthday party. It was a sleepover with her best buds.


• We went to Williamsburg to the outlet mall to get some back to school clothes. We had tons of good luck.


• Allie saw the doctor again to have her stubborn planter's wart zapped.


• The kids and I went to Adventureland with my sister, my sister in law and their kids. We had a great time at Adventureland and at the hotel.


• Allie went to a pool party at her friend Hannah's house.


• Jake spent a week at Riverside Lutheran Camp. He got to be in a cabin with 9 other guys. Five of the boys were from Cedar Falls and the neighboring cabin had lots of his friend too. He loved it and has asked to go back next year.


• Allie spent several days with my sister & sister in law. It sounds like they spoiled her rotten.


• The kids got all registered for school. Allie has Mrs. Pease for a teacher and Jake has Mrs. Fernholz. Both teachers are pretty good friends of mine. I hope that they behave!


• My cousin Brooke got married to Will. The kids and I attended the wedding and reception. It was a nice time & wonderful to see family.


• Allie celebrated her 10th birthday. We went to dinner at Sakura, a Japanese steak house. She will have a big pool party at the end of the month.


• My friend Cathi was gone most of the summer and when she returned we spent a day together catching up and had a great lunch too. Her daughter Jordyn ended up spending the night with us.


• Jake had Adam & Nick spend the night. They stayed up until 4 am and didn't come out of the basement until 11 am.


• I had 2 dentist appointments, a hair appointment and several nail appointments.


• I had back to school training and met with teachers one afternoon. I realized then that summer was almost over.


• Allie went to her friend Terren's party.


• Jake started football practice. Scott gets to help coach on Friday nights. He was pretty excited to be able to help out, even for just one evening.


• Jake went to his friend Nicholas' birthday bash. He fell and hit his face on a fence and has a pretty nice bruise on his cheek.


• The kids went to back pack night. I think that they had a good time seeing their friends that they hadn't seen since June.


• School started and the first day went really well for everyone. I'm back in the same 4th grade classroom that I was in last year.


• Jake worked at a fundraiser for his football team. They made lots of money!

Coming up: input conference, spirit sales, football practice and scrimmage, Allie doctor appointment and Allie's birthday bash.

First day of school

Jake & Allie



Jake & Mrs. Fernholz

Allie & Mrs. Pease

The kids by our sign. Jake's last year at Hansen.

Allie's annual school pic

Jake's annual pic

Allie with her birthday treat.

The boys at Lost Island

Sisters! Kim, Tesha, Me & Mandy

Me & the kiddos

Cousins! They aren't happy campers

Jake, Drew & Kim after a wet ride on the Raging River

Jake & I at Adventureland

Jake, Nick & Nicholas at the baseball party...showing their bellies.

Jake on first at the tournament

My cousins. Mandy, Abbie, Katie & Me

Log ride!

Log ride!

Our group at Adventureland

Jake's cabin group at Riverside

The family at Sakura for Allie's birthday

Jake knee boarding

The kids at Lake Thunderhead

Allie knee boarding.

THE SUMMER IS FLYING BY!

Where is the summer going. It seems like we just started break & it's already half way over. Here's what's happened over the past few weeks:

• Jake finished his UNI basketball camp. He got his "grades" and did really well. He just needs to work on his ball handling. Everything else was perfect.


• Allie finished Musicmania camp. They had a play on the last day. Allie was a moon & did a great job.


• The kids finished VBS with a pool party. Next year Jake can be a helper at VBS and is pretty excited about that.


• Jake had several ball games. They won 2. It's been a tough year to get any wins. Jake has improved a ton & still loves his team.


• Michael, Kim, Drew and Delaney came to visit us for a weekend. It was also Drew's birthday so we had a cake waiting for him.


• Michael, Kim, Drew & Allie went to the Falls pool for a swim. They had fun.


• Delaney & I went to see Jake's baseball tournament in Waverly. They had 3 games and won 1 of them. Jake looked really good. Delaney was a perfect little girl at the ball field all day.


• Michael & the kids got to watch Jake play ball too. He had a good game.


• I got sick the night Kim was here. Long story short, I spent the evening vomiting and had severe stomach pains. This was the 3rd time in about 6 months that I've had these same symptoms. The pains this time were so much worse. Kim made me go to the ER at around 9:30 am. By 4:00, I was in surgery having my gall bladder removed. It was quite inflammed and had stones in it, which was causing lots of pain. I'm feeling pretty good now, after about 3 weeks. I'm still not 100%, but that will come soon enough. I'm so grateful that Kim was with me in the ER to be my voice and push for tests. I'm not sure I would have gone to the ER if she wouldn't have been here. My gall bladder could have ruptured and that would have been a bad deal. Thanks so much Kimmy!!


• Allie spent several days with Kim, my mom & my sister while I was recovering from surgery. They went to the pool, saw movies, shopped & had tons of fun.


• Jake started a basketball camp sponsored by the high school it goes the rest of the summer and he loves it.


• Jake spent the night at his friend Adam's, Paul's & Nick's all in the week following my surgery. I have such wonderful friends that took Jake places & had him over so I could rest.


