I couldn't do Six on Sunday. We had been on the road for well over six hours. I unpacked, ran to the grocery store, made dinner, and then #2 had her first soccer game of the season. We didn't get home until after 9pm and by then I was toast.
1. The girls go back to school on Thursday. I'm not ready. At all. I absolutely adore summer. Sleeping in. Flip flops. Summer nannies. 8pm Sonic trips. I could go on and on...
2. Last week the big girls came back on Tuesday afternoon and we picked up the little girls in Omaha Thursday afternoon. Since we didn't have kids I didn't cook. It was glorious. In fact, I didn't even go to the grocery store. We ate out and we scrounged and I was in heaven!
3. I cooked a "real" dinner the last two nights (Chili-Lime Shrimp Bowls with Black Bean Mango Salsa and Spaghetti (homemade sauce) and meatballs with spaghetti squash). Cooking is for the birds while working full time. I'd like an Alice, please.
4. As most of you know, my summer was sort of shitty. Well, except for June. June was great up until the 28th. So I had high hopes for our long weekend away last weekend and I can say it was a raging success.
5. Last Thursday we drove up to Sioux Falls and stayed with my good friend, Rachel, and her family. (Sidenote: We've been friends for over 30 years!) She has 5 kids - 4 of whom are still at home and they were so wonderful with my kids. The kids played soccer, jumped on the trampoline, played gymnastics and cards and had a great time!
Friday was cold-ish and rainy so we took the kids to Sky Zone and they had a blast!

It looked like so much fun I would have loved to try it. But 1. I'd probably just pee my pants and 2. The hubby had a bum ankle and it wouldn't be fair to just leave him out.
All in all it was a great start to our time in SD. The kids were sad to leave Rachel's house.
6. Little did they know, more fun and even more kids were waiting! Our family reunion was held in Garretson, SD again. This year my mom rented the Lodge and we all stayed there - my mom, sister and family, and us. I was a little nervous about staying at the Lodge but they've really fixed it up and it was nice. Plus, it's the location of the reunion so it was really handy!
7. Friday night we always have a golf tournament - a best ball event. It's really fun and there are flags and prizes for different holes. The girls could care less about the golf since it's all about driving the carts! Of course my favorite hole was in memory of my dad. Everyone (well, those over 21) had to toast my dad with a Miller Lite before teeing off. And then, as we approached the green, it looked like this:

We had to putt to the hole like this. And when we got up close, it looked like this:

Man, he would have LOVED this! It was so up his alley:)
8. Saturday morning I managed to squeeze in an 8 mile run. I posted pictures on Facebook since it was so different from any scenery I'm used to around here. It was actually a really great run! While I was out running the hubby took the big girls over to my uncle's farm (the farm where all the aunts and uncles grew up) to shoot. #2 didn't try it but #1 wasn't shy. She shot my dad's 12 gauge and a 20 gauge shotgun. Not bad for a 13 year old city girl, right?

After the morning festivities everyone gathered at the Lodge for a lunch. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but my mom is #8 out of 13 kids. Those 13 kids had over 30 kids (my generation) and we've had around 60 kids of our own and one of those kids has 3 kids! So, I did a little research because I wanted to find out what my cousins's kids are to me and what our kids are to each other. Here's what I found (MANDY!):
1st cousins share a grandparent. That's easy.
2nd cousins share a great-grandparent. That means my kids and my cousins' kids are all second cousins.
"Removed" means the number of generations separating the cousins themselves. So, a first cousin once removed is the CHILD of your first cousin.
Basically, we have lots and lots of cousins!
Here are only a few:

And yes, I know each and every name. I am THAT good.
After lunch and before dinner a bunch of us went hiking, rock climbing, and playing in the creek behind the lodge. So fun.



Aren't they cute? Three of them are going into sixth grade and one is going into 5th grade. What started out as four easy kids became much more than double once the word got out that I was letting them play in the creek. And let me tell you, their parents probably didn't love me when they got done because they were all FILTHY dirty. I mean, not one of them had dry feet and some of them had mud all the way up their legs. Oh well. That wasn't my kid!
So that was our weekend in SD. Good times.
9. Tonight we had Back to School night for #3 and #4. Thankfully #4 got a different kindergarten teacher than #3 so that is GREAT news for our family. And #3 has a few girls in class that she knows and is friends with already so that's a relief. Plus, I've heard excellent things about her teacher so we're set for a great year.
10. I took the big girls up to the middle school to get their lockers ready to go. #2 has orientation tomorrow for two hours. And #1 is a student ambassador so she'll be there at the same time. #2 is excited to be in middle school and #1 is excited that she'll be the old 8th grader. I love that they will be in school together.
All in all, while I'm not ready for summer to end, I feel really good about the girls. I think they are all poised to have fabulous years and great teachers with awesome friends. I'm excited for them all. (Plus, if I'm being honest, I'm excited for my bank account. No more daycare bill. And let me tell you, all day kindergarten is light years cheaper than daycare! YIPPEE!)
Have a great week!