Eckerts Fun

Last week went spent Labor Day at Eckerts Farm. It is a pretty neat place and we have taken Nora there before, but Stella had not been. Throughout the year they have strawberries, apples, peaches, blackberries, tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins and other fruits and veggies too. When we went we hit the peak of honeycrisp apple season and the very tail end of peach season. The girls were really excited and Nora brought her friend Ally with her.
When we got there we walked around and saw some of the farm animals they have and had lunch. The big girls were really excited to have corn dogs (it cracks me up). After that we got on the tractor and headed out into the orchard. We let the big girls pick 5 apples each and they had so much fun doing it. They ate some apples while we were out too. After the apples we hit the peaches and they were nice and ripe. Stella ate a whole peach and wanted more. We were both covered in peach juice by the time we left. So much fun!

School Days

School days, that is for sure. And these school days are pertaining to me. I was accepted into St. Louis University as a doctoral student in the Educational Leadership and Administration program. Holy moly, what did I get myself into?! As many of you know I have always wanted that title behind my name and now I am going after it. I decided, with help from Peter, that now was the time to do it while the girls are still little and not into too many activities.
I went to orientation a few weeks ago and found out that the program has changed a little bit. Instead of it being a weekly Thursday night class it is 2 Saturday's a month. Each class will be held on 4 Saturdays from 9am to 5pm and that is for real. I went to my first class this past Saturday and actually got out at 5:10 to be exact. It was a very LONG day, but in the end will be worth it.
I chose SLU because they are one of the few programs out there that is a true cohort program and also because you can enter the program without having a specialist degree. The program is designed to encompass a specialist degree as well, but in the end you will have an Educational Doctorate. The program itself is a 38 hour program (7 semesters long). So by hopefully by the end of 2016 I will be done. I will be doing my dissertation with two other people in the program and that is determined by our advisor.
It will be an interesting journey, but an exciting one. I am excited to take the next step in my education and in my career. After this school year I will be actively looking for a principalship. By the time I am done with this program I will be able to eventually be a superintendent, but we will see about that. Not sure I will head that way or not. I need to become a principal first and go from there ;)

Kindergarten

Well our sweet Nora girl is a big kindergartner! I just can't believe it sometimes that I have a child old enough to be in a big school. She was so excited to go. The whole week before she kept asking if today was the morning she was going to get to go to kindergarten. So the day finally came and we got ready and headed off! Peter worked from home that day so he was able to go as well! We got there a bit early and when the bell rang we actually got to take her into her classroom and take some pictures. The plan was to drop her off in the mornings and she is taking the bus to me at Gotsch after school. For those of you who don't know she is going to Affton this year, so we can be on the same schedule. She is actually going to be riding the bus in the mornings too. There is a stop right in our sitters neighborhood and that way I won't be getting to work right when I am supposed to and it will give me a little extra time. Her good friend Lucy, from pre-k is in her class and the teacher put them right next to each other!! So far she has enjoyed the first two days of school. Her favorite part is the bus ride, go figure! Lots of new things for all of us!

Nora's First Feis

This morning Nora participated in her first Irish Feis (pronounced Fesh). A feis is an Irish dancing competition and they have many competitions through the US throughout the year. There are 3-4 that are held in St. Louis every year and one of them was this morning. She competes with kiddos that are her same age, so it isn't too cut throat and the more they compete the better they become. And the great thing about our dance school is the teacher is okay if they don't compete a lot (which I like). There is no pressure. Anyway, so we headed to the An Samhra Feis and Nora did awesome!! It was her and another little girl in her age bracket that were competing in their first feis today. I was so proud of Nora!!! I was so worried that she might not even do it, but she did and wasn't nervous at all. She came in second place and was just ecstatic and we made such a big deal about it!!! That is all she has talked about the rest of the day. She is proud of herself. Can't wait for her to continue and learn even more. She did two dances today, the light jig and the light reel. She had no idea what she was doing for the reel, but the jig she did pretty well at. The point of a first feis is to get them out there and in front of people and that is exactly what she did!!! So proud of my Nora!

Vacation-Colorado

Peter and I took a little vacation this summer. We took advantage of Bob and Debbie taking the girls for their annual week in the summer and we headed to Colorado. Our plans changed slightly due to the fact that I had my appendix out, so no horseback riding or whitewater rafting for us, but we still had a wonderful time!!
We drove the girls to Chicago on Thursday and attended Peter's cousins wedding on Friday. We flew out of Chicago on Sunday and headed to Denver. We arrived early that morning and we went to an Irish Festival that afternoon. We walked around listened to a few bands, bought some things and headed back to my Uncle Pat and Aunt Mary's that night. In the morning we drove down to Colorado Springs (Manitou Springs) to stay with my cousin Matt. We did some sightseeing while we were there. We saw Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, downtown Manitou Springs, Air Force Academy and downtown Colorado Springs. We had a bear cross in front of us while driving to Walmart. It was one of the craziest things I have ever seen. It was so great to see my cousin Matt and he was an awesome host! On Wednesday we went back to Denver and hit up the outlet mall on the way back and took a lazy day. Thursday we visited Red Rocks Ampitheatre and did a brewery tour that evening with my Uncle Pat. Friday we laid low and then took in a Rockies vs Cubs game that evening. We had so much fun while in Colorado.

Beginning of July!

Goodness I haven't blogged in a long time!!! Where has the month of July gone. I will start with the beginning of July and my birthday. The first day of July I traded my car in for a brand new 2013 GMC Acadia! It is awesome. We had been thinking about a new car and finally decided to do it. We wanted more room to travel to chicago in and this baby has it.
The next day for my birthday we went to the Science Center and then out to dinner at a new mexican place, which was really yummy. They had 10 different salsas on their salsa bar which was excellent. I had a great birthday and got to celebrate with my cousin Maggie that was in town as well.

Early on the morning of July 4th myself, mom and the girls headed to Omaha to see Aunt Coco, Uncle Scott, Allison, Danny, Uncle John, Aunt Sally, Michelle, Maggie and Brian. We made really good time and arrived right around 2:30. I had started not feeling well around 1:00 and so when we got there I tried to lay down. Long story short, I ended up in the emergency room and at 9:00 that night I was having my appendix taken out. Not a fun way to spend the 4th of July. Peter had to end up flying up to Omaha to drive us all back home since I was going to be no help in the car. Needless to say I have no pictures from our trip to Omaha. I think it is the first time that I don't have anything.

I still managed to make it to the Dave Matthews Concert though, less than a week after surgery. We had 2nd row so I wasn't going to miss it. Let's say it was the most laid back concert I ever went to.

Camping

We headed to Lazy Holler Lake this past weekend for our annual Bromeier camping trip. We changed locations due to the state parks not caring for how loud we were. So we are now on private property with our own lake, cabins (or cottages as Nora called them) and shelter house! We had an awesome time. We also did our 4th of July celebration since we have outgrown everyone's homes.

Friday when we got there the weather was still warm and the kiddos were able to swim and the Reid girls loved every minute of it! I was a little nervous Nora was not going to get in because she freaked out when we were having pictures done in Chicago and there was a lagoon and she wouldn't go near it. But she surprised me and was a little fish. We played and had lots of fun.

Saturday we had our annual Washer Tournament and my cousin Kurt was dethrowned this year!!! He has been the reigning champ since 2009!! My dad and Uncle Dan beat him and received the trophy that Kurt had made. We had a BBQ feast and shot fireworks and had a ball! It did rain, but Nora danced in the rain and there were no complaints from here. The Reids stayed in once of the cabins and Nora was so excited she got to sleep on a bunk bed. Can't wait for next year.