Maya & Bennett's First B-day Party

Last weekend, we went to a joint birthday party for Maya and Bennett. There were tons of family & friends which made for a super fun party.

Here's one of the birthday girls, Bennett, looking gorgeous for her big day:

Is it time for cake yet?

Here's Brett proving he's a REAL man by putting together a toy without using instructions (how'd that go for you Brett?)

Here's the other cutey birthday girl, Maya, getting lots of attention:

I think it has officially become tradition to play the "poop monster" game at these birthday parties.

Yes! Time for cake!

This cake is yummy!

Can I have a bite?

Did I mention this cake is REALLY yummy?!?

The kids were all suspiciously quiet (which is never a good thing)... so when I finally tracked them down, this is what I found...

Man, that must have been some party - Alyssa & Ethan came out of it with battle wounds

For all of those who think that they're Lainey's favorite, I've got news for you... you've got nothing on Lauren

We finished!

Ryan ran/biked his first duathlon and I participated in my first triathlon this last weekend. It was tougher than either of us imagined, but we finished! My brother, sister, aunt, & uncle also decided to take part in the fun and they all did awesome! Here's a pic from before the race (courtesy of my Uncle Tom & Aunt Debbie):

My parents posted more pics on their site: http://vjkuebler.blogspot.com/ . I don't think we could've finished without our wonderful cheerleaders!

First Days

Alyssa had her first day of school last Wednesday, so she's officially a first grader.

Lainey had her first day of preschool yesterday (Monday). She was so excited, that when I told her it was time to go, she started heading down the driveway to wait for the bus. I guess I needed to be more specific about how she was going to get to school. Luckily, she didn't raise a fuss about us driving her :)

By the way, both girls absolutely LOVE school. They both started dance classes too, which they also love. I'll have to take some pics from dance class and post them on the site later.

A day at the park

We decided to have a family day and took the girls to Paul Ruster Park. The playground was super hot, so we decided to go hiking on the trails instead. Lainey got tired pretty quickly, luckily Ryan was there to carry her.

Alyssa leading the way

Nice picture of my rear, thanks Ryan

Silly monkeys

Lainey is absolutely exhausted and not happy about having to walk the last part on her own.

King's Island

Last Thursday, Ryan took off a day from work and we all went to King's Island. Alyssa earned this trip by completing her summer reading & exercises sent home from school. We had a great time! Ryan and I even rode the new roller coaster Diamondback - it was intense, but we survived! The day started out a little rough for Lainey on bumper cars...

It quickly got much better though, and everyone ended up having lots of fun

Daddy and Lainey riding the little roller coaster

Alyssa and I riding the big roller coaster (previously known as the beastie, I forget what it's called now). She rode it 3 times and LOVED IT!

I'm not sure if you can see the red circles, but I tried to outline me riding the little roller coaster with Lainey (2nd to last car) and Alyssa (2nd car).

At the top of the eiffel tower

Since it's tradition, Ryan won the girls stuffed animals in a game he played

At least the prizes were little this time and they didn't have to carry around a big bear like last year! (July 2008 - Holiday World)

More cute pics:

The Children's Museum

The girls and I hadn't been to the Children's Museum in a while, so I decided we needed to go before school starts. We had a great time, as always.

Ryan's New Eyes

Ryan had LASIK surgery performed on both eyes in July. He has been absolutely thrilled with the results. Here he is the night before surgery - the girls and I put together a "LASIK Survival Kit" for him to use after the surgery - it was packed with earplugs, tylenol pm, a book on cd, his favorite candy, and pictures from the girls:

Here he is recovering... I'm sure he's thrilled I took this pic :)

The new and improved eyes!