Summer FLEW by!

SO it's been a busy summer, to say the least.  Soon after my last post (where I broke my ass), my entire family went to Alaska.  Seriously.  My kids spent 2 weeks at Joel's parent's house while Joel and I went frolicking through the Alaskan tundra.  We joined my parents, siblings with their spouses, and my aunt/uncle (ancle for short), cousins, and a cousin-in-law.  We took at 7 day cruise, then an additional 4 days in Denali National Park.  It was seriously beautiful up there.  Here's a few pics to enjoy.

By siblings and me with a really awkward pose that my sister insisted would be funny. Sure.

My cousin Mindy and me

This was taken at approximately 11pm.  Alaska never gets dark in the summer!  

Waterfall from our floatplane as we touched down in a fjord.  So cool!

I don't remember where this was but how pretty!

Glacier.  They're dirtier than you'd think

Moose and calf in Denali National Park

So that was our trip to Alaska.

And then July and August seemed to fly by.  We did random things, like a trip to Minnesota and lots of visits to the pool (I did not repeat the death slide).  

Then school started in August.  Noah is in kindergarten this year; Hannah's in 3rd grade.  They're at a new school again this year since the boundary lines were redrawn in Ankeny.  It has not been a smooth transition.  There's a huge difference in the school we were used to and this one.  First of all, this school is a MUCH older building and I'm pretty sure whomever designed it was on drugs.  The layout makes no sense to me.  I have yet to actually know how to find my kids' classrooms.  I just wander around until something looks familiar or someone asks if I need help.  And then there's the communication.  We were used to the teachers and PTO letting us know of every single thing going on in the school.  Now it's like pulling teeth to get any info.  For the kindergarten info meeting, we were given 3 different times for the meeting.  Same thing for the 3rd grade meeting.  Joel actually tracked down the principal and told him this was unacceptable.  The principal promised they'd do better.  I'm not optimistic.  

So now we're in to October.  And the big news for this month is: WE'RE MOVING!  Yes, we are selling our house and moving to the west side of Des Moines, probably a suburb.  It was a really tough decision.  But my job was just changed to bit to where now I'm having to drive out to the West office 2, sometimes 3 weeks a month.  Joel drives out there every day for work.  It's getting to be a long commute, especially with winter coming.  And with all the problems we've had with school this year, it became evident it was time for a change.  So our house is for sale.  It's been on the market for about a week and we've had several showings.  Let me just say that keeping the house spotless with 2 kids and a dog is super fun.  But it's what you have to do.  Then we'll go to an apartment (ick) until the end of the school year and we know exactly which area of town we want to live.  

So that's what's happening in our lives right now.  Nothing earth shattering, but just some randomness.  :)