Last night of gymnastics/Last day of Mpls Kids and Getting ready for Kindergarten!

Summer is wrapping up and we had a couple more "lasts" for the summer this week.

For as much as I have complained about Luke reading the paper in the morning--I'd have to say I am happy that my kids see the importance of reading and keeping up with the news.....and I love that Luke engages the kids in things in the paper they are interested in (pictures of animals, fish caught, etc)! 

Like Father Like Son

As Bishop prepares for 1st Grade, Nora is starting to prepare for Kindergarten! On Tuesday she had her early childhood development screening....and she passed with flying colors! She is SO ready for Kindergarten already--she can't wait to be at the same school as Bishop! It was so fun watching her play as we waited for her screening and results!

Working on some numbers!

She loved this little house!

Tuesday night brought the last night of gymnastics for Nora for the summer! She loved it and had such a fun, positive experience! I could tell her skills had improved over the summer and she's excited to start up in the Fall again!

On "Stage" with her ribbon! Congrats, Nora!

With schools starting soon we had to say good bye to Ms. Trisha, as she goes back to complete her grad degree. We loved having her in Nora's room for the summer--thanks for everything, Ms. Trisha, we'll miss you!

And Friday brought the last day of Minneapolis Kids for Bishop! We had our ups and downs at Mpls Kids this summer, but overall I believe it was the right place for Bishop. On the last day they held a talent show and Bishop and Asa signed up for "basketball skills"--since they couldn't get a real hoop on stage the boys shot tennis balls into a bucket and then they counted how many they made. Bishop got into it and had fun, it was cute to see!

Buds-so thankful Bishop had Asa at Mpls Kids this summer!

Camping at Baker Park/Lake Independence

Since our first camping trip of the summer was derailed due to pneumonia we planned another weekend to camp--just the 4 of us. On Friday we packed up the car (and new bike rack) and headed out to Baker Park Reserve/Lake Independence. We had plans on Friday night to play with our friends and have dinner with them at the campsite.....however, it was DOWNPOURING on our way out so we took a quick detour and warmed up the chili at their house instead while we waited for the rain to pass. I am so glad we did--it would not have been fun setting up camp in the rain!

We got pretty lucky with our timing too--we got to our campsite around 7:30ish or so--set up our tent, made a fire and had some smores....crawled into the tent around 9 or so and it started raining again! Thankfully our tent held up this year and we stayed dry inside the tent!

Bishop and Jack playing in the rain!

Annika and Nora catching frogs! Nora got a new skirt too! ;)

Excited to be camping!

Making some smores!

On Saturday morning we made burritos for breakfast and tried to find dry places to sit......and then we jumped on our bikes to tour around the park. We biked to the playground and my friend, Beth and her family joined us to play for about an hour before lunch! It was so great seeing them! Bishop had been to this park on a field trip so he was excited to return to the zip line! It was a neat park, lots of trails and a couple beaches on a nice lake!

Breakfast at the campsite on Saturday morning!

Nora, Pressley, Bishop and Paxton!

After lunch Luke went for a roller ski and Bishop biked with him while Nora and I got some fire wood and got some things done at the campsite! I was pretty lucky to have such a great helper-she even pulled the cart for me!

After the ski and bike we cooled off in the lake and then went on a family bike ride! I'm so glad Bishop likes to bike so much! It's fun for all of us!

We played a little Uno at our campsite, made brats for dinner and roasted some more smores! As a bedtime snack we made popcorn, which was a HUGE hit! The kids loved shaking the pan and watching the popcorn pop and grow!

Making popcorn was a huge hit!

On Sunday morning we went on another family bike ride--the kids hiked around by our campsite a little, we went for a swim, had lunch and then packed up to head back home. Being we were only 30 minutes from home it was nice to be able to enjoy some of Sunday at the park too!

Playing catch in the lake!

Going on a little hike

Nora met a friend who let her sit in her tube!

Nora running while Bishop bikes around the campground!

We had such a great weekend camping. Aside from the rain on Friday the weather was great......the only part we didn't like was the mosquitos! The kids had so much fun camping, helping and playing, which made the weekend that much more fun for all of us! I'm so happy the kids enjoy doing different things and things that Luke and I enjoy doing as well! 

Olympic Gymnastics and Track and Field

The Summer Olympics are here this year and we have had so much fun watching them!! Our favorites include swimming, gymnastics and track and field! This has also led to some of our own Olympic competition at the Froehle household (mainly gymnastics) and a track and field meet!

Need to work on the JUMPing part of the Long Jump! ;)

Bishop and Avery were pretty competitive in the Long Jump! Neither of them wanted to lose!

3 of the 4 track stars (missing Cal in the picture)

Bishop in the 100 yard dash

Nora running the 100! 

My smiling runners!

Bishop and Cal in the 60 meter dash!

Best buds!

All smiles in the 60 meter dash!

The kids wanted to practice sleeping in their sleeping bags for camping--so they camped out on our bedroom floor!

Bishop performing some gymnastics moves!

Birthday Celebrations Continue

I felt very lucky to be able to continue my birthday celebration all week long! The kids went to Owatonna for the weekend so we had a couple date nights! On Friday night we went out with the Heller's--we had HH at Cafe Maude and dinner at St. Genevieve--it was such a fun night with great friends!  

Friends since Kindergarten! Love this girl!

Blessed with great friends!

Saturday Luke and I went out for breakfast and ran a few errands. In the afternoon we went on a bike ramble, which was a ton of fun! We started off at Steel Toe Brewery and biked to Indeed and finished at Bauhuas before heading down to the block party at The Bachelor Farmer (Kraftstiva) where Metric was playing. We had such a great time biking to the breweries and looking back we wished we would have continued to do that.......the block party was fun--just a little crowded (and LOUD)! There was crayfish to eat, which was messy and hard to eat, but overall we had a fun night!

Meanwhile the kids had a blast in Owatonna--there was a fishing contest at Cabela's and the kids each got new fishing rods. They weren't too successful with the fishing, but did end up catching one!

Helping make dessert for Sunday!

Date night!

On Sunday morning the kids went golfing before heading back home! We hosted a get together with the Bormann's and it was great seeing everyone!

A water chugging contest!

Fun in the "baby pool"!

Minneapolis Kids was a roller coaster this summer for Bishop. We had some separation anxiety and some difficult drop offs, but I'm so proud of him for sticking it out and making the best of it....even though he didn't want to many days! 

Mpls Kids had a car wash to raise money for the animal they were going to adopt from the Como Zoo so Luke and stopped by to get our car washed. Bishop was eager to help--all the kids were having a blast washing cars! 

Bishop and Asa--buds!