An Afternoon on the BSVRR

 

 A few weekends ago we took an afternoon to head up to Boone and take a ride on the Boone Scenic Valley Railroad with some friends. We had an awesome time and it was a great experience for everyone!

 

How cute are Michael and his new friend Maddox? All the kids are so, so cute!

The train took us on a 90 minute right from Boone to the mining town of Fraser. We went on this big, tall bridge that was pretty scary! I was very nervous during the ride but it turns out that it is all very safe. I would love to go back in the fall when the leaves are changing.

It was a great afternoon out and then we had an awesome BBQ dinner hosted by our friends in Ames. The kids played well together and all the adults had a fun time catching up and telling embarrassing stories from high school.

You can read more about our adventures on the desmoinesparent.com blog!

Instafriday

Well folks, we are back at it! School has officially started! This is by far, the longest week of the year for me...it is so hard to get back into the groove of being at school all day but by golly we are getting there. I am loving this school year already and I know great things are in store for my students! 

I've been trying to jazz up my bandroom with some inspirational posters and also flipped the room so the students face the board. I have loved this already and works so well for my teaching style as a compulsive board writer (I think it stems from being a visual learner??). The last two posters are really reminders for ME as a teacher. Sometimes getting caught up in the stress of school makes me lose sight of why I am a band teacher- because it is FUN! I want students to be in my program because they also think its fun. That doesn't mean we aren't going to work hard or strive for excellence, but I think I kinda think those things are fun, too. :o) 

Unfortunately, being at school all day means I have to leave this sweet guy every morning. Last Tuesday he snuck out of his bed after bedtime to come and snuggle with me while I watched TV. I think he probably just missed his mommy all day and wanted to be near me. He also likes climbing in with us in the morning since he is a little bit of an earlier riser than we are. I love those moments and I know they won't last forever!

We had an awesome weekend last weekend with a trip to Mitchell, SD and a friends' wedding. I have more pictures to share as soon as I get them off my memory card- yikes!

Chubby baby- can't. handle. the. rolls. 

How beautiful are they? Seriously! 

Little baby turning into a toddler!

I don't think I mentioned it on the blog, but Scott and I did celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary in July. We didn't really celebrate (except Scott got me a very nice gift!) and I just hate how happy days like that make me remember a time where I was much more carefree and didn't know the heartache that my life would present. When you get married you are so full of hopes and dreams you don't imagine that they won't all come true. 

We also had a cone at Snookies- so yummy!

Michael performing his nightly "tricks" for me. Usually consisting of jumping off his bed, spinning, somersaults, any other crazy thing he can think of. 

Hard at work drawing his map from our house to his gramie's house.

...and a couple of yard photos to round it out. My weed sprayer just stopped working so it is pretty hairy out there right now. I am barely remembering to water my pots and that is usually the way things go when school starts up again. Hopefully we'll be replacing them with bright mums as fall is just around the corner!

Have a great week! Happy Friday! 

InstaFriday

 

 We visited the State Fair yesterday! We went rogue and took Michael stroller-less. I can't say if it was easier or harder, but definitely different. Some things were easier and some were harder. One thing was for sure, he sure had tired little legs after we got home and actually told me he, "wanted to go to bed". Wow!

I took quite a few video clips and hope to post it sometime soon. We had a great time! Here are my favorite state fair tips which is pretty much what spent the whole day doing:

Easy Coffee Morning

 

I had a few of my music colleagues over for a coffee morning last week. This has been on my radar to do all summer and I figured I better squeeze it in before summer was over! It was so great getting together with them because sometimes it is hard to sit down and catch up once the craziness of school starts.  I tried to keep the coffee morning simple and easy and I wanted to share!

 

Cinnamon Sticks, mixed fruit salad and danish were on the menu. The cinnamon sticks were from the Food Depot, a restaurant quality frozen foods store down the road from us. They were so good! I let them rise and popped them in right before people came over- what is better than a fresh cinnamon roll? I think a fresh fruit salad is a good compliment to any meal, especially in the morning and it is so easy to throw together. The homemade danish were a little fussy to make.

 

I will tell you the secret- you use Pillsbury crescent rolls but they really do taste homemade. Or is it semi-homemade? :o)

 Here's the recipe for homemade danish.

The hardest part was assembling the rolls so it took about an hour to do them. They were done for about an hour before guests arrived but still tasted fresh from the oven! I made a little glaze for the top and they looked really festive. 

 

Here is the really blurry photo of the coffee bar with flavored and breakfast blend. I had a little mishap after brewing about three pots of coffee where I think my coffee pot stopped working as well. I hope it tasted okay! I also had a kettle of hot water and teas on hand for non-coffee drinks as well as ice water and orange juice. 

Of course, the centerpieces were fresh and FREE flowers right from my backyard. This is my favorite time of summer with lots of things in bloom and it is fun to make little arrangements from whatever is out there!

I unfortunately didn't get any photos of people, but we had a great time and it was a good morning. I hope we can do it again soon!

Insta- Woodbury County Fair

1. Riding Moonshine the pony 2. Having fun in grandpa's Ranger- very fun to drive! 3. I'm famous at the fair! (not really) 4. Pedal tractors at Old Town- a little hard to maneuver for a three year old 5. My good travel partner that slept the whole three hours 6. Conquered the super slide! 7. Bouncing like Tigger on the trampoline at Gramie's house 8. Watching the ducks 9. Weee! Big boy on the swings 10. Lots of ribbons in the open class 11. First roller coaster by himself! 12. Seeing friends and babies is so fun (and mom, too!)

Woodbury County Fair 2013

 

 

We made the trek back to my hometown this past week to visit my family and to also visit the Woodbury County Fair. Growing up, fair week was definitely the highlight of the summer and I'm glad I can share it with my son. He had such a fun time!

 

 

 

 

 

Super sheep!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael's favorites included seeing all the animals- especially feeding the goats and riding the pony. I loved looking through the open class exhibits and catching up with old friends. It is so great to run into people you've hadn't seen in a while.

 

 

All the fun wore Michael out and it was so fun to catch him snoozing on the couch! I took a bunch of photos on my iphone so I'll be back tomorrow with a little insta-county fair update. Stay tuned!