Bennett's First Day of Preschool

Bennett had his first day of preschool today! He was VERY excited to see his teachers and play with any "trucks or tractors" that might be there. As we arrived he then started to feel a little less excited and more anxious. I reassured him that he was going to have SO much fun, and that I would be back in an hour (it was a shortened day today) to get him. Drop off went well, and once he saw the trains, tractors and cars he forgot I was even there. Thursday will be his first "full" day (2.5 hours instead of 1). We can't wait to see how much he is going to learn this year! Bennett by his locker!

Blake's 1st Day of Kindergarten

We have a full-time kindergartner living in our house! Blake is off for his first official day of kindergarten today! Yesterday we got to go to his classroom to drop off his supplies and meet his teacher, Mrs. Gruber. Blake was excited to see that he has some friends from last year in his class, and also some new friends too! We had a "Cherry Berry" treat to kick-off the start to a successful year of learning! I got snapshot of Blake before school (see below) Do you think Randy and Blake had a conversation of what his future occupation should be? Hmmm... Blake enjoyed his traditional first day breakfast-- First Day French Toast-- but this year it is "5K Style!" Dropping him off at school went well-- no tears from anyone! Now that I am sitting here on this quiet afternoon as Marlee and Bennett are napping I am realizing just how QUIET it is without Blake here. He was usually the one here in the afternoons keeping me company. I have had moments of sadness rush over me knowing that my first-born is off to discover the world. I know it is time for him to spread his wings little-by-little, hopefully really little. :) I also know he is probably having an awesome first day, and we can't wait to hear about how it all went. I know he will be exhausted. I know that he is still by baby boy. I will post an after school picture soon. Here are some pictures from yesterday's Open House, and enjoying our treat! His favorite thing about his first day was--- Phy. Ed. class and seeing his friends. It was all smiles and surprisingly lots of energy as Blake got off the bus. A successful first day for sure!

Labor Day Weekend: Running, Friends, Fishing and a Birthday

This past Labor Day weekend was action-packed and fun-filled. We started the weekend by running our annual family road race- the Buckshot Run. Randy and I both ran the 5 mile race while our friends, the Callaghan family, watched the kiddos. It was a great morning for a race and not as hot and humid as it was earlier in the week. Randy had a personal best in the 5 mile running it in 38 min. 39 seconds. I always think it is such a blessing to be able to get out there and try to keep up with the amazing runners we have in our area. I finished 2nd in the women's division and 1st in my age group with a time of 33 mins 8 seconds. Our other good friends, Karen and Mike Eckerman were in town from Rochester, MN and also joined us in running. Both Karen and Mike finished in around 36 minutes! Great job guys! Following the 5 mile race, our whole family, along with the Eckerman's and Callaghan's also ran the 2 mile race. Blake was able to run almost the entire 2 miles and Bennett ran the last 3/4 mile. By the time we headed home the kiddos were pretty exhausted. We always enjoy this annual race because it is so family-friendly and supports such a great cause- Special Olympics of Western Wisconsin. That night Karen, Mike, Randy and I all headed out for a post-race date night. The kiddos stayed back at our house with a sitter. I think both the adults and kids had an equally fun time! To cap off our Labor Day weekend we celebrated Randy's birthday on Monday. We headed down to the backwaters of the Mississippi near Nelson, WI to do some fishing. It started out as an overcast cool day as we all put on our long pants and sweatshirts to see if we could catch some fish to stock up for our freezer. What a successful day of fishing it was! We caught 22 fish overall, 20 of them being some pretty big perch! Randy said this was one of his best birthdays yet!

Spent

This past weekend we went on our 1st Risler Family Vacation at Treeland's Resort near Hayward, WI. It was a perfect weekend to be near water, as it was very hot and humid. We spent the weekend doing so many memorable activities and seeing some of our favorite people. Here is what we spent our vacation doing: ---Spent time at the resort's pool swimming and making silly faces--- ---Spent time at the resort's playground--- ---Spent time grilling out on the deck! YUM!!--- ---Spent time with our good friends, the Hansen family. We grilled out, went swimming, the boys built a fort in the backyard, and we enjoyed ice cream at the end of the night. Janie and Marlee are crawling buddies now! ---Spent time with Papa Ron and Grandma Claudia. Their camper is parked about 45 minutes away from the resort. They came over for the day and we went out to eat and went fishing on the Chippewa Flowage. ---The best of all was spending our first family vacation, all 5 of us, together making memories! By the end I think we were all SPENT, but it was so worth it!

A Century + 2

Last week the kiddos and I made some pictures to deliver to Grandma Mary at The Homeplace in Mondovi. She is Randy's grandma and is just an amazing lady. She turned 102 this past June 15. The boys each made/colored a picture for her. Grandma Mary LOOOVES babies, as you can see in the photo she has her own baby doll that doesn't leave her side. She couldn't take her eyes off of Marlee while we visited. Bennett wanted to opt out of the picture taking, so Blake is pictured with the rose picture he colored for Grandma.

Marlee is 9 Months Old

We almost have a crawler! Marlee has been belly-crawling like crazy and is slowly moving into the crawling stage. She also is loving feeding herself whatever I put on her tray-- blueberries, bananas, and sloppy joes (see picture) are some of her favorites. We can also see those top two teeth about ready to pop through. Marlee just keeps bringing joy to our family!

Bears

Randy has been busy baiting bears near our home for the past month or so in preparation for the opening day of bear hunting. He drew a tag this year to hunt bear, and we definitely have some around here that we can get rid of. Here are a few pictures of some of the bears he has been able to get a photo of using his hunting cameras. This mama bear and all FOUR of her bear cubs are just 1/2 a mile from our house. This is too close for me. Luckily we haven't seen them in our yard. :) This is by far the BIGGEST bear we have on camera. This bear was eating from the bait that is about a mile from our house.(Phew!) Randy would LOVE to harvest this one, I am sure.