Nana and Grandpa's Visit

We got to spend five awesome days with Nana and Grandpa. We sent the men off to a Duke basketball game one night, ate lunch with the kids at their school, went on walks in the beautiful fall weather, read (and shopped for!) lots of good books, headed to Asheville for the weekend and explored the Biltmore, ate at fun restaurants, played games with the kids, and stayed up way too late talking almost every night. It was so nice to have my Mom and Dad here. My kids and Mark needed to see them, but I think I needed to see them most of all.

Here are some pictures from the visit:

After the Duke basketball game... Go Duke!

At recess with Kimball after lunch with his class

Hanging out in Liza's classroom for "Fun Friday"

Watching the crazy drum circle in downtown Asheville

Eating at the amazingly yummy Tupelo Honey restaurant in Asheville

Tupelo Honey

Grant and Liza and Captain America (look closely) at the Biltmore 

My cute parents in front of the Biltmore

All of us in front of our new home

Riding in a wagon at the Biltmore farmyard

Loving our rootbeer floats at the Biltmore creamery

Nice look, Kimball :)

I love this picture of Nana helping Liza pet the horse

Reading with Grandpa

Grandpa taught Kimball how to play marbles, and the kids all loved it (I'm not sure why Liza is tackling Grant in this picture, but it's a common occurrence around here)

We're all in mourning now that they've gone home (and since the election too!), but we're so glad we got to see some family before we head into the holidays. Thanks for coming, Nana and Grandpa. We love you!

Yes, I'm a Bit Crazy...

I thought I'd tell a quick story to show what a crazy, emotional lady I am these days. I went to vote one morning last week (we have early voting here, which is super convenient), just me and Grant. We didn't have to wait in any lines, and the whole process only took about 5 minutes. It felt so good to be there casting my vote for this presidential election, something I care so much about. When we got back to the car I told Grant that I was really happy I got to vote. Then I started singing super loud "I'm Proud to Be An American." (Yes, I like to surprise my kids by singing random songs at random times. In fact, just the other night at dinner I sang them the C-h-i-c-k-e-n song I learned at Mill Hollow.) Anyway, I started singing the old Lee Greenwood classic, and by the third line, I was crying like a baby. I am not usually a crier, but since my recent miscarriage the tears seem to come limitlessly. So, I sat there in my van singing and crying and laughing too--since even in the moment I thought it was funny--and thinking about how grateful I am for my freedom and my country. Grant just sat there in his carseat, entertained by it all but surely wondering, Since when did my mom turn into this crazy lady? 

As I heal this time around, I feel like I am doing surprisingly well for the most part. But the ups and downs are inevitable and often and very real. I am thankful for so much good mixed in with the pain. I may be crazy, but I am still me and I am moving forward.

Liza's Field Trip to the Farm

Grant and I got to join Liza's kindergarten class for their field trip to a farm. We got to pick soybeans and sunflowers and corn to feed to the animals. We went on a hayride, picked pumpkins, and had a picnic lunch. A very fun day with lots of cute kiddos.

Feeding the piglets 

and the bunnies

and even the cows (from a distance!)

We got to see some HUGE tractors. There was one about 3 times this one's size.

Loving the hayride (with our cute friend Carolina from church and Liza's school class) 

Mrs. Farr's kindergarten class (sorry Liza's hiding behind a leaf!)

Me and my favorite kindergartener

Kimball the Soccer Man

Kimball moved up into the next age group for soccer this year and had to leave his old team behind, but he ended up having a great season. He loves to play goalie, and he really is awesome at it. Way to go, Kimball!

Grant, aka "the Hulk"

I got this little video of Grant and his friend Joey after Kimball's soccer game last night. Grant lives in a superhero world right now, and I love it.

September so far

There is not much to complain about in North Carolina in September. The humidity disappeared last week, and we are having perfect play-outside weather now--just in time for the kids to have their first break from school starting next week (yea!). Here are some of the things we've been up to the last few weeks...

Duke's opening football game... and they actually won! :) It was employee family night, so there was a free dinner, face painting, and all kinds of fun.

Eliza begged for months to take ballet lessons, so here she is in her new dance class. She takes tap and ballet and is loving it. Ever since she started kindergarten she just seems too grown up.

Our awesome home teacher gave us his old trampoline since his kids are all grown now. As you can see from this pic, our kids LOVE their newest toy. 

Kimball went to his very first pack meeting tonight, and I realized we have entered a whole new world with scouts. Those cub scout cheers are really something. :) Kimball is also playing soccer, keeping up with piano, and he's joined his school's "Golden Skippers" jump rope team. Busy but fun.

Grant's newest craze is superheroes. He especially loves Spiderman, Captain America, and the Incredibles. He wore this Spiderman suit all morning as we ran errands today. He loved all the attention from strangers, and one guy at the grocery store even got into a web slinging battle with him. 

 So, there is a small sampling of our crazy life.

Disneyland!

For Christmas last year, Nana and Popsy gave the whole Hansen family a trip to Disneyland. We had to wait until August to go, but it was worth the wait. We spent four days in the park, going back and forth between California Adventure and Disneyland. The place still lives up to its name as the happiest place on earth. :) In true Hansen family style, we never stopped the whole trip, barely making time for food and a little sleep. Kimball went on every ride and wanted to do his favorites over and over again. Eliza, not surprisingly, loved the rollercoasters and even rode with her hands up in the air to make it more exciting. Grant was tall enough for most of the rides and had a great time (except he let us know he did NOT like Space Mountain). The kids were great ages. Here are some of my favorite pics from the trip.

Nana and Popsy

All the "big kids"

All the grandkids

 

                              Here's the fun design on the back of our shirts,
                     complete with everyone's name.

This is the whole crew, minus Baby Max who was sleeping in his stroller. Tim designed the shirts for us. We became known as "the red shirt family" and people would stop to comment on our shirts all the time. We were only going to wear the shirts one day, but it was so easy to keep track of everyone wearing them that we ended up washing them every night and wearing our red shirts every day. 

We called these guys the three musketeers.
They went on just about every ride together.

Our wild animals

Our first day in California Adventure

Meeting Red! The new Cars Land is awesome. 

Grant was so excited to see Lightning McQueen driving down the street that he ran right up to him.
If the worker hadn't caught him, Grant would have gotten hit by Lightning! 

Loving the carousel ride

This fun tractor ride was one of our favorites.
Mater sang a silly ho-down song during the ride. Grant laughed and laughed.

Meeting Mickey Mouse!

Playing with glow sticks

I loved how the shirts looked from the back

This is how I found Liza and Grant sleeping one morning. :)

Taking Liza and Ivy to meet the princesses was one of my favorite memories from the trip.
Those two little girls were in heaven. 

Rapunzel was the favorite. We got to meet her in her tower,
and she knelt right down on the ground and talked with the girls. 

The kids were good at keeping themselves occupied while we waited.

Grant got some new Toy Story cars, and he and Tanner played with them all day.

Small World

Just chatting with a Storm Trooper, an everyday occurrence. :)

Another successful Hansen Family Vacation. Thanks Nana and Popsy!