August Phone Favorites

 August was one CRAZY months filled with highs and lows! But here are a few of the highlights!

On tonight episode of "That looks Comfortable."

 I spy and Manfred

E and her Sunbeam teach sister Smith. E just loved her and Charity loved E. So cute!

Mama was a big fan of pressure washing, she spent quite a bit of time with the pressure washer.

Not entirely sure she got things much cleaner though ;)

I'm so cool I wear two pairs of shades!

Watching a show with his cars.

 Busy boy likes to make pillow forts, he usually ends up curing up on top of all of the pillows and falling asleep. 

 Our boot area is perfect of sectioned off hiding places. 

 Gretta and E Sitting in teh front seat waiting for Manny during speech therapy.

 And that concludes our crazy month of August! Bring on September! Grammy and Pa are coming, Duke's birthday party, and hopefully some cooler weather!

Back to the Lake

 Things are starting to cool down here in KC and I'm hoping that it lasts (even though I highly doubt it.) So one afternoon we headed out the the lake for a walk.

I just love it out here and it's so close to the house! 

Duke really wanted to get a closer look at the ducks, but Mama wouldn't let him. Here's hoping we get to see fall soon!

Prairiefire Gala

 Last year we went to a Black Tie Gala at the Priariefire Museum. I was super excited when we got tickets to it again! While the museum itself is a but of a let down, the food was AMAZING last year and there was a really nice program with performances. 

 When picking a dress last year I went for a fancy cocktail dress but this year I was pretty excited to go a bit bolder with a red floor length gown, complete with a train. I put my hair in a fancy up-do and Jakob looked dashing in his suit and tie (we need to get him a tux!)

We get into the museum and I very quickly realize that this is NOT in fact a black tie event.  It wasn't even really a cocktail event it was more along the lines of a youth fireside. Most women were in a casual skirt. Some even wore a pant blouse combo. I honestly probably could have gotten away with jeans and heels. So not only was I the ONLY one dressed up, I was wearing a bright RED dress. Needless to say I stood out and at first it was a bit awkward, but then I decided, heck... I look good, let's be confident! One just can't wear a red dress without some confidence! 

Thankfully the rest of Jakob's group dressed up a bit. Here are some of the men that Jakob works with, and their ladies.

There was also no dinner this year or a program, it was quite the let down. There was an open bar and a buffet of appetizers, which they couldn't keep full because there were so many people, who I am assuming thought that it was going to be a dinner as well. But, we did get to go out for a fun evening with Jakob's work colleagues and I did get to wear a pretty dress. By the end of the evening, I was still hungry so we hit up a frozen yogurt place which was entertaining to go into in a formal gown. I think I'll wear a gown more often. It was fun to dress up and fun to spend an evening with grown ups!

The Rest of Oma's Visit

 Mom and I were busy. We were always running, errands here, unpacking there, cleaning and sorting. There were very few times we even watched a show in the evening because we were just so gosh darn tired from all of the work. But we did manage to do at least one fun thing a day, be it going out for lunch, a quick trip to the park or just exploring a few stores in the air conditioning. 

One evening we went swimming. E had been begging us to go so after naps we thought, let's just do it. A late night swim was actually rather nice. I thought the kids would just be super cranky but they lasted a really long time. E stayed with Oma and I was amazed at how well they did together. E and I just butt heads a lot. I really con't get her to do much but when other people ask her, she's totally willing. Oma was able to get her to float in the lazy river, and lay out on her back. She also got her jumping into the water and kicking BY HERSELF with a pool noodle!!! Now I know to some people, you are thinking, my kid has been doing that since they could walk. This is a HUGE deal for E! I was soo proud of her! 

 Little Manny is fearless and he'll do pretty well whatever I ask him to. He had decided that he didn't want to swim but after 10 minutes he was ready to jump in full force. 

 Oma brought one of my teacups that my G-ma gave me when I was around E's age. My G-ma and I were best buddies when I was little. We'd have tea and cookies, make crafts, I would move into her house for weeks on end. (Talk about a nice break for my Mama hey!?) So I thought it would be nice if Oma gave the teacup to E and if they would have a tea party. E was pretty excited to have a teacup "just her size" and that it was fragile. she felt very grown up. 

