Our final week of summer

When I was really little, we lived around the corner from a cemetery so that's where we rode bikes a lot. I wanted to show my kids how fun it was to "ride in the road". I loaded up their bikes and we headed to a nearby cemetery. At first Sarah was a bit wary, not because of the creepy headstones but because she wasn't sure it was okay that we were riding bikes there. 

 She got over it pretty quickly when she realized how fun it is to own the road.

Erica watched from the comfort of her stroller.

 Henry thought he was pretty awesome. We tried out another cemetery a couple of days later but nothing compares to Providence.

 The next day we went to the splash pad. Did you know if you go the first week of school, you can have it all to yourself?

 Erica, again, watching from the comfort of the blanket.

 Sarah wised up and played on the playground before she got wet.

 Erica was being super cute watching Henry be a goofball.

She's the smiliest baby ever.

Part of Sarah's back-to-school homework was making a doll look like her. She picked some fabric out of my bin that I had used to make a skirt for her so after we were finished with the doll, she dressed up to match. She had fun learning to use the glue gun.

For Labor Day weekend, we went camping. Justin and Henry went up Thursday morning. Here's my happy camper.

 His backpack was super big and heavy but he was a trooper carrying it (all the way to the car).

I didn't take my camera camping so I didn't get any pictures. We rode the 4 wheeler, ate smores, the kids went with Justin and Papa to look for deer, Erica did pretty well sleeping and we got rained on. Henry likes to pretend he's driving the 4-wheeler and all sticks are guns.

Monday night Henry woke up with the pukes. That night and all day yesterday I was tending to my poor boy. He threw up like thirty times. He was such a sweetheart, dragging his blankie and carrying his bowl around the house.

 And Erica laughs if you talk to her. She's good for my self-esteem.

Sarah's First Day of Kindergarten

The day we've all been waiting for! I didn't cry like I thought I would but I did get a little choked up when she came upstairs in her school clothes. She has been counting down the days for months and counting down the months for years. She's all about structure and learning so she's very much in her element now. I just don't like giving up any sort of control over her environment.  But then I remember it's just kindergarten and I looooved school and she will too. Enough about me, here's Sarah.

 She knew just what she wanted to wear and how she wanted her hair.

We bought her backpack a few months ago and she's used it for camping and pretending so she was super excited to finally use it for school.

She stubbed her toe on the door walking into the building. Welcome to school. The nail got torn off part way and bled a whole bunch so we had to go to the bathroom to clean it up then back track to the office to get a band aid then back to the bathroom to rinse the blood off her sandal.

Hanging up her backpack (can you tell she's my first? By the time Erica goes to school I'll be waving from the car.)

Then she found her seat. She had lost interest in me at this point.  She did change her mind though and want me to pick her up instead of riding the bus home. Victory! She does care about me!

After I picked her up from school (which was crazy. I don't ever want to do it again) we went to Daylight Donuts with Nadine.  She said her favorite part of the day was coloring a cupcake in the lines and putting it on the birthday board.

August Rush

This syrup is only sold at Winco and Justin was kind enough to stop for me. He sure knows the way to my heart.

We drove up to Squaw Peak so the kids could see the view.

 Just kidding. It was so Justin could look for deer.
The next day Justin took me to Midway to rent a tandem bicycle and go on a leisurely ride together. I've always wanted to ride one because they always look like the right balance of awesomeness and ridiculousness. I giggled for the first few minutes. Justin says I didn't pedal as hard as him but I did. I just didn't complain as much. Then we went to a Mexican restaurant with an Indian sounding name. They seated us right next to the salsa bar and they won't make that mistake again. We have a salsa problem. Actually that night we had a lack of chips problem. And we saw that one guy from Studio C but I couldn't remember his name at the time (nor now) so I didn't say hi. The skinny one......

I found an Easter egg in the fridge. It was Sarah's and she wanted to keep it. I told her no but she insisted we at least take a picture of her with it.

Kind of reminds me of the Doughnut Breakdown of 2012. Sarah couldn't handle the fact that she had to eat her snowman or it was going to go bad and be thrown away. We compromised on a photo then, too. Yes, she had been crying.

And yes she ate the doughnut. Not since Homer ate Pinchy has a person been so conflicted.

 Erica looked cute in her bow so Sarah took a picture.  Hey, there I am!

 She's slooowly learning to sit up on her own.

 Last Friday we went to the County Fair. If you've ever wanted to see the Delorian in Legos, here you go.

 We saw lots of farm animals.

Sarah liked the chickens. They were stinky. Everything was stinky. I forgot to get a picture of the pigs. I'm always shocked at how big they are.

 This is a turken. It's a turkey bred with a chicken. I bet it tastes like chicken. I looked around for a turducken but didn't find one.

 This is just a regular turkey.

 And I don't know what this is but it looked cool.

Erica likes to know where I am at all times and what I'm doing and who I'm with and how long I'll be and when I'll pick her up.  She also goes sans shirt most of the time because she gets mad rashes from her drool soaked shirt and this is easier than changing a bib or shirt every 20 minutes. She can soak a shirt in 20 minutes.

We got family pictures taken with Justin's family and our newest addition. Erica didn't take a good nap all day long and and Henry is never a good sport with the camera but Sarah is a pro (I've trained her well). With a lot of bribing, I think they turned out great.  Justin's ever-talented cousin Jolene took our pictures. Here's her website.

 

And so begins my favorite year

Erica is 6 months today and I couldn't be happier. My most favoritest age is 6 to 18 months. I appreciate this age all the more because as I type this my impulsive 3-year-old and whiny 5-year-old wrestle instead of setting the table.

It's basically from the time they can sit up and play with toys to when they learn the word "no".

 We celebrated with some sweet potatoes. They were not a hit.

Many pictures, few words

We are loving the camera remote.

I had this brilliant baking experiment idea. So for Pioneer day I did it. One cookie recipe, 4 candy mix ins: Reese's, Oreos, Twix, and Heath. Which will win?

 I had to label my cooling paper to keep them straight.

 Four rows of deliciousness. The results: All were delicious but Oreo turned out a little dry, Twix stuck to the pan so I cooled them on wax paper, Reese's was good but Heath was my favorite.

I love eating the pancake breakfast at Mapleton Park with all the old people on Pioneer day. Sarah did her own hair and picked out her own outfit.

 Afterward we watched the parade from the elementary school. Some people got candy.

 Some people whined when they did not.

 Some people were tired.

 Then we played a few games at the park

 If you ever go, the fishing game has the best prizes.

That evening we watched fireworks at the sports park. I just love waiting for fireworks and playing with glow sticks.

My sister brought these cool knuckle lights and Henry thought they made him a tiger.

Henry made a helmet.

 And since he peed in 2 pairs of pants, he made his own.

 The fireworks were awesome. Erica is also awesome (nice segue, huh?)

Afternoon rainstorms are awesome.

I got out the jumper and highchair yesterday.
Erica didn't care for the jumper.

 The big kids wouldn't leave it alone.

 They also had to try out the highchair as if they hadn't spent the first two years of their life in it.

 Erica liked it a little better. She doesn't like Cheerios.

The end.