First Day of School 2012

I have a love-hate relationship with the first day of school.  I hate that the summer is over and that I will not have the option to just be lazy and hang with my girls if I want to.  I will miss watching them play all day and will miss hanging out with them. I will miss just deciding to do something fun anytime of day.  I am sad for Natalie that her sisters will be gone a major chunk of the day. I love the first day of school because of all the excitement of a new school year.  I love that it means that fall is right around the corner.  I love a bit of peace and quiet around the house.  I love watching my kids learn, grow and work hard at school.  I love getting Natalie all to myself.  I love settling into a routine with a set bedtime.  I am pretty sure this debate could go on in my head for ever. Overall I think we are all excited for what this new school season will bring!

 

 

 



Annual Mountain Charleston Visit

A couple of my good friends and I have started a bit of a tradition, taking the kids up to the Mountains for one good play day before the end of the summer.  Last years trip was kinda crazy with all the yellow jackets we had to deal with but this year went off without a hitch!  The weather was amazing, which is good since that is the best part about going up there.

Along with the weather my other favorite part would be watching the kids play in nature, they were rock climbing (some of the boys were so brave), throwing rocks, playing hide and seek and basically enjoying each others company.  I love that not only were the boys so brave, they were such gentlemen helping the girls climb over the rocky terrain.  Maybe they all just like holding hands but it was really, really cute to watch! 

After everyone got their fill of fresh air and all the Mom's got their fill of pictures we headed back to town.  On the way we stopped at Cafe Rio and let all the bigger kids sit outside to eat.  My girls were excited, they felt like big girls.  I was going to make them sit inside with me be decided that I need to cut the strings one day so I let them go.  Right about the time all the kids were finishing up with their meals rain started to pour down.  Not sprinkles but crazy flash flood kind of rain.  While we finished up eating the kids played away in the rain.  What a fun way to end the afternoon!

Cousins

We tried to make the last week of summer a good one even if we were crazy busy trying to get things done in order to be ready for school.  On one of our last days we headed over to our new favorite park right my my Mom's house and met our cousins there for a good cooling off in the water.  The kids had a great time and it was fun getting to catch up with my sister who I have hardly got to see this summer.   

Phone Photo Recap

I am glad that I have my phone as a backup camera when I forget to bring my real one or when I don't really feel like lugging around a giant camera.  Here is a little bit of what we have been up to since our trip to California.

 The girls have been spending lots of time outside, especially on the overcast days playing with their new swing set that Zach's buddy gave us.

 Zappos, where Anna works, hooked us up with some free tickets to an awesome professional soccer game and I got to go with these two lovely ladies. 

 Zachary has really grown up since the school year and has been doing some babysitting for us now that he is old enough.  He is so good with Natalie and this is how we found them when we got home one evening.

I moved Maile's bed into Natalie's room hoping to solve some of our bedtime issues.  Maile won't have to get in trouble because of her naughty twin sisters and now Natalie will have someone in her room to keep her company.  Win win. This picture was the first night, Natalie must have decided Maile's bed was better than hers.

My cousin's son Oliver turned one this past weekend and she threw a really fun party, we all had a blast!

 Summer equals not having to do anything if we don't want to.  We have had many days just lounging around the house.

Four moms, eighteen kids, water balloons and a huge water slide make for one fun play day.  My friend Chrissy is so very kind and brave for letting us come over and play.  The best part about these kids is that even though there are so many, there is hardly a squabble between them, if there is it is usually between siblings.  That makes it so easy for us all to get together!



Maile's Birthday Trip Day 3

On the last planned day of our trip we were heading back out to the beach only this time we were wearing our suits and brought all the gear to stay and play for a while.  It was really fun watching the kids at the beach now that they are older, they were all much more brave than in years past.  Zachary even decided that he liked the beach and ocean and tried out the boogie board.  I wish the waters were not so rough that day, he probably would have had better luck!  Natalie also finally warmed up to the idea of sand about half way through and that made the afternoon much easier since we no longer had to carry her everywhere and hear her whine about it getting on her. 

I am struggling with believing how grown up my Maile is getting.  I am so very lucky to call this girl my own!

What a fun trip!  We packed a lot of fun into four days and I couldn't have done it without the help of my Mom and my Aunt Lezlie.  I always wish Zach didn't have to work in the summer so that he could be with us on these trips but I am glad for the extra time I got to spend with my Mom, especially since she has been working so much.  Overall this was trip was a success, Maile had a great birthday even if we didn't throw a huge party.  Pretty sure she will remember this much more!

Happy Birthday Maile (Day two)

On Maile's actual birthday we went to Knott's Berry Farm for the day.  All the kids (Natalie not included) were on their very best behavior and were so good about all the walking and standing around in line.  The weather was nice and the park wasn't too packed.  Maile has already decided that she wants to go back again for her birthday when she is tall enough to ride more rides. 

After a long day we came home to California Aunt Lezlie and Uncle Kevin's house, had dinner, sang Happy Birthday, ate ice cream and watched Maile open her presents.  This is not the first time that we have crashed Aunt Lezlie's for a birthday party and she is always so helpful in making it such a fun time.  We are so lucky and Maile sure did have a great day!