 Not to mention she was just the cutest thing ever!

 Duke wasn't much of a fan of Oma while she was here. It probably had something to do with Daddy's being gone, but those two were like oil and water... unless... they were playing London bridge. Then Duke would give her all the kisses in the world to hop up on her knees and have her drop him. 

I mean look at that super cute face! And just like that, Oma's visit was over. It went by super fast and we got a lot done. Thank you for coming Mama and for putting up with my super stresses out and cranky self. (Things like that happen when you're moving.) I appreciate all of the work that you do and we love you dearly! We can't wait until spring break and we get to see you again!

Evening at the Park

 Everyone was a bit stirr crazy so we decided to hit up the park. I haven't discovered a park within walking distance yet so we took a quick drive. Of course we had to have a picture on the bridge. 

 Then this little model wanted to go for a walk around the lake. 

 I'm sure you think this is dirt... you'd be wrong. It's actually thousands of sugar ants. It totally gave me the heebie jeebies. 

Some little lady was pretty proud of her climbing skills. She's pretty afraid of heights, and well most anything. It is so nice to see her become a bit more independent! It was a fun evening out of the house.

Lego Land

 Once Jakob left for Vegas, Mom and I played with the kiddos. It was super hot outside so we decided to hit up Lego Land one afternoon. It was super fun!

 Oma is super competitive! She really got into the little ride that they had!

 My favorite part was the mini Kansas City! It was Beyond cool. Here is a bit of the Kauffman Center and the Union Station. 

 Chiefs Stadium!

 Royals Stadium!

 And the Starlight Theater! Just to name a few. 

 There were lots of super fun things for the kiddos to do. Duke wanted to ride the shooting ride another three times. I am looking forward to going back another day. 

 Thanks for the fun day Oma!!! 

 Such pretty girls!

Now home for naps and more unpacking!

The Joys of Owning a House

 Mom and I went over to the new house to clean. It was FILTHY, like throw-up-in-your-mouth i-swear-this-woman-never-cleaned kind of filthy. Be besides all of that my mother used the potty and I noticed a pool of water on the floor. WHAT THE HECK?! Less that 24 hours in and we have issues. 

So I chat with Mom Tobler over the phone (since they just had toilet issues not too long ago) and we diagnose it as a broken seal. Then we decide that I can totally fix it myself (Jakob had left for Vegas for a week.) So getting my game face on I start to take apart this toilet. Step one... shut off the water. Water shut off valve to the toilet doesn't work. So we have to shut the entire house down. Then I start to disconnect the hose from the toilet, won't come off in addition the bolts have been rusted on and I wasn't strong enough to break them free. So now I'm a smidgen bit frustrated. This was AFTER we paid an extra $100 to have a plumbing inspection done on the house before we moved. So I put the toilet back together and call a plumber. May I just say how much I love Rod. He was hilarious. 

In the end we ended up pulling the main level toilet and replacing it entirely and we replaced the valve. The previous owners had just caulked around the base of the tank to temporarily stop the water running. (Which I feel the inspector should have caught. But that is besides the point.) Then the upstairs toilet was rocking so we wanted to get that looked at before we broke the wax seal and had septic water all over the place. Pulled that toilet and fixed a few things. Such as a fridge freezer hose which was attached to the toilet??? Just saying there were some very random things happening. There have been a few other things that have come up as surprises and we are settling in to being home owners. :)

Fair the Well Goldilocks

 As before mentioned our poor Goldilocks was stolen and lit on fire. When they called and said that I could come and take a look at it I assumed that it would be pretty beat up, a few burnt things but I was not expecting THIS! There was just shy of NOTHING left! 

 That is the front end sitting on what used to be the front seats. 

 The trunk. Needless to say the people who took her had a good time. I'm sorry your end was so violent old girl! You served our little family well. 

So we got a 2016 CRV and we LOVE it! Clean, classy, reliable and doesn't even shake when you accelerate or brake. It has been one expensive month in this Tobler home!