Brianna's 1st day of Mrs. Johnson's 4 year old class

Today Brianna had her first day of Mrs. Johnson's 4 year old class. She will go to school every tues, wed, thurs from 8:30-11:30. She is going to have so much fun this year! Here are some pics of the first day! She finally got to wear her new "Twinkle Toes"! They even light up!

Getting ready for her class to start!

The Gogis girls:

Leaving her classroom... She said her first day wasn't long enough!

First day of 1st grade (at least for Brayden)

About 3 days before school started, Brayden said he wanted to have perfect attendance. That was ruined by day 1 - when he and his sister ended up getting a stomach bug:( Of course they were healthy all summer (it was all those last minute fun trips to the Incredible Pizza Company, pool, and the State Fair). So day 1 of 1st grade was spent on the couch watching tv (he just needed one more day of summer vacation)!
So here are some pics of his actual first day of 1st grade!
Getting on the bus: All the neighbors waiting for the bus (Sophi - 3rd grade, Chloe and Caleb - K, Brayden P and my Brayden - 1st, and in the back Sean - 3rd, Cameron - 4th)

Brayden was really happier than he looks - he was having trouble with the sun in his eyes;)

Not sure what this was all aobut - but he looks so sweet anyway!

The recovering kids:

The summer fun continues!

The last official day of summer break we went to the Indianapolis State Fair. It was SO HOT (our car said 103 degrees)!!! Regardless, we managed to have a good time and only spent $28 - that was the best part (aside from the fried cookie dough - my new favorite fair food)! Brianna especially liked the pigs this year - they even let the kids go inside their fenced in area. Brianna is my little farm girl - she said, "I'm really a fan of the pigs!" So cute! The next day they both had the stomach flu... Brayden showing off his basket of veggies at The Little Hands on the Farm!

Brianna picking a green apple!

Gotta love Brayden's presentation of his sister:)

Here are some more pics from our time at Crooked Lake! We had so many great memories up there this summer! Here are the kids outside of Club Paradise (great menu)!

After getting the boat in better shape we went and bought a tube. (Our friends, the Clodfelters were able to come and enjoy some tubing with us.)

At first Brianna was a little nervous about the whole thing but soon she had the signals down and was her typical daredevil self - trying out different positions and asking us to go faster (thumbs up)!

We started out seeing 2 swans this summer and the number kept multiplying. Here are 5 of the swans we decided to feed - thankfully they didn't get aggressive... They really were very pretty swimming by around sunset each night!

We got Gary into tubing! He's becoming a pro!

Here's a picture of me and Brianna (I really don't enjoy riding this way - I'm glad she learned to go by herself!)

Brayden would tube all day if you let him!

Brianna and Brayden sitting in their favorite spot on the boat! I think this was taken while Gary did some "fishing"!

One week the Steuben County Fair was going on (just walking distance from the cottage). It was so cheap to get in and the animals were very entertaining! Looks like my mom wants to kiss the pig! I think this is where Brianna gets it from!

I'm not really sure what this cow was doing to my mom's arm - or why she was letting it - but it was hilarious! It just kept doing this for several minutes!

We had to take a pic of this crazy looking bunny!

This was my favorite bunny - I love the eyeliner look! I wanted to bring it home with me;)

The kids posing for a pic outside one of the barns:

Aunt Alli with Brayden on their pontoon (and Alivia):

Uncle Ryan letting wild Brianna drive his boat!

Hawaii - 10th Anniversary!!!

10 years ago I married the best man in the whole world! For our honeymoon we went to Maui (and for those of you who heard the story - you know it didn't go so great)... We told each other we would go back for our 10 year anniversary - we had to keep our word of course! This time around there was no snoring or any other issues - and we adjusted to the time much better! We had an amazing vacation! Here are just a few of the pictures I had to pick from!
Here are Brayden (with Hawaiin fishhook around neck) and Brianna welcoming us home: Gary found his favorite place the last day we were there - Yogurtland! You can pick as many flavors and toppings as you like and you pay per the ounce. Here were are enjoying!

Gary in heaven;)

The luau at the Westin was awesome! The food was so good - totally glad we went!

Here is a typical pic of us on the beach (after reminiscing at Pacifico's)

A Hawaiian rainbow - right outside Whaler's Village!

Our first meal in Maui was at Tropica's (right outside our hotel). It was our favorite of the week - thankfully we went when we did because the rest of the week it was under construction...

Gary showing off his gift for the week:)

A view from the lobby (just one of the amazing angles - it was truly paradise):

My favorite thing we did all week was go on a zipline tour in the mountains - it was seriously breathtaking to be over the mountains and bamboo forests - and have an ocean view at sunset!

Getting ready for our first of 4 ziplines:

Gary making a frog outside our hotel:

One of the many pools:

We went Blue Water Rafting for 5 1/2 hours. During our trip we saw dolphins, the south side of Maui (lava caves), snorkled around Molokini, and I got sea sick (thankfully that was just a short part of the trip - I still completely enjoyed myself).

Riding the Pacific on one of these is a little different than riding a boat in the lake or going on a cruise! There were some serious waves that were rocking! This picture was in the only calm area we stopped at!

Pre-seasick;) Checking out all the dolphins!

We saw probably about 25 spinner dolphins right next to our boat (these are just a few). I saw 2 of them spin out of the water - Gary saw a baby dolphin.

Eating at Leilani's

Gary trying to lift this anchor....

Our Lobster:)

People cliff diving at Black Rock (this was just a walk from our hotel). We saw a lot of colorful fish, crabs, an amazing sea turtle, etc. We walked over there multiple times - it was so fun!

A panaromic view of the ocean (island to the left was Lanai and Molokai to the right)

A natural bridge at black sand beach:

On our actual anniversary we drove all the way past the road to Hana and stopped at the 7 natural pools. It took us about 4 hours of driving (2 1/2 hours of hairpin turns, starts and stops). It was totally worth it. I thought I was in heaven (until some local people were a little impatient and rude)...
Here is one view of the natural pools:

The other side of the natural pools - it was way more beautiful in real life:

I love this man!!!

These trees were crazy - the branches grew back down toward the ground...

One of the many waterfalls on the road to Hana:

Here is the view from our balcony (our "partial" ocean view room)! Gorgeous!