No Question About It

There is no doubt, Andrew and Zane are ready for school. I have heard several times in the past few weeks how bored they are and how their brain needs more to do. There has also been an extreme increase in the amount of bickering and fighting that these two have been doing. All the signs are there, they need school again!

Zane is excited to tackle 3rd grade this year. He is going to have a great year for sure. Andrew is ready to start middle school. We have spent a lot of time at the middle school library this summer and I have sent him walking the path to school so he can get there without getting lost. Lots of changes this year but all of them welcome. I am so excited to see how Andrew handles the increased responsibilities!

Excited? Yes and No

The start of school is swiftly approaching and I have some excited kiddos and one that maybe is not as excited. Lucy is beside herself with glee that the start of school is approaching. She is going to be in first grade, at school all day long and she has the same teacher both of the boys had for first. All is well in her world. Not to mention that Zane has informed her repeatedly that her teacher hands out gummy worms to kids that bring box tops in from home and she is very thrilled about that!

Gwen on the other hand is feeling very uncertain about school. She gets around her siblings that are excited and she is excited. You ask her if she is excited and she tells you 'no, I don't want to go to school.' It is a very interesting things. The other day we were talking about school and she informed me she didn't like her kindergarten teacher. Now I had shown her a photo of the woman I thought would be her teacher several weeks ago. She is a very sweet lady. I asked Gwen why on earth she didn't like her since she had never met her. Gwen informed me 'she has curly hair and I don't like people with curly hair.' And that was it. She had found some reason not to like her. When it all was announced Gwen ended up with a different teacher who fortunately does not seem to have curly hair! Now she has no excuse not to like her.

They have placed Gwen in a PM class which is different for our neighborhood but I am not too upset by it. Gwen is notoriously slow moving in the morning and I am actually thrilled to think that she will not have to be up and moving quite as early this year. Now for them not to have made a mistake in her class placement! I am going to call and confirm on Tuesday morning but I think that this is the right class for her as long as the bus works out.

A 9 Year Old Party

 We celebrated Zane's birthday a few days early this year with a small party and cake and root beer floats.

 Zane loves his birthday and being the very last one in the calendar year is a cross that he must bear always. He did great this year with the wait through every other kid's party though. He determined last year that he wanted a Seahawks party this year so that is what he got.

Happy Birthday Zane boy. So excited to see what 9 year's old brings to you!

A Thursday Adventure: The Evergreen State Fair

The fair opened today and we took advantage of free entrance before 1 pm and made this our Thursday Adventure!

First stop was the horses. The girls found horses that had their names. They found that hysterically funny.

Reid was so brave this year! He wanted to touch and pet everything. Such an improvement over last year at the fair.

These baby pigs were only 1 day old. They were so tiny and sweet. Ollie even loved them.

We toured the animal barns and petted everything that was out. The loved the bunnies and the guinea pigs.

They had an actual petting zoo too. It was located where the Alaskan pig races usually are. It was a bummer to not see them this year.

They did have some fun animals in the petting zoo though. They had several deer and llamas. They also had two wallabies to touch and pet. It was great fun.

 And of course the fair is not complete without a couple of elephant ears. The boys worked for Grandpa this week and earned some money. They decided to use it on elephant ears. Makes perfect sense to me! They each at an entire one themselves!

Gwen's Build a Bear!

 Gwen got gift cards to Build a Bear for her birthday and she was SO thrilled to go and get her own special friend. There was a very specific plan for her trip. She wanted a My Little Pony and she wanted that pony to have roller skates. All I have to say is mission accomplished. Rainbow Dash will not have any clothing but for sure that pony is going to be able to go skating!

Gwen Turns 5

It was a Frozen party for the Gwen girl to celebrate turning 5 years old! Eric and I both agree that Gwen turning 5 makes us feel old! She is supposed to be our baby girl. And here she is 5 years old and heading to kindergarten!

Gwen got toys and clothes and so much fun stuff for her birthday!

Kenzie even gave her one of her older American Girl dolls and Gwen was SO excited. She has been hounding me forever for a big doll and this is going to be so much fun for her to start with. Happy Birthday Gwendalyn! Love you so much!!!

Farewell Breakfast

The counselors at camp always are available to eat breakfast with their group of kids that last day. Andrew got his photo taken with his counselor and his new good friend Michael.

Lucy and Zane were in the same group this year and they had a so much fun. I was a bit worried about them being together but they handled it really well.

Ollie was not impressed with eating or being hugged by his counselors. But they were such good sports with him all week even when he screamed every time we walked into his classroom.

Reid insisted that I be part of the picture. He did great in class so I was really surprised that he didn't want to sit with them. That is ok though. He was a rock star through most of the week.

Miss Gwendalyn was in a snit when we went to breakfast. So we just took a picture of her without her permission. She can be such fun. Can't wait until next year!!!

Last Beach Day

This is Ollie's new 'cheese' face. Totes adorbs.

We headed to the beach with Andrew's new friend Matt for some final sandy fun. A big hole needed to be dug and some splashing needed to happen.

Lucy also needed to do her impression of a swimsuit model. Seriously. The poses she does for me while on the beach are ridiculous.

Gwen and Reid and occasionally Ollie worked on a different hole. They big boys did not appreciate tiny helping hands as much as they could have.

Gwen and Ollie hung out with me in the sun shade for quite a bit of the afternoon. It was kinda breezy so as soon as they got cold they were done in.

 I was thrilled for the company. Love them!

The tide rolled in while we finished. Hopefully the giant construction will withstand the tide. At least that is what the boys are hoping for!

This beach baby is going to be so sad to leave the sand and the sun and the waves. Well maybe not the waves. But he is an ocean baby for sure.