The Rest of September

Catherine and one of her science experiments.

For Dan's birthday, we went out to eat and then hung out by this little lake for a while.

Dominic and Mommy.

For the record, no one fell in, but they were making me nervous!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

When you give kids Pull-n-Peel Twizzlers, this is what they might do.

The kids picked the hot peppers one day.

They got a lot!

On September 20, 2015, Dan's beloved uncle, Fr. Al Brungardt, died after a battle with cancer. On September 25, we attended his funeral in Victoria, KS.  It was a sad time, but also a joyful time of remembering Fr. Al's life.  There were many family members in attendance.

At the cemetery, just down the road from St. Fidelis Basilica.  You can see the steeples in the background.

Fr. Al was laid to rest.

Later that day, we stopped to visit Dan's niece and her husband.  They bought the original Brungardt house across the street from the Basilica. While we were there, we found out the Homecoming Parade would be coming down the street, so Becky found sacks for the kids to collect some loot.

Here comes the parade!

Horses!

The kids checked out their loot.

We toured all over this neat, old house.

A Sum Up of September

Our mama cat had another litter of kittens in August, but this time just two kittens, both of whom have so far survived.  I finally got around to taking pictures in early September. 

Catherine with Smoky, Anne with Velvet.

They are awfully cute!

The twins with Smoky.

Anthony carrying Velvet in his hat.

We picked a ton of tomatoes in September:

Here are a few of them.

Dan solved our desk dilemma by custom building two desks, one for Dominic and one for Joseph.  He built them in one weekend, I might add!  Each one is mounted to the wall and has a shelf.  They love having their own space!

Dominic is proud of his new desk.

 Notice the boys are separated by a bookshelf.  That has worked wonders to minimize distractions, as has facing the wall!

Catherine still has the same desk, but is in a new location.  I don't have a picture, but Anne and Anthony now share a long table.

 Towards the end of September, my brother, a priest and chaplain in the Air Force, came to our house one evening for dinner and visiting.  He is currently stationed at an Air Force base in Germany, but came back to the United States for a Convocation with his fellow Kansas City diocesan priests.  The Convocation was held in Wichita, lucky for us! 

The kids were excited to see Uncle Father Brian.

I was glad they got to spend some time with him.

I think they wore him out!

Later that week, Catherine did a science project which involved dissection. 

Dissection of flowers!

Our mini-van hit 100,000 miles in September!

The kids got to use their free ice cream cone coupons from the summer reading program at the library.

Yummy!

My aunt and godmother died in September and I was able to make it to Kansas City for her funeral.  I will always remember the picture I saw of my Aunt Barbara standing triumphantly at the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, at the age of 68!!  After the funeral I spent some time visiting with lots of relatives.

My dad, third from the left, with two of his brothers and his remaining sister.

Butterflies!

In early April, a new butterfly came out of each chrysalis in our butterfly habitat.  Over the course of two days, we had five new butterflies.  It was neat to see them let their wings dry and then flit around.  At that point we started to feed them sugar water.  We let the butterflies go free on Holy Saturday.

A newly hatched Painted Lady Butterfly.

Yay, it finally opened its wings!

On Holy Saturday, we brought the habitat outside.

One last look at the butterflies.

First Anne reached in...

...and got a butterfly on her finger.  It soon flew away.

Catherine also got one on her finger.  The boys were unable to do so before their butterflies escaped.

It was a fun, easy project to do.  The kids really enjoyed watching the transformation of the tiny caterpillars into big, beautiful butterflies. 

Field Trip to Great Plains Nature Center

In early July, I took the kids to the Great Plains Nature Center in Wichita for a summer class.  The four big kids got to make their own butterfly nets and learn about butterflies and insects.  Then the class all went outside and tried to catch some insects in their nets and identify them with the help of the nature center staff.  During the class, Anthony and I went on a hike on some of the nature trails. 

Here's the map, which way should we go?

We saw some ducks.

An egret.

Anthony on the boardwalk.

Wildflowers, complete with butterfly.

A shady trail by the creek.

Anthony had a great time hanging out with Mommy.

Turtles.

A line of ducks.

A row of turtles sunning themselves on a log.

After our hike, we went inside to check on the big kids.  They were busy finishing their nets and listening to the staff.

Joseph and Catherine.

Learning about butterflies.

The big kids were doing just fine, so Anthony and I went to check out the indoor exhibit.

It is not a large exhibit, but it is really nice.

Look out for the coyote!

I got seven different pocket guides pertaining to Kansas wildlife and vegetation.  They were free!  I left a donation, however.  They are great little guides and the kids have been putting them to good use since that day in July.

One of the pocket guides.

The kids, meanwhile, had gone outside to hunt for butterflies and other insects.  Anthony and I waited at the gazebo for them to come back.

Joseph leading the pack.

Catherine, with Dominic and Anne behind.

The twins looked for more treasures to catch.

The class was over, but the kids got to keep the nets they made.  It was a great experience!