• My parents and sister both came up to help me out after my surgery. I'm lucky to have family that can help me out. My sister was also able to see Jake play ball.


• Sturgis Falls weekend was fun. Some friends of mine took the kids to the events on Friday night. On Saturday, Jake was in the parade. I went down to watch him & came right home to rest. The kids spent the rest of Saturday hanging out at the parks with friends. Sunday morning, Jake & Scott ran the 5k. Scott ran it in just over 20 mins and Jake ran it in 24:45. I was able to see the race. Later that day, we went downtown and let the kids ride some rides.


• Allie went to her friend Abbie's sleepover party. She also spent the night at her friend Lauryn's house. Allie had her friend Maddie sleep over here.


• Allie went to the pool with her friend Maddie. Jake went to the pool a couple of different times with friends Ben and Mason.


• I had a follow up appointment for my surgery. The doc says I'm recovering nicely & can start to exercise & lift as I feel up to it. I walked a mile after that appointment. I don't think I was quite ready for that!


• Allie is still going to tutoring twice a week.


• We went to the pool. Jake took Paul & Allie took Skylar.


• Scott and I attended a dinner at My Verona that honored Scott's boss for being a Nissen dealer for 35 years. It was a nice dinner.


• We went to see Cars 2. Jake went with Nick & Paul. Allie with Skylar.


• Allie & I got our hair cut & we look pretty good!


• I took Allie & her friend Lauryn out for a girl's day. We went to lunch downtown, then painted pottery. Next it was off to Scratch for cupcakes, finally we went to Claire's to buy some "bling".


• We spent the 4th of July weekend with my family. We attended baby Kylee's baptism and then had the annual Fischer party at my parent's house. The waterfight was fun as usual (we filled 1500 balloons) and the fireworks were amazing (thanks to my brother Will, who helps with the event).


• Jake still has baseball practice twice a week.


• Jake went to the orthodontist. He still has 8 baby teeth left and some molars that haven't come in. No braces yet. The orthodontist will see him next summer.


• Coming up...the kids and I are going to our friend's lake house to boat for a day, we have dentist and doctor appointments, tutoring, basketball camp, baseball practice & games, the midnight showing of Harry Potter (for Jake & I), College Hill Art Festival & much more!
  
  

Going for a ride in Uncle Will's golf cart.

Fischer cousins on the 4th.

Jake & friends on the 4th.

Fischer cousins at Kylee's Baptism.

Kylee, her parents & grandparents.

My sister & her kids.

My brother & his family

My lovely family.

Allie & Lauryn at Sturgis.

The big race.

The baseball boys after the parade.

Drew with his cake.

Allie & friends at Musicmania camp.

Some of the kids after the water fight.

Water fight.

ONLY A WEEK GONE BY! WOW!

Only a week has gone by since my last post. The joy of summer and free time! Here's what went on last week.

• I took Allie & her friend Maddie to see "Judy Moody" at the theatre. The kids loved it, I thought is was pretty boring and dozed a bit. Jake & friend Paul went to see "X Men" on their own. A big step!


• Allie spent the night at Maddie's house.


• Jake spent the night at his friend Christiano's house for his birthday. He said that they had fun and that his dad "made burgers that we as tender as melted butter."


• Jake had 2 ballgames. Both ended pretty bad with HUGE losses. Both were in the rain, which made it worse! In one of the games, one of our players got his in the elbow when he was up to bat & it broke his arm. Bummer! In the other game we were short 1 player, so it was rough.


• The kids went to their friend Makenna's birthday party.


• Jake started his first basketball camp of the summer at UNI. He loves it. Next week he starts his 2nd camp sponsored by CF schools.


• Allie has been going to Music Mania camp this week. They are singing, learning to play instruments, dancing and doing a few art projects. At the end of the week, they are putting on a play. Allie's role is "Moon 4" and playing the drums.


• Both kids have been going to VBS at their new church. They are having a great time. I volunteered one night at VBS.


• I went for drinks with my friends Karen & Cathi while the kids were at VBS. It was fun catching up with them. I also spent a morning (while the kids were at camp) shopping in downtown CF with my friend Kristin.


• We went to Drew & Delaney's birthday parties. Delaney was a hoot digging into her cupcake. Drew loved playing with Scott.


• Each day after basketball camp, Jake has hooked up with friends and played whiffle ball in a vacant lot nearby. I love our neighborhood and the fact that at any given time there are 2-15 boys around hanging out & staying active.


• Scott and I celebrated our 15 year anniversary! He surprised me with a BEAUTIFUL anniversary ring. He is getting a new laptop or iPad from me (he hasn't decided which he wants more).


• Next week: Jake has a ball tournament & several games, my brother & his family are coming to visit, Jake has basketball camp, Allie is going to spend several days with my family, Jake has a movie planned, I have drinks with friends planned, my sister & her kids are coming to visit for a couple of days, Jake has ball practice, Sturgis Falls weekend and Jake is running another 5k. Whew!

Delaney

Drew with his cake.

Kylee

Laney

Nana & her girls

Jake at bat

Jake pitching.

Jake & friends at Makenna's party

Makenna's party goers

Tug of War gone bad!