Homecoming 2014

 What a fun weekend!  On Thursday, our sweet friend Bethany came to visit us all the way from California!  We always treasure our time with her and are sad when she has to leave us, so we have to make the most of the time we get.  On Friday, Kate and Ryan had a class field trip to the Pumpkin Patch.  They were so excited to go and so cute dressed in their Halloween shirts!

 Friday afternoon, it was time to pack up and head to Stillwater for OSU Homecoming 2014!!!  Friday night we met up with cousins and drove down to Walk Around with about 100,000 other people (I actually don't know how many people were there, but the weather was warm, so it felt like 100,000!!!)

 Theta Pond all decked out in lights

 Ryan insisted on wearing his football helmet most of the weekend

 Saturday morning, bright and early, we met cousins and friends downtown at the parade.

 The best snack at the parade is always the cheese from the dairy float...talk about Orange Power!!!

 Of course, there was a quick stop at Aspen

 And then Saturday afternoon was off to the game.  The game did not go our way, but the afternoon was beautiful (in the shade at least, where our seats were mercifully located) and the company was so much fun!  I'm so grateful for wonderful friends and family and getting to be a Cowboy!  GO POKES!!!

Corn Maze

 A few weeks ago (yes, I'm that far behind!) we spent a fun Saturday at the Right Choices Corn Maze with our friends, The Prescotts.  We started off at the jumpee, which was a big hit with the kids!

 We were blessed with really nice weather - not too hot or cold.

 Matt and David promptly found a bench to watch the kids from.

 There was SO much to do here!  The kids enjoyed the cow train ride through the corn fields.

 The hay ride was fun too...

 and the tire swings...

and just running ALL OVER the place!  Miss K has really taken to "striking a pose" for pictures these days.  A beautiful day to spend outside in God's creation with our dear friends - God is good.

Cruisin'

 This past week, the countdown was finally over and it was time to hit the road toward Galveston to set sail for our cruise!!!

 The drive was pretty intense...but we made the most of our stops, as demonstrated by Kate and Papa, doing their stretches.

 After a night in the hotel, it was finally "Cruise Day!"

 relax folks, it's a virgin Pina Colada, of course!

 The first night on the ship they had a dive-in movie by the pool.  What would be showing, you ask?  Why none other than Frozen, one of our very favorite movies!

 After a fun day at sea, it was time to dock in Cozumel, Mexico.  This was our beach day, so we took a catamaran ride to a private island, Isla Pasion.

 It was a blast!  We were very fortunate to have a slightly overcast day so we did not fry out in the scorching sun.  The kids loved their very first trip to the ocean.  We had a wonderful lunch, a fun time swimming and collecting sea shells, and there was even a kids play area on the beach.  Such a fun day!

 The next day we docked in Progresso, Mexico and took a bus down to the local market.  This was a really fun experience for the kids and Matt to experience Mexico as I'm familiar with it.  Kate had her first Mexican Coke - she LOVED it!

 This nice gentlemen came over and sang us a song.

 Kate and Ryan loved coming back to our room each night to see which towel animal our room steward had made for us.

 We also enjoyed have room service bring us breakfast in bed each morning.

 Ryan and Matt joined in on "YMCA" one day at lunch.

 Kate and Ryan got to go to a Build-a-Bear activity one day at Camp Carnival.  They made a giraffe and a unicorn.

 On our last day at sea we went to a workshop where we learned how to fold the towel animals like they make for the rooms.  I was pretty proud of our little bulldog (you can tell its a bulldog, right?)

These two had a BLAST on our trip.  Ryan told us he wants to go back and live on the cruise ship some day.  I asked him what his job would be on the ship, he said "working at Guy's Burger Joint, of course!"  Those were some yummy burgers!

One week down

 Well, we made it through our first solid week of Pre-K.  There were a few tears, but mostly smiles this week from these two big kids.

 One whole week of "big school" is a big accomplishment so...

we had to celebrate, of course!  Friday after school we went to Braum's for some yummy ice cream.  It was the perfect way to cap off the week and cool off too!

cupcakes and picnics and school, oh my!

 What a week!  This has been one of the busiest weeks ever here at the Mills house!

We started out the week with a visit from Nana and Judy.  They were passing back through our neck of the woods on their way back from St Louis, so we met up with them at Souper Sweets.  Kate and Ryan were thrilled with their Cookie Monster cupcakes!  I wish we'd have been able to have these for their Sesame Street birthday a few years back - they were SO cute!

 We had to squeeze in one last picnic with some yummy Papa G's pizza, of course!  It was a beautiful day to be outside together.

 We took these little gifts to "Meet the Teacher Night" at school.  Kate and Ryan were very excited to see their new classroom and meet their new teacher.

 And last, but certainly not least, my little babies headed off to their first day of Pre-K!!!  They were a little nervous, but mostly just super excited to start going to "big school"  This is the first time they will be gone to school for so long (8:10am-3:15pm) so it's a big change for all of us!

 We stayed for a few minutes to make sure they were all settled in.  They signed in for the day...

 and played with friends...

and looked at a book.  And then we gave them hugs and left.  They did great!  No tears at all.  I'm SO proud of my big kids - can't believe this day has finally arrived.  Time flies!