More Family Fun

We are making the most of these great summer days!  National Night Out was again hosted at the Purple Park.  We biked there and the kids enjoyed jumping, face painting, visiting with friends, high-fiving police officers, and playing at the park.

Check our Cooper's Spiderman paint job!

Izz got a butterfly.

The paint jobs didn't last long... the kids found the sprinkler.  And the mud pit that had formed beneath it.  They had to bike home like this!!!!

That same week, we hit up the Como Zoo.  It was an amazingly fun day as usual :)  The zoo never disaappoints our kids!

Here is a classic Kalal family selfie.  The faces just keep getting crazier!!

I had found a Groupon for Como town wristbands and the kids were overjoyed to find out they didn't have a ride limit... they could just go on whatever they wanted.  Check out those excited faces!!!

Carson was happy as could be going on the few rides that he could.  He loved the cars, and kept this funny little grin on his face the whole ride.

The last 'ride' the kids went on was the splash pad adventure zone.  Here, they're waiting for the big bucket to drop on them.

My little criminals??

Jeremy and I even got away this week for some adult fun with our friends at the horse track.  I won $20 and that's all I needed to make me happy!  I guess I sure know how to pick em :)

And... drumroll please... we finally got to Crayola Experience!!!  Cooper had gotten a gift card for Christmas from Adam and Chelsea, Jeremy and I got in free with our teacher ID's, and I found a Groupon for Izzy, and Carson was free.  It was a cheap and fun day!!

The next time we go, I think Carson might stay home.  He had fun, but he's just not quite big enough to have the same fun that the big kids had.  He spent a little time taking some laps in the stroller while we balanced letting the big kids do everything Crayola Experience had to offer.  We spent several hours there--it was a blast!!

Izzy the Dancer

Izzy got to join a summer dance camp.  It was a princess dance camp that ran for three days... and she got to wear her favorite princess dress each day.  She LOVED it.

On the first day, the parents got to pop in to see the little routine they were working on.

I am curious to see if Izzy will decide to keep loving gymnastics or if she'll want to switch over to dance :)  Time will tell!

Fair Fun!

Our kids love the Fair.  LOVE.  They got to go to the fair nearly every day this year, so they were pretty much in heaven.  Izzy and Cooper also each got their own 'special' time at the fair with Grandma and Grandpa Kalal.  We saw lots of friends throughout the weekend, too!

Carson loved seeing the baby animals in the Miracle of Birth barn.  Here, he's petting a baby chick.  "Oh, he's so cuuuuute!" he would say.

Cooper and Izzy walk around the fairgrounds like they own the place :)

On Kids' Day, I took the kids out for almost five hours!  There was so much to do, including check out the big service vehicles.

"Mom, I'm a firefighter!!"  He proceeded to tell me that lots of times over the next couple weeks, whenever he would help me water the flowers!

Watching this kid really get to experience the fair this year was pretty cute.  Last year, Carson spent most of his time in the stroller, but this year, he wanted to explore and check EVERYTHING out.

He loved the BIG tires.  He kept telling me how soft they were :)

Izzy got to see Anna and Elsa again this year.   She was awestruck when Elsa said, "You look familiar.  Did I meet you here last year?"  Super cute.

We discovered Carson has a love for corn dogs.  Clearly, he gets his good taste from his mom :)

The jumping monkeys really got some air on the trampolines!

Izzy even figured out how to do a flip in the air!

The night before the Derby, we had some last-minute painting to take care of... The kids got to put their hand prints on Jeremy's truck for their yearly luck!

The night of the derby was SO FUN!  It was Izzy's first tine doing the kid derby.  As usual, she was fearless.  She was one of two girls out there, and she was smiling from ear to ear the entire time.  She was squealing and giggling like crazy.  At one point, Matthew smashed into her, and she smacked the hood of his car and tried to push him away.  She also got some laughs from the announcer because she would drive quite a ways away from the action like she was going for a Sunday drive.  Then she's come raring back in and crash.

Cooper and his mohawk were ready!  He's a seasoned vet and knew just what to do.  He had a great time smashing the crashing.

This year, instead of everyone getting a trophy, they had a drag race to determined 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.  Cooper was SO EXCITED to win 2nd place.  He was so proud of his giant trophy, and he ended up being the only one in the family to bring home some hardware!

He was sitting in the stands, with his trophy of course.  After Jeremy's truck heat in which he took 4th place, the drivers were waiting for their cars to get pulled off the arena.  Cooper stood up, held his trophy high, and shouted, "I did better than you, dad!"  All the people around us cracked up.  And Jeremy heard him loud and clear!

Our late-night, dirty, derby selfie!

A Kalal family affair

After the races, we were walking around the fair, looking for a bite to eat.  Cooper spotted his Kindergarten teacher, Miss Laurent.  She listened to his excited story of the night and gave him some giant hugs.  He was so excited and proud to see her!

The next morning, this happened.  Talk about proud.

Sunday, we spent some family time at the fair.  It was the first time in the whole five days we were actually all together in the same place at the same time!

Story of my life:

What trip to the fair is complete without a treat?

Until next year!!

Izzy and Mom Day

I had the most wonderful day with this little lady.  Izzy got to choose every detail of the day, and she loved having a day just with me :)

We started our day at the movies.  We saw Despicable Me 3 at the new Shakopee theater, which has leather recliners.  It was heavenly!

We both love our popcorn, but a giant bucket was juuuuust the right amount for us to share!

We met up with Jeremy after the movie for lunch at Chili's.

And then we headed to Manic Ceramic in Lakeville to paint a project.  She picked a mermaid, and we had fun being silly and thinking of creative ways to paint her creation.

It turned out great!  We left it there to get fired, and will pick it up in about a week.  I just know it's going to turn out great!

We had such a fun day together, and I loved giving Izzy some special attention without her brothers around.  She does love her brothers, but everyone needs a little special time of her own :)  I just love this girl so much.  She is funny, spunky, silly, sweet, and so full of personality.  She bounces--literally bounces--when she is excited and happy.  I love her energy.  It's the kind that literally lights up a room.

We spent a little time on our special day talking about preschool, and she is a little nervous.  She has mentioned it a few other times, as well... even to the point of tears.  She said she's worried about making friends, and about whether she'll have anyone to play with.  I never NEVER never expected that Izzy would be apprehensive about school.  She has no fear for anything, but this is different.  It definitely catches me off guard to see some 4-year-old insecurities coming out.  I wish I could find the perfect way to reassure her, but I know she just needs to experience it ;)  I know she is going to make friends fast... we talked about how she just needs to be herself, and be kind, and invite other friends to play, and just have fun, and friendship just happens!  Stay tuned for her first day :)