Tuesday was a really good day for all of us! Gracie got up and had to get ready for school; therefore, we all had to get ready for school and it just went so well. We were all out the door and in the van on time and Gracie and Karys were so excited to show Nathan where Gracie went to school at...more than that though I think Nathan was excited to see it too! So we brought her over, watched her wash her hands, write her name on the board, and gave hugs ;) After that, Nathan, Karys and I headed to the library to play. It was only 9:15 and Toddler Story hour wasn't until 10, but they were excited to play and jump around a little first so we headed straight there.
The Orange City library just does such a good job with their programming and also utilizing their facilities. They have a room with tables, toys, and "cushion" type things that the kids love to jump on, so we hung out in there til Miss Becky said it was time to start. The kids did great! Sat so well and listened to stories and participated in rhymes that all related to birds.
They loved this little rhyme Miss Becky did with little blackbird puppets on her fingers..."Two little blackbirds sitting on a wall. One named Peter, one named Paul...."
When it was finished they got to color pictures of little birdies and they tape a Popsicle stick to the back so they would be able to bounce and fly them around.
Karys waiting patiently for her stick...Nathan was already done and "flying" his so she wanted to join him ASAP ;)
Nathan jumping up and down with his little birdie while Karys finished up
They headed over to be able to jump out of "trees" with them and fly them all around the room
Nathan was also totally into wearing this helmet! He walked all over with it on his head...
...and even recruited this little girl, Summer, to find a hat and come fly in his airplane with him!
Once story hour was over, we needed to head out to pick up Gracie and get home and eat some lunch. I think Karys converted Nathan over to loving PBJ daily for the week he was with us b/c today it was his idea to eat that instead of Karys'...and no mom, I didn't eat that everyday ;) But I did ask for it! After lunch we headed out to play more since that had worked so well to run off some energy before nap the day before. It was even warmer out today so all the kiddos wanted to wear flip flops...well since I only have girls, the only color flip flops I had were pink and Nathan was actually totally excited and eager to wear them. Had to have a pic to show his dad...the boy who wakes up in the morning and wants nothing more than to wear his Hawkeye football uniform for the day, also this afternoon wanted nothing more than to wear these shoes ;) Love it!
Karys standing next to the Dora bike all ready to go...Gracie ran in to get her "bike riding" shoes b/c flip-flops were not safe!
The helmet was again a hot commodity b/t the three of them. Might have to have one come with him next one so we have enough they can each have one...had a hard time sharing these.
Nathan was working on his track running by running laps around our side walk...don't worry if he falls down his head is safe!
Later that night we went to Pizza Ranch for supper...when we got home Nathan really wanted to run again only this time he wanted to "chase". He and Karys took turns chasing each other all around the sidewalk...
"I think he's gonna tag me..."
"Oh no, I lost my shoe!"
"Here, let me hold your hair back while you get it on again..."
Gracie was ready to join the fun...
After scrutinizing an "owie" on her finger and finally getting a Dora band-aid to cover it!
"Uncle Rob, I chase you! Let's go, run fast!"
"You are too fast for me Nephew Nathan, I need a rest!"
All the kiddos running in a line....baths for everyone tonight!
LOVE THIS PICTURE!
Uncle Rob leading the way while the girls try to keep up...
Nathan at this point had been running for a LONG time! He was starting to tell me how hot and tired he was getting, but then would just take off running again ;)
We then headed in and got jammies on...Rob wanted to get a picture for Chad of Nathan in his princess pull-up. No we did not put this on him just to take the picture;) But realized he didn't have any with him and needed to borrow one of the girls...poor kid though, we never made it over to Sioux Center Wal-Mart to buy him his own so he did wear them all week! 
Fun times brushing teeth....Nathan is really good at brushing on his own and I think that wore off well on my girls b/c they actually like to do it now!
All business and no messing around, we need to get to bed ;) Gotta love the matching PJs too..."I want my Christmas jammies like Nathan."The kids had a such a GREAT day! They had a little bit harder time falling asleep, Karys was the one keeping them up for the most part...just can't seem to want to stop talking ;)
It was also so fun to have Nathan with us! He was so eager to have the girls show 
Gracie could climb the rock wall on her own...the first couple times she got to the top and would just look at me with a surprised look like, "Wow, I just did that without help? Better try that again..." 
