Wedding Bliss...

My cousin, Andy, got married this past weekend in Minneapolis.  We made the journey to Minnesota to share in their special day and were thrilled that we would be able to spend the weekend with Grandma Jane and the Kempers too.

Prior to the wedding, we soaked in all the time we could with our family.  We knew that the weekend was going to fly by, so we wanted to make the most of the time that we had!

We spent plenty of time in the pool...

We went to the Mall of America.  The mall is a bit overwhelming for the average adult, let alone 5 little ones.  They were amazing little shoppers...

The little ones headed back to the hotel to take a nap, while the ladies stayed at the mall to shop our little hearts out...!  Sullivan hung with us for a short while and then headed back to the hotel.  She tried her darndest to hang with the big girls!

I had the best time shopping with these ladies.  It brought me back to the good old days where we marathon shopped for hours on end!  It was nice to relive those memories.

Because we marathon shopped right through the kids' nap, they met us back at the mall for more shopping and dinner once they woke up!

At dinner, Grandma Jane joked around with her chopsticks...

Monkey see, monkey do...

We also did some late night dancing at the mall...

The day of the wedding, we needed a couple of things from Target.  Mer, Ryan and I decided to pack up the kids and do a little (more) shopping.

A few things from Target turned into a little more than a few things.  

Like popcorn for a snack...

And a trip down the toy aisle where plenty of treasures were discovered...

Honestly, taking five kids to Target seems a bit like herding cats.  And while you could say that we might have done a bit of that, they were awesome little shoppers.  I was so proud of how well they all behaved and acted in the store.

So much fun packed into a short weekend.

More on the wedding festivities soon...!

State Fair - 2016

The State Fair in Indiana is a big deal.  The 17 day ordeal (yes, 17 days!) typically draws hundreds of thousands of people, like 900,000 - us included.  The weather this year was less than desirable.  We thought about going to the fair several times, but the weather just didn't cooperate.

Finally, this past Friday looked like it would work out.  The news reporters were saying, "Today's the day to get to the fair.  There is little chance for rain and the sun should shine."  But if you know anything about Indiana weather, you know they are very unreliable.  We took our chances after the girls got home from school, despite the rain that was falling as we left our house.

Ryan assured us that it was a pop up shower, it was moving north away from the fair and all would be fine. "It's not going to rain."  Fast forward about an hour...

That's us (and about 75 other people) huddled under a tent trying to stay dry.  Except that the tent had a massive leak in it and didn't do it's job!  Sullivan Grace was a mess - terrified of the storm that had very quickly blown in.  So after contemplating what to do, we made a mad dash in the downpour for the nearest building. 

Famous last words - "It's not going to rain."

Divine intervention must have taken shape, because low and behold we happened to run right into the building that housed all the rabbits - Sullivan's favorite animal and near obsession.  

It most definitely took her mind off the storm and what was going on.

I can't even describe the magnitude of this building filled with rabbits.  There was an insane amount of them.  Sullivan asked if we could take one home - which was answered with a quick and resounding, "NO!"  But there was a sweet lady taking care of the rabbits that allowed our girls to pet one.  That seemed like a good compromise to me! 

There was a small break in the storm so we made a dash into another building.  We saw all sorts of things.  If nothing else, the storm forced us to see parts of the fair that we normally overlooked.  It was refreshing.  It was fun.  It was a nice change!

We saw cookie contest winners...

The state's largest vegetables...

A pluthora of Bicentennial displays...

Quinn and Sullivan were even asked to help repaint a historical marker sign that will eventually be on display once the painting is finished.  That is a pretty awesome experience to know you had a hand in helping restore something that will be on display!

Eventually the storm did pass through.  We were able to enjoy some yummy food...

Rode on some fun rides...

And take our iconic fair picture...

It's hard to tell, but Quinn and Sulla are together making a heart with their hands.  

We heart Indy!!

This year's fair was unlike anything we've experienced before.  It's one that we will remember for years to come.  The famous last words will echo loudly, "It's not going to rain!"

