Kari has had the opportunity to participate in a couple of fun weekly activities at school this month. Splash Day is something Miss Vicki created to make the hot weather a little more bearable. Unfortunately, the day Grandma was there to help out and take pictures it was a little chilly, but the kids still had a ton of fun.
Kari's and her classmates ready for Splash Day
Kari and her buddy, Mati
Kari is also enjoying some additional physical activity when Miss Dorrie and the Gym Bus arrives. This is literally a refurbished purple bus that travels around town to different schools and daycares providing introductory tumbling lessons. This week they're working on sommersaults and I'm guessing she'll have it down by the next lesson.
Warming up
Lastly, the Union puts on an outdoor summer concert series every Wednesday in July. Sort of like a very informal Ravinia, you can bring your own picnic or eat some yummy food from Pappy's Sweet Shop. Yesterday's concert was fabulous and we were able to enjoy the evening with many of our neighbors.
Well, mid August is rapidly approaching and none too soon. Holly has reached a new level of uncomfortable recently but is somehow marching on. I'll give her tons of credit because doing this with a little one needing a ton of attention is a lot more difficult than Round 1.
We've spent a lot of time lately trying to convey to Kari exactly what is happening here in August and her responsibilities. The hope and goal is that Kari will comprehend in some way all that is about to change, and for the most part, we're both confident she'll adapt just fine.
Mom and Kari went to Prophetstown State Park today for a picnic and to feed the horses, a new favorite of Kari's. She's become quite a little thought machine and now is able to relay what she's thinking. She tells us when to "put your seatbelt on, daddy", "daddy's eating a cookie, mommy" or "cleaning the corn off to eat, daddy?". She also rattled off numbers 1-11 in order without any requests... and then back to 8-11 and 8-11 again before she's confused even herself.
I recently returned from a quick work trip to Austin and College Station Texas where it was 101 degrees. Wow. We've had visits galore of late from Grandma, Grammy Pammy, Gran and Beep Beep, Pam... just about all that Hotel Keckler can handle :)
One random addition to this post: Upon dining at one of the finest restaurants I've ever been to during my May guy's trip to Las Vegas, I decided to write a follow up email to the manager. The 5-star Restaurant Guy Savoy at Caesar's Palace was unforgettable. I sent an email to the general info address and somehow it ended up in PARIS, FRANCE at the chef's home restaurant.
Anyway, the manager there was so impressed with what I wrote she shared it with Chef Savoy himself. Apparently he felt it necessary to write a quick letter back to me that went like this...
Hope you're all doing well and if you have any new email addresses we need to know of before sending out the announcement of Keckler number 2, please let us know at kecklerfam@gmail.com.
A compilation of what we've been doing since July 4th: Ready for church.
The lions DID roar when Kari walked by.
Fireworks at The Elks with our good tailgating friend, Julie.
A quick trip to the beach.
The little tourists.
Kari and Nolan's first sleepover. This didn't last more than 15 minutes.
We've also enjoyed visits from all three sets of grandparents within the last two weeks. Pictures should be coming soon. Holly's friend Pam from Pharmacy school will be here on Sunday. We'll be celebrating her passing of the boards. Yeah!!
Kari's and her classmates ready for Splash Day
Kari and her buddy, Mati 
Warming up
Lastly, the Union puts on an outdoor summer concert series every Wednesday in July. Sort of like a very informal Ravinia, you can bring your own picnic or eat some yummy food from Pappy's Sweet Shop. Yesterday's concert was fabulous and we were able to enjoy the evening with many of our neighbors.
Kari and Nolan
Kari and Meghan
