First Days of School

Everybody's first day of school was different. Owen actually started Preschool last week, although I completely missed getting a first day of school picture of him.   Katelyn started on Monday for a half day. She has Mrs. McKnight, who she loves, and apparently she has a quiet voice the commands attention. I need to figure out where to find one of those for my house. Katelyn did a trial first day of school dress up on Sunday night to get ready for the real thing Monday morning. I caught both of them, but below is her actual first day pics. She was especially proud of her back pack.

Ellie made her debut in kindergarten today in Mrs. Teller's class. Mrs. Teller is super sweet and Ellie just ran right up to her and hugged her. I think she is going to have a great year. Ellie has been waking up every morning asking how many days until she starts school. She was made to learn. She loves to ask questions and see how things work.  The whole family walked her to school this morning. She has half days the rest of the week, so I have enlisted a former student (Peter Pan) to hang out with her in the afternoons.

I can't believe when I look at her that she has started kindergarten. It seems like yesterday that she was this cute little dimple faced toddler, and now she is a tall-lanky young lady that stands so tall and grown up.

First soccer games and Feather Farewell party

The girls started back soccer last Saturday. Katelyn played first and is in white. They actually took home their first loss since the team began. I think in three years. They actually didn't seem to mind much. It was pretty hot out and I think they were more focused on water and cooling off than the game. Katelyn scored a goal, but I wasn't quick enough to catch it on film.

Ellie's game was an hour later. She is on a new team this year and seems to be enjoying it. The coach seems nice and is engaging with the kids. I think they won, but nobody keep close score when they are that little.

With school starting on Monday, we all had to take our feathers out of our hair. They were fun while they lasted, but don't meet uniform standard guidelines. Alan took a picture of us before we all took them out.

CPA Football Begins!!!!! go Lions!

One of the benefits of our new house location is that we are right next door to the school so it makes it easier to make it to the games. Friday night was our first game with a new head coach, so there was a lot of suspense to see how it would all work out. We were the game of the week, so Rudy Kalis rode in on a helicopter and reported live from our fields. Owen stared in amazement. He is definitely all boy and loved watching the helicopter.

The girls donned their cheer girl outfits for the game. There was tailgating before at the new high school building with lots of friends and classmates. Grandmom Marilyn gave us the treat of being able to actually stay for the whole game as she took Owen home to bed around kick off. The night was a success with CPA romping Goodpasture. Contrats Coach Martin!!!

Thanks to Grandmom Marilyn!!!!!!

Since construction was a little behind on the new high school building, school was pushed back a week. Grandmom Marilyn so graciously agreed to bring Katelyn back a week later so that she could stay with us for the week before school starts and keep Katelyn and Ellie. I think they had a ball with their Grandmom time!!! She caught some of the best sibling pictures I have had in awhile.

Owen also started his new preschool this week at CPA. They seem to love him and say he is very sweet and well-behaved. Here is a picture of their buggy ride. The little girl next to him is a week older than Owen, but I'd say he could eat her up :)

The girls walking Owen home from school

Katelyn made it home

Ellie, Owen and I met Katelyn at the airport when she arrived from Camp Netimus. Ellie REALLY missed Katelyn. As soon as she saw her in the terminal, she RAN to her. As you can see from the picture, she went into the No Entry area and set off the alarms. But is was so sweet to see how much she loved her big sister. Katelyn's flight had been delayed, so Ellie put together a sign for her. She was actually initially delayed overnight and spend the night in Detroit. Thanks Grandmom Marilyn for taking such good care of her.

2 more days until Katelyn comes home

Tonight is Katelyn's last night at camp. We miss her dearly in the Calhoun household. She gets picked up tomorrow and will fly in on Sunday. Can't wait to see her!!!!! I can't believe my baby has been gone for 3 weeks. 

 Final dance performance

They came in through a window to a surprise Candyland banquet.

Cape Cod Vacation

In July, we were blessed to be able to go to Cape Cod and stay in a house with my inlaws. I think Cape Cod is one of my favorite vacation spots. The place is beautiful and you have a great time without anything spectacular scheduled. Their Shining Sea Bike Path runs 10 miles along the water and down to Woods Hole. We rented bikes for the week with Owen in a trailer and Ellie in a tagalong. I was especially proud of Katelyn who rode her own bike. She was initially apprehensive, but it quickly wore off as she tried to keep up with her older cousin, Rebecca. We took one day and biked the 6.5 miles to Woods Hole. It is  beautiful site and quaint town area. Owen liked the seals at the aquarium.