The monkey hang and swing is still a favorite for the ladies :)
Nathan also liked to swing, poor guy fell in a puddle going down the slide a little bit before this picture was taken...didn't take long for him to bounce back and be running again but I felt so bad for him ;)
Everyone loved the swings! Nathan wanted to go higher, higher....
Pink cheeks and big smiles!
Nathan was the only one who wanted to ride in the stroller...the girls just had to walk! Think we are going be doing a lot of walking and baby carrying this summer :) Gotta love the wand Nathan was carrying around all morning....this all boy, boy was definitely introduced to the world of pink!
After we were chilled at the park, we headed across the street to the bakery to pick up a cookie. Rob was working on some school stuff at the local coffee shop so cookies in hand we headed over a block to eat our cookies with him and give him a brief study break. Everyone had to check out what he was doing before we headed on our way home!
The afternoon just continued to get warmer, so we headed out one more time after lunch and before our nap time. Gracie really wanted to play sidewalk chalk...or should I say she wanted to instruct me in what I should draw with sidewalk chalk while she watched ;) 
Nathan was busy taking care of the "man stuff" that needed to get done outside...apparently really dangerous stuff b/c he insisted on having the bike helmet on to do it ;)
We got home and everyone ran out some extra energy from the car ride, ate some supper, and for the most part seemed to be ready for bed fairly quickly. So we got everyone washed up in the tub and pulled out the trundle under Gracie's bed for Nathan to sleep on. I questioned in my head how well it was going to go for all three kiddos to be in one room, but if the first night was any indication for the rest of the week it was going to be a breeze...they were all sound asleep and breathing hard by 8:45! And that wasn't even the best part, aside from a small incident in the night where Nathan rolled down into bed with 
This church was in no way a super organized food pantry. As you can see from the pictures above, the sanctuary has become the "sorting ground" for all of the food that is donated. And sorted might be a slight understatement as well. We got so many comments from the kids how unorganized things were...yet the number of 
It was incredible the amount of food they brought in! Each bag of food was weighed in on this scale, then placed on the stage of the church to await sorting. Our job was to work on the sorting, cans on one side of the pews...dried goods on the others. We weren't able to start then sorting it out into the appropriate rows just b/c we ran out of time. So crazy how much food came in, and how quickly it was projected to go back out...never enough!
After the food was sorted it was brought to various rooms throughout the church for storage. No joke there had to have been 6-8 different places on different levels of the church where things were stored. How they ever find the things they need must be a miracle within itself ;)
Some of our guys worked on 
For lunch we were presented with a "lunch challenge". Each person was given $1. With that dollar you could join with 5-6 other 
This was difficult b/c the foods in the ethnic grocery stores were so different and unfamiliar, the corner markets were more over priced than groceries in a 7-11 or some other type of gas station and the fast food restaurants were definitely not the healthiest nor did you get much food. However, kids did pretty well with this challenge. Rob's group bought a package of hot dogs and utilized the microwave at the local market, a bag of chips, bread, and a honey bun for dessert. 
My group ended up choosing 
Following lunch we headed to this living complex. Inside are condos that have been established in the Phillips neighborhood to promote community and diversity. We were able to chat for an hour with a young man who has intentionally chosen, with his wife, to live in this community as Christians and seek to love on and do life with their neighbors and those they come in contact with. It was an amazing as well as interesting testimony just of God's calling on their lives as well as how they came to know Christ and now how that is leading them to lead others to the same discovery. This was many of our kid's favorite part of the weekend.
After that story, it was off to the Global Market. The concept of the Global Market was developed in the summer of 2003, the City of Minneapolis was searching for a use for the long vacant Sears building on Lake Street. Local business owners and neighborhood groups from the Phillips, Central and 
Its MISSION STATEMENT stands to read: "We exist to develop and maintain a public market that builds upon the economic, social and cultural assets within the surrounding community and welcomes the diverse peoples of this community to share and celebrate together the healthy foods, arts, crafts and other aspects of their heritages." It was so interesting just to walk the 
Sunday was more of a laid back day, we woke up, cleaned up the sleeping areas and ate breakfast. We had some downtime before the church service and so our kids were busy playing the game "Big Booty" which had been a common theme for the trip ;)
Pretty soon 
Wasn't long before she was out cold...don't understand how you can fall asleep like this! Hard floor, bum in the air...really??!
Gracie was asleep too not more than 20 minutes into the movie and she and 
