Great weekend and then...

Wow! After an absolutely crazy fun weekend, it's back to reality. Yep, school started today. But I'll get back to that later. First, the fun!

We decided to take the kids on a mystery trip this past weekend. Didn't tell them until about 30 minutes before we left (because Jordan had to miss football practice!) So, the kids and I got in the car, went to pick up Kevin from work, and headed East. As we headed down the road, Jordan was sure we were going to visit Aunt Jenn and Uncle Eric in Dubuque. And then we turned North, and then he knew where we were going.

Unfortunately, his dream of going to the inaugural season at Target field didn't play out (we weren't going to pay $60 for standing room only tickets!)...

But we did go to Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America. We talked about going to Valley Fair, but decided that a Saturday would probably be too crazy and that the kids wouldn't enjoy waiting in line so much. Plus, Valley Fair no longer has a log ride and that was my favorite ride as a kid. I have many memories of going on that ride with my dad, so I wanted my kids to experience that. And it rocked! There were two big drops and for some reason, Kaylie and I (in the front of the boat) got soaked! Jordan and Kevin walked out of the boat almost completely dry. And we laughed and laughed...and those memories - I hope my kids have as fond of memories as I do riding that with dad.

The first ride we went on was a roller coaster. Kaylie was all for it - Jordan...not so much. But we convinced him to just "try" it. It was the Pepsi Orange Streak. Very tame. And needless to say, he loved it. Unfortunately we couldn't take cameras on the ride but we did get a picture of the picture that they took of us. And yes, Kaylie had her hands up the entire time! Let me tell you, that girl has no fear!

For Kaylie, the worst part of the day was being told she wasn't tall enough to go on a couple of the roller coasters. We discovered that Jordan gets a little motion sick on the spinning rides. With a little coaxing, he tried a few of them, but after seeing him get off the last one and thinking that the chicken strips from lunch was going to come back up, we decided that he better take it easy. He truly loved the bumper cars with dad. Unfortunately, that seemed to be one of the longest rides to get on!

While dad and Jordan went on the bumper cars (they needed some quality bonding time, Kaylie discovered the Wonder Pets Flyboat. Oh my word. I got the giggles just watching her!

Yep, once again, she's got her arms up in the air. She absolutely loved the free fall effect. She wasn't tall enough to go on the big person one, but she would've if she could've!

We had an absolutely great weekend together as a family. Kevin and I both commented that this was the best time we have had together - traveling went well, the motel went well, the Mall was great. What memories!

And this morning, it was back to school. Or first day of school. Or whatever you want to call it. After bringing the school supplies to school at the open house last week, Jordan was finally ready to admit he was anxious for school to start. He's the big dog this year, 5th grade. I spent a while talking with his teacher at the Open House. He has the same teacher as last year, and we are excited about that. She will be recommending him for the gifted ed program, which is both humbling and exciting. He's anxious for that because, as he put it, "He's bored at school."

After fighting a ridiculous amount of traffic, we made it to school. Not much time for pictures outside because we ended up parking about 5 blocks away. I know, I should have just put them on the bus, but I couldn't do it.

This is the only year that they will be in the same building. Next year, Jordan will go to Middle School. He acts tough like he doesn't want to be in the same building she is, but I think he really is happy to be the big brother - protector - looking out for his little sister - type of guy. So I took this picture outside of school and BAM, he was off. Ready to find his friends again.

Kaylie could hardly wait while I took her picture by her "K01" room.

She sat right down and was welcomed by Mrs. Greer. She jumped right to work!

And so now, here I sit. All by myself. Reflecting. It's really quiet. I didn't cry - amazing. She was just so ready to go to Kindergarten! Well, I guess I can't say I didn't cry. Not until I got to the van. But not because I was leaving my baby in Kindergarten. It was because as I left school, I ran into Kaylie's friend from baseball, Hayley. Her dad was videotaping her going into school and it just really hit me how blessed I am. As a mom, I was able to witness my daughter's excitement on her first day of Kindergarten. Hayley's mom is serving our country in Afghanistan and she had to miss that. Not only do those service men and women put their lives on the line every day for my family's freedom, but they have to miss these precious moments in their children's lives as well. I don't know Hayley's mom - I don't even know what her name is. I have never met her. Her dad was at all of Hayley's games. I did get to meet her Grandma (who happened to be Jordan's 3rd grade teacher in Viborg). So, I thank God again for her and her willingness to go overseas for my freedom, and will pray for her, especially today.

So it's quiet. Really, really quiet. Even the sound of The Price is Right in the background doesn't make it seem less quiet.

I think I'm going to go and have dinner with Kevin just to break up my day a little bit!