Category Archives: yankton

HELLO 2016

January 2, 2016

Hello, it’s me. Ok, sorry for the Adele, but really, HELLO!!!! It’s a NEW YEAR! 2016 is HERE!! And we certainly had a spectacular last day of 2015 and an even better first day into 2016. Such a fabulous weekend with friends. We tucked the kids in bed and the adults got to have some fun. I love all of the nostalgia that builds up as the new year approaches and the fun that beholds as the last day of the year approaches. Cheers! Kiss! Hug! Kiss! We celebrated with friends, food, and lots of champagne and far too many hilariously obnoxious rounds of Heads Up. Twas a night to remember as the clock ticked midnight and we sang out HAPPY NEW YEAR!

And we can’t forget the dinner beforehand!! Surf-and-turf – but might as well have been all surf because we DEVOURED the 10 pounds of crab!

Now on to January 1st, 2016!

After attempting to sleep in, but that basically doesn’t exist with kids, we hit the hot tub with a bloody mary in hand. (Icicle photo bomb!)

Photo Jan 01, 10 42 01 AM

The day just kept getting nicer out so we headed outdoors with the kids to take them sledding and run off some of their energy.

Ok the adults had some fun too ;)

We even hooked up the water tube and pulled that around. Ha! Year-round use out of that thing :)

The kids enjoyed playing in the snow and building a snowman

Built a fort with Cruz

Ivy, that’s the snowman’s nose!

Festive snowman with his top hat!

Cutie Quinn!

Hope you all had a Happy New Year and looking forward to a great 2016!

– Love, The Kochs –

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Our Labor Day Weekend

September 7, 2015

We had a fantastic Labor Day weekend! We got a dose of family and friends throughout the days and had plenty of fun at our cabin and at the beach or on the boat. I hate to think that summer is almost over! :( I’m not ready for that yet! So we spent plenty of time outdoors and I’m kind of hoping for one last Indian Summer weekend with some big heat. It was pretty cloudy all weekend, but the nights were sunny and gorgeous, just in time for a pretty sunset!

John’s uncle John (yes, same name, hehe) and his wife Heidi and their daughter Ellen came to visit first. Really loved seeing them and Ivy had fun tubing with them! We hit a big wave when I was driving the boat and the tube went under knocking Heidi, Ellen, and Ivy off the tube! WHOOPS!!! Thankfully Ellen had a good hold of Ivy and all was good :) Thanks Ellen! And Ivy didn’t even cry, whew, she’s such a water baby!

Loved her swim cover up!! She got it from Nasty Gal

John twins

The rest of the weekend was spent with some friends and we hit the beach to soak in the couple hours of sun that finally peeked out.

Dear belly button, you can shrink back in now, ok? :/

John, Justin, and Shannon chillllaxin’

“Sand castle Daddy, sand castle!”

So confident…. love this chick

These colors and patterns in this photo! Oh and Daddy and baby, cute :)

Ivy, REALLY, damn…. the life of a toddler

Leo and the boys

Little Leo caught the cold that’s gone around our whole house, but he was still smiley as usual! We were thankful that Shannon, my friend and our pediatrician, was here with us! She’s a pro at suctioning the ickies out!!! He was still a tropper sleeping on the boat and at the beach dozing off to the sound of the waves… ahhh not so bad at all :)

Hope you all had a terrific holiday weekend! Thank you to all the hard workers out there that make our country amazing!

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Baby, You’re a Firework!

July 9, 2015

Double F & Double B – that’d be the perfect drink concoction to this 4th – family, food, boating, and beer! This was exactly ours and it couldn’t have been better. My sister Jillian and her husband Brian flew in from Indianapolis, and my cousin Carson and his girlfriend Brianne drove from Denver to spend it with John and I and Ivy and Leo. Jillian is 30 weeks pregnant so she got a real good idea of what it’s like with a newborn – a lot of poop and sleep, basically! But we had some good times with the fam and the weather was spectacular.

Ivy and Leo were champs on the boat. Ivy is obsessed! And the Maui Mat is perfect for her to exert some energy and run like a wild child (by the way, I love that song by Kenny Chesney right now).

Grandma Caleen (my mom) came to visit on Sunday and she had fun making sand castles with Ivy. So lucky to have both Grandmas around!

And ya, still working on losing that kangaroo pouch. Doesn’t just disappear like the first kid : / humph. And my quadruple D boobs (it seems like, or might be actually) are out of control. But heck, it’s summer and I need a damn tan on my veiny cha chas.

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The weekend before…

June 13, 2015

Ok, so YES, we had a baby. And I’ll get to that. BUT, the weekend before was so much fun that I couldn’t skip it! And there were some really great pictures, soooo, obvs had to include them. Plus, it was my birthday weekend and we had a few friends at our cabin in Yankton. Beach and boating were highlights. Oh, and ice cream :) SAYONARA MATERNITY SWIMSUIT!!

ikat maternity swimsuit // toddler swimsuit // men’s swimsuit

I just can’t help but look at her cute tush in that suit! Good thing her buddy Bear is too into his sand ;)

It was Quinn’s first time to the sand and she was a natural! She dug right in! Go Quinn!

The girls and their daddies. Who is loving this beach thing more?! :)

Matt and Marie and little Quinn

Ivy’s first time tubing!!! She loved it! Big Mable tube

Summer favorite – hard ice cream in a cake cone! RAINBOW SHERBERT ALL DAY

My little explorer. She’s discovered the weeds that you blow and all the fluff comes off – she couldn’t stop picking them. She’s for hire, folks! ;)

EEEEK! And then the next day I had a baby! CRAZY! We barely made it back from Yankton Monday morning before he was born! It’s so bizarre to me that one day you’re big and pregnant and the next day you have a teeny baby. Humans are so interesting! Koch party of four now – WHEW!

To be continued… I’m busy snuggling Leo xxoo

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Our Weekend Getaway

February 15, 2015

I always look forward to February. It’s another month past winter, it’s a short month, us teachers have President’s break, and of course, there is always Valentine’s Day.

This weekend, we took off to our cabin in Yankton near the Lewis and Clark Lake. We love it down there, and it’s a fun getaway just an hour away from our home. The views are spectacular, even in the winter, and we really enjoyed the glorious weather on Friday! Ivy LOVES to be outside.

My sister Catheryn was in town visiting from Portland, Oregon, so my Mom and Dad also made the voyage down with us to get in some quality fam time.

So damn cute. Ivy says “grampa” over and over again. SWOON

We are just a short walk from our cabin to the lake, which is perfect to stroll down to and also visit the bike trails and park.

My family headed back on Saturday, so the rest of the weekend was spent with just John, Ivy, and I. We took strolls around the neighborhood, had our Valentine’s Date at The Landing where Ivy devoured some creme brulee (she’s lucky I shared), and just enjoyed some relaxation.

Ivy certainly knows how to relax at the cabin ;)

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