The Lieslands

simply livin' it up

Adventureland

We hit Adventureland yesterday for the second installment of what will hopefully become an annual tradition. This year we went with the Reagens (Susan’s sister’s family, for those who don’t know). The kids had a great time. We were there from 10a to 8p and had the kids in bed by 8:36.

It was a hot day yesterday, so we were also able to spend some time at Adventure Bay, the waterpark at Adventureland. A fun time was had by all.

First Day of School: 2010

2010 First Day of School

Today was Andrew and Mari’s first day of school. It went a lot better than last year, but was still a little dicey. Andrew went straight to his classroom all by himself, but Mari was a little more hesitant. Eventually I was able to coax her into her room and I think that she was enjoying herself, or at least I hope she was.

Quick Update

While I am here adding Andrew and Mari’s picture I thought I might also give you a quick update on what we have been up to. We have basically been busy getting things ready for school to start this fall. This means getting our house ready – finishing up some flooring, cleaning up the back yard, building a gate, cleaning out the basement and garage – and it also means that we have had a lot of administrative stuff to get organized since we are now small business owners.

Susan and I also signed up as Norwex consultants, which has been taking up some of my time as we get set up for that.

The kids have been doing well. They have been riding their bikes/scooters/skateboards a lot lately. No major falls, yet.

New 2010 Photos

I know you never thought this day would come, but I finally got around to posting some new photos from 2010. Enjoy!

Cincinnati

You wouldn’t know it from this blog, but we just got back from a week in Cincinnati. Before we left Des Moines we worked hard to finish our floors and paint the kitchen, so the time in Cincinnati was some well-deserved rest. We had a good time, spent a lot of time with family and friends, and I was even able to put in a lot of time at work. Overall it was a great trip.

Now that we are back we have a lot more to do to start getting ready for the coming school year.

More Work Around The House

Last weekend we put in some new laminate flooring, and this week we are working on getting the kitchen cleaned up. Hopefully we will finish it up today.

Floor1Floor2floor3kitchen

Work Around the House

With two months to go until Bean Sprout 2.0 there is a lot going on around our house. The next couple of months are going to be busy, but come September we are going to be at a very good place.

Around the House - July 2010

Mari’s 92 Accord

Mari's Picture of the Burning Car

So Long, 92 Accord

Burnt Car

Susan was at Jo-Ann Fabrics last night when one of the employees asked if she was parked up front. By the time she got there the fire department had already arrived and the flames were a few feet high. At their peak the flames were about 10 feet high. Needless to say, the car is toast. It was a good car. I had it for almost 5 years, and we just broke 200,000 miles a couple of weeks ago.

We do not plan on replacing it anytime soon.

View The Pictures

Camp Kids

This week Mari started Vacation Bible School and Andrew started the Des Moines Menace Soccer Camp. We were a little nervous, but both first days went very well. Susan dropped Mari off and although she was a little hesitant at first she was quickly off and finding things to do. Her teachers said that she did a great job and was very involved. All day she was in a great mood, singing songs and talking about things they did during the morning.

I dropped Andrew off and he was ready to go. He got his Des Moines Menace soccer ball and t-shirt and was off. I was worried about how he would do with a group of kids whom he does not know very well, but he was ready and excited to get out there. The morning was cut short because of inclement weather, but he is back out there this morning.

Basketball

I got this old basketball hoop for free, and I think Andrew is in love!

basketball

2010 Summer Solstice Camping Trip

Hanging Out
This past weekend we went on our hopefully soon-to-be-annual Summer Solstice camping trip with some friends. We went to Elk Rock State Park at Lake red Rock. The water in the lake was so high that the only place to play in the water was at the boat ramp.

Check out the pictures.