The Slagh's

Wrapping up August

Gotta have a post to wrap up all the moments in between the trips and events! :)

A new COUSIN was born!! Chris and Liz added a new little one to their family - baby Riley! We got to visit her at the hospital. Teeny little bundle. :)

Meeting friends at the splash pad happened often. :)

Camryn did a Frozen dance workshop with Addi one morning. :) Cute little Elsa's!

Taylor and Camryn were my Olympics watching buddies! Taylor would pause the TV at the beginning of the swimming events, she would find the lanes that were from the USA, and then she would know who to cheer for!

Taylor had a solid week or so where she was feeling pretty sick. She had a fever that came back anytime the ibuprophen wore off, and it would get pretty high 103-104 at times! She was really lethargic, didn't eat much, so finally after 4 days I took her to urgent care. 3 days after we went, cultures came back indicating that she had E.Coli!
Long visit at urgent care

Naps almost every afternoon - she was just tired. (Cam fell asleep, too, on this one day)

One afternoon she actually fell asleep right on me. That hasn't happened in years. I loved it. :)

It was hard sometimes keeping Cam quiet ;-) Silly girl and a sleepy girl

Taylor and I at home one evening, as she was still recovering, while daddy and Cam were out at the campground. Guess Who time. :)

Taylor started feeling better right around her 1/2 birthday, so I decided we should have some fun on that day....after so many days of feeling crummy!
Sprinkle pancakes for breakfast

Panera for lunch (her choice)

And newly painted fingernails and toes! :)

One morning, I found the girls making their beds....with their new swimming goggles on.

Ryan's softball team won their league :)

Grandma and Grandpa Slagh kept their camper out at Dutch Treat campground for the whole month of August, so there were a lot of afternoons and evenings spent at the pool/camper.

A few Monday nights we headed down to the Monday night kids fun in downtown Zeeland.

A play date with Ty and Addi (we finally got to have one after our busy summer schedules!)

We had a big family dinner at Papa and Gaga's one night.
The girls got all dressed up for it. :)

The whole group

Playground fun one morning before it got too hot (it was a really hot summer this year!)

We did a skittles experiment I saw on facebook - the girls thought it was pretty neat!

Anna's House one morning for breakfast - a favorite.

The girls were stretching out with me, following a video on a website called Romwod, after a run one evening :)

I was gifted a new book for my classroom library by my principal, and I wanted to share it with the girls. I asked Taylor to get the book out of my work bag so we could read it for their bedtime story, and instead of handing it to me, she sat down and started reading it herself. It is so exciting to watch her grow as a reader! (The book is really funny too - Ballet Cat and the Totally Secret Secret.)

And as August was coming to a close, the girls would come into school with me as I started getting ready for the new year. They made a school countdown craft...couldn't believe how fast our summer went!

Train Ride and CHICAGO!

Ever since an American Girl Doll catalog had arrived at our house in early summer, the girls could not stop talking about wanting to go to the American Girl Doll store. A thought of taking a trip to Chicago by train came to mind, and when we saw that kids ride the Amtrak free during the week in August, we decided to make it happen!

Early morning at the train station, waiting to get on! Excited little girls!

Hanging out on the train. :) The girls did really really well during the ride, and although there were a few delays along the way, we finally made it!

We arrived in Chicago close to 10. After leaving Union Station, we walked quite a way, but also used the city buses to go directly to the American Girl Doll store first! (Cam was singing in this picture. ;))

We arrived!! The girls were beyond excited! All smiles!

So much to look at!

There was a moment, when we had to have a discussion that we couldn't buy EVERYTHING their little hearts desired, that we had some tough moments, but eventually the girls each picked out their own Bitty Baby. Cam named hers Alana, and Taylor named her Amaya. :) They each got a diaper bag to go with their babies. :)

After shopping, we went to lunch at Harry Caray's on the 7th floor of the Water Tower Place - really good food!

We checked the Lego Store and Disney store, too, before heading over to Millenium Park.
Taylor loved creating little people at the Lego store. :)

Of course we had to check out the BEAN.
Can you see me and Ryan? :)

And after that we spent some time in the Maggie Daley park (unfortunately only one picture, but it was a REALLY neat, HUGE kids park that had splash zones, too!

We also walked to the Crown Fountain, where the girls spent a good amount of time getting their feet wet. :) (It should be noted that with all the walking, Cam and Taylor did great! They were definitely tired at times, but were really awesome little travelers!)

It was getting close to the time that our train was leaving (6:30 Chicago time), so we made our way back to Union Station.

We were all tired, hot, and hungry, but it was a great end to a memorable day!

Cereal City Triathlon

This year I decided to sign up for the Cereal City Tri as my 'one' triathlon this summer. It is so nice because the starting line is less than a mile from Mem's house, and the area is so familiar.

Neither Mem or dad were in BC that weekend, so it was just our family.

Early morning start....I usually like to get to the transition area right when it opens so I can get my preferred spot on the bike racks. :) Gorgeous morning!

Race time - Ryan and the girls arrived seconds before I had to get in the water for the start of the race! We were in the background of this photo!

Pics taken by the race photographer

Completely exhausted toward the end of the run - but I always try to remember to be in the moment, enjoy that adrenaline rush of racing, smile at the awesome volunteers on the course, and remember that I will get to breath again when I cross that finish line. ;)