Farewell 2017

I have enjoyed watching and reading many people's reflections of the past year. I figured I would do some writing and reflecting of my own. I realized that 2017 was a pretty awesome year for me which made writing this post that much harder!
Without further ado, here's...

Cassi's 2017 Top 10 List:

Number 10
I got to go see Book of Mormon is Sioux Falls.
I laughed a lot, and I am glad I went. It was the first time that I saw a professional musical in a very long time and it did not disappoint. I am including is this taking my boys to see the high school production of The Little Mermaid because it was also a musical and it was equally spectacular! Cyver just loved everything about it! Camden got to see it for a second time which he didn't seem to mind at all.
Number 9
Delight Donut opened in Yankton.
I got to eat my very first maple bacon donut and it was heavenly. I see many of these lovely treats in my future. We have enjoyed many stops at Delight for a morning treat before school or before church. Cohan loves the cheese bagel. Camden loves chocolate glazed. Cyver is all about the yummy bite-sized donut holes. 
Number 8
Cyver discoved his love for LuLaRoe.
His spunky personality fits with his funky leggings styling. My favorite part was trying to get him to call them pants so Matt wouldn't be so against them and Cyver sternly correcting me (or anyone else for that matter) by telling me that they were NOT pants; they were leggings! The kid never ceases to make us laugh.
Number 7
Matt and I took a little trip to Omaha to just get away.
We went to two different movies in this very cool theater that served supper. The food was amazing and the experience was completely new. We ended up going twice just because the first time was so cool. When we weren't hanging out in a dark theater, we shopped a bit. We bought some new games and just hung out playing games and reconnecting without kiddos. This trip was also shortly after Matt changed jobs which was kind of a scary move when he had been at Avera for so long. It was a very positive move as he has been much less stressed, and he has been home more.
Number 6
Seeing the Lumineers in concert in Sioux City.
It was one of the best concerts that I have ever been to. The instrumentals in their songs are the parts that draw me in and getting to hear them live was AMAZING! It was a great way to spend an evening with Matt. My favorite part was when they unplugged and went mic free for a few songs at the edge of the stage. It was very cool.
Number 5
Traveling to St. Louis in November for the NCTE/ALAN convention. It was a reader's dream come true! I got many amazing ideas for my classroom, and I got to meet SO many amazing authors! I stood in a lot of lines, shipped three full boxes of books home, and met some coold teachers from all across the US. I also got to go and see the St. Louis Arch which was a fun thing to experience with a teacher that I met from Montana. The food was pretty amazing and I discovered a yummy root beer that I won't soon forget (If you visit St. Louis, be sure to check out Fitz's root beer)!
Number 4
Buying a new van and traveling to Minneapolis with Camden for his first Midwest Regional Swim Meet.
He worked hard to get his qualifying times! We enjoyed staying in a hotel that we originally couldn't find because Google Maps took us to the back side of the hotel. Camden fell in love with traveling by air rail-something tells me this kid is going to grow up to be a city kid! We spent hours walking around them Mall of America and even took some time to stop and get a foot massage together. It was fun to just have some one-on-one time with him.
Number 3
Cohan joining Oral Interp.
This definitely breaks the top three! I always knew that dramatics would be his thing, and I was not disappointed. I enjoyed working with him, helping him with an intro, listening to him practice, and watching him improve. It was pretty awesome to watch him earn first place in his very first oral interp contest. I was one proud mom!
Number 2
Family vacation in May.
We traveled to Spook Cave in eastern Iowa. The drive out was long and construction filled but the drive back was scenic and peaceful. The cabin we stayed in was just right. The little lake that was close to our cabin had a kayak which made most of us fall in love with the peaceful activity. We also enjoyed things like mining, exploring a cave, playing on playgrounds, catching tadpoles, making smores, catching a toad, and perhaps best of all, driving a golf cart. We let Cohan drive around the campground and all I can say is, when it comes to teaching the kid how to drive, we'll have our hands full! We even ended up venturing over to Wisconsin where we had ice cream for lunch so the kids could check it off their list. The hotel we stayed in actually had 2 sets of bunk beds but was otherwise downright comical. The fact that I also got to take my dad with us on this family vacation was pretty awesome..which leads me to number 1 on my top 10 list...
Number 1
My dad come to visit for two months.
Getting to see him, vacation with him, and just watch him play with the boys was so much fun. We had a fun little trip up to Minneapolis to pick him up. We even took the boys to their first ever coin show in St. Paul. They loved looking at all the cool coins and were always thrilled when one of the guys would hand them a coin or two for free. Dad said that they don't see too many kids at coin shows so they are happy to get them interested when they are around. The boys spent plenty of time going through coin rolls with grandpa and finding some pretty sweet coins. They can't wait for him to come back and visit again.

This list was a lot harder than I thought it would be! I could have easily made a top 20 list for all the things that I had to leave out. I cannot wait to see all the 2018 has in store for my little family! Wishing you the very best in 2018!