Hotel Fun

We spent the night in Mankato following the tae kwon do tournament.  The kids love staying at hotels.  They love going out to eat, sleeping away from home, cable television and the pool.  Fun weekend away from home.

First TKD Tournament

Cameron and Kyle competed in their first tae kwon do tournament in September in Mankato, Minnesota.  They were both super nervous as they didn't know what to expect.  Kyle competed in individual form and board breaking.  He took first place in board breaking and came in second for his individual form.  He was so nervous during his form that he repeated the last few steps of his form.  Poor kid was devastated but it was a good learning lesson.  Cameron competed in individual form and team form.  He came in third place for team form and took first place in his individual form.  This first place finish allowed him to compete for the men's grand champion.  He did such a fabulous job.  Both boys should be very proud of themselves...mommy and daddy are.  Way to go!

Cameron - Individual Form

First Place 

Kyle - Individual Form 

Second Place 

Lunch Break 

Team Form 

Third Place 

Cameron competing for Men's Grand Champion (in blue on far right) 

 Our school

Kyle - Board Breaking 

First Place 

Showing off their awards

Como Town - Fall 2013

To top off Kyle's birthday weekend, we took one last family trip to Como Town Amusement Park.  All three kids were finally big enough for a few new rides.  Lauren loved driving the cars and did surprising well (didn't hit anyone).  Both boys loved the bumper cars and the new zip line ride. 

Such a good big brother who will go on the "little kid" rides with his sister 

Old enough to drive his own bumper car 

Watch Out 

She was so serious about her first time "driving" 

Ready for take off on the zip line 

Swings 

She loved driving her horse 

Climbing Fun

Chuseok 2013

In mid September, we celebrated Chuseok (it's like Thanksgiving in Korea).  We enjoyed a yummy Korean meal and Lauren wore her beautiful pink hanbok.  The hanbok was a gift from our family in Korea.  She calls herself a Korean Princess whenever she wears it and loves to dance and twirl.

Kyle's 7th Birthday

Just a few short days after school started, we celebrated Kyle's 7th birthday.  His birthday fell on a weekend this year, so it was a full day of celebrations.  We kicked things off with a small party with a few close friends and cousins.  Kyle loves movies, so we had a movie themed party with a special showing of Monsters Inc.  The kids played a few games then they loaded up on candy and popcorn from our concessions stand and watch the movie on a big screen.  We ended with monster cupcakes, gifts, and outside playtime.  Following his friend party we continued the celebration with a small family party.  Pizza and more cake followed.  He declared this to be the best party ever.  Happy 7th Birthday my sweet boy.  We love you to the moon and back.

Back to School 2013

The beginning of September brings back to school time for us.  The boys started the day after Labor Day and Lauren began a week later.  Hard to believe that Cameron is now a 4th grader, Kyle a 1st grader (and will be gone all day long now), and Lauren will be in preschool.  I now have a few hours to myself each week to get thing done and run errands.  What a change from last year.  All the kids were super excited for school. Thank goodness each of them loves school.

Mississippi River Cruise

We wanted to do something fun together as a family to mark the end of summer before the kids started back to school.  We loaded the kids into the car and told them we had a surprise day planned.  Oh the suspense was almost too much for them.  We arrived at Harriet Island in St. Paul and started at the playground.  The kids were pretty happy with a new playground.  Soon we added a picnic lunch by the Mississippi River into the day.  After lunch, we boarded a paddle boat for a cruise along the Mississippi River.  It was cold but so much fun and something the kids have never done before.  It was a wonderful day full of smiles.