Getting Ready

Getting ready to head back to school required a couple different things... school supply shopping and a Pooley family fun day!

The weekend before school started, I headed to Iowa to pick up the girls (who had been in SD while we were on vacation).  Grandma Jane, Quinn, Sullivan and I had an evening to spare - as we were spending the night in Iowa City before making the journey home the following day.

The girls were anxious and antsy to school supply shop.  They asked a few dozen times before we left on vacation.  But sadly I was in survival mode before our trip and had no desire to shove supply shopping in there.  So they were beyond elated when I told them we could school supply shop in Iowa.  They were even more elated that Grandma Jane was there with them!

We got back from SD - thrilled to all four be together again.  We had a blast in Belize, but man alive, did we miss those girls!! To celebrate being together again, and the start of the new school year, the girls wanted to go to Ben and Ari's - a local mini golf and arcade.

We had such a great time playing and laughing.  But the fun couldn't stop there - a stop by the gas station for slushies was calling our name! It was a marvelous way to end the day of fun!

One More Belizian Story....

One more story to document from our time in Belize.  Our adventures with Scott and Abatha are never without a tale....

To preface this story, our expected departure from Belize was set for Wednesday morning.

 

As we were headed through town Tuesday, we noticed that all the locals were hauling plywood. We thought it was odd.  We made several comments about it.  We even joked that it must be "plywood day."  On the island, they are known to get shipments of different items on given days (milk comes on Mondays)  So we had a good chuckle about the many people hauling lots of plywood around.

Once we got home though, the joke was on us!  We noticed our groundskeeper was on our beach hauling in our lawn chairs. He hadn't done that the whole week we were in Belize.  That's when the lightbulb clicked. Ryan checked the weather report and sure enough... Tropical Storm Earl (later categorized into a hurricane) was bearing down on Belize the following day.  Shortly there after we got a call from Port Authority asking what our evacuation plan was going to be.  Given that we had flights headed back to the States the following morning we felt safe.

We made it from our small island to Belize City on our little prop plane.  A whole new level of anxiety hits when you are sitting in a small prop plane knowing that a hurricane is looming!  Once we made it to Belize City, the airport was swarming with people trying to get out of Dodge. Our flight was delayed getting out of there because of lightning. They put the airport on "Alarm 1" - and halted all boarding of airplanes.  Once the first rounds of storms went through and there was a small break in the weather, the plane quickly loaded and headed for home!  Thankfully we made it out safe and sound. 

We later found out that the airport closed about an hour or two after we departed. Scary to think that we made it out of there by the skin of our teeth. Otherwise our experience with Hurricane Earl would have been way, way worse!

Hurricane Earl left a lot of destruction on the island of San Pedro where our house was located. The estimated damage on the island where we stayed alone was nearly $10 million dollars.  Sadly, that's about $10 million dollars more than that island can afford to spend.  Here are some images from the local paper. So devastating and so sad to see...

We couldn't have enjoyed our trip to Belize any more than we did - even if the weather and Mother Nature were trying to stop us!!!

School Has Begun...!

Today marked the start of the 2016-2017 school year for Quinn and Sullivan.

Both girls were super excited to go back to school, see their friends, and meet their teachers.

Quinn started 5th grade at the intermediate school today.  

She is in a school of about 1,000 students in both 5th and 6th grades.  

Quinn is becoming so independent and so grown up.  She picked out her outfit all by herself and had an idea of just how she wanted her hair to look this morning. Long gone are the days that I get to pick out her outfits for her.  Her independence simultaneously makes me sad and makes my heart sing all at once!

Sullivan continues at the same school as last year.  

This year she is a big 2nd grader!!!

Sullivan was hoping for one specific teacher all summer long.  Turns out luck was on her side and she got the teacher she was hoping for!  We went to the ice cream social on Monday where she was able to meet her teacher, Ms. Coldren.

Here are the school girls together this morning....

Both girls came home with a great report today.  They both enjoyed their teachers and saw old friends.  They are eager to go back again tomorrow for day #2.  One day down, 179 to go!!

Here's to a great new year!