One day, we took a ferry trip over to Martha's Vineyard and strolled along the town. The kids took a dip in the ocean and enjoyed looking at the gingerbread houses. The highlight of the day was the three cousins (Katelyn, Ellie and Rebecca) and me getting feathers in our hair. They had asked for weeks for them and I finally caved. Unfortunately, they have to take them out for school.

We also hit a good old-fashioned county fair. I should show pictures of how disgusting our feet were, but I will spare you. They had the traditional rides, animals and treats. We realized that we have never taken our kids to a fair. It actually brought back memories of Aunt Joyce taking us kids to the fair every summer (but only on wristband days :) )

The week ended with Alan venturing home with Ellie and Owen, while I rode with the grandparents to Pennsylvania to take Katelyn to camp (which she is still loving). 

 I had to run in the morning to work off all the ice cream we ate.

 Katelyn, Ellie and their cousin

 Leaving the aquarium

 The top of the lighthouse on a not-so-clear day. The picture below is the prism glass thing that allows the light to shine miles and miles away. It is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. They can't figure out how it was made to replicate it, so they were very particular about not touching it.

Ellie petting a very new baby chick.

Camp Netimus

I dropped Katelyn off at camp a week ago today. We have missed her, but she seems to be having a fantastic time. I finally got to call her today. She says she misses us, but in the next breath, she talked about all her activities, so I'd say that camp has been a success. Camp Netimus does a great job of posting pictures, so I thought I'd share a few.

 Katelyn's cabinmates

 Her fabric painting class (above)

Bad Hair day (below)

 Katelyn with cousin Rebecca on right

 Visiting Shohola (she is in the light blue)

Dance at Camp Netimus (You can barely see her head behind purple girl)

Just now posting about the bi-annual Family Vacation

Every other year, the Bibelhauser Family takes a family vacation together. This year we had a record 28 converge in Garden City, SC at a beach house. I love this time of the year when my kiddos get showered with love and get to hang out with their cousins for a week.

The kids were all water bugs. Owen loved to run into the ocean and then run out. He would squeal with delight as the waves hit his toes. The girls learned how to body board (along with Aunt Sherry).  They also had the pleasure of their cousin, Katie, on the trip. They didn't want to go anywhere without her. It was fun to just watch them all week.

We also had a pool at our house for the first time. It came in handy since high tide came all the way up to the steps of our bridge over the dunes. It meant we had no beach access during the afternoons. One day was also spent at the water park.

The highlight for the kids, I think, was parasailing on our last day. They wanted to go and had no reservations about it. There was a full boat of us. Katelyn went up with Sherry and Ellie went up with me.

Sherry and Katelyn

Amy and Ellie

 Our parasailing crew

The morning we headed out.

Katelyn and Ellie's Luau Birthday Party

With the girls' birthdays just two days apart, you would have thought we would always celebrate their birthdays together. But until this year, they always seemed too far apart. It never made sense to combine a 2 year old and a 4 year old party. But as they turned five (today) and seven (on Tuesday), we decided to do a joint party with their friends and hosted a Luau at our house. After much fretting over food, games and whether they'd have enough friends show up to not be disappointed (yes, I know it is more my issue that theirs, but still . . .), the day arrived. And it turned out perfect. The two hours went by in a flash with flip flop decorating (thanks Kay for your creative help), hula hooping, limbo, pin the tail on the donkey (yes, my hubby is a little old school), and pinatas.  However, the main event ended up being a regular old slip and slide. With the temperatures hitting the upper 90s today, we invited the girls to wear their swim suits and have fun in the sun and water.

The afternoon ended with a scooter for Ellie from Aunt Sherry. The evening was even more eventful. Our gift to the girls was an iCarly karaoke machine. We are heading to bed this evening with Justin Beiber's Baby Baby blaring in our ears. Oh, what have we gotten ourselves in to???

Feeling truly blessed as the day ends--a successful party, a helpful sister who loves my kids, a great friend who spent two hours helping little kids decorate flip flops and a hubby who wore a grass skirt because he knew our kids would love it.

 Instead of a cake, we had cupcakes with the little umbrellas in them. The girls made them and then put on the icing and sprinkles and umbrellas.

 The Limbo

 Ellie Hula Hooping. We also had a Hula contest, which Katelyn won.

 The girls each had their own pinatas. They were tough to break. You can see Katelyn below scrambling for candy. I'd say she was successful.

 Owen loved the watermelon.

 . . . . and the cupcakes

Ellie on her new scooter from Aunt Sherry.