Shakespear Shuffle

September photo shoot

On Labor Day we let the kids pick our activities.  We wanted to have one last hurrah before school started the next day...I was dreading it.  I think I always will.  Hiking was on the list so we hiked to the Cathedral Tree from the Astoria column.  What a view!!!

 

Jeremy went salmon fishing with a friend early that morning & caught a big one that we cooked up & ate that night & it was delicious.

Next on the list was the Seaside Aquarium.  We had free tickets from the summer library reading program so we took advantage.  For how tiny it is I was really surprised the kids lasted as long as they did.  In fact I was the one that had to beg everyone to leave :)  The seals were crazy that day.  I think Emma, Dallen & I stood by this window for 25 minutes just waiting to be terrified when one of the seals would jump up & scare us.  I swear they were doing it on purpose!

Justy could have stayed all day at the touch tables.

At the top of the list was of course the Candyman for helado!  We also had a fire in the fireplace & roasted 'smores.

 

 

Finally the first day of 3rd grade for Hyrum & 1st grade for Hunter arrived all too soon.  I was sad but have adjusted.  It's been fun to have more time with the younger kids & somehow it's quieter at home even though the younger 3 are much louder than the older two-usually.  They were both super excited & ready to go back.  This is Hunter's first year going full day & he's adjusted perfectly.

   

They've got some big shoes to fill

The first weekend in September we took the kids out of school on Friday & went to Bend Oregon.  I've been as a kid but I don't remember it much.  Jeremy had a dental conference there & he persuaded us to come too.  I almost didn't because of school & soccer games but I'm beyond glad I decided we should just go.  I want to go back every year-such a fun, gorgeous place with tons to do outside.

Lava River Caves was the first adventure but it was so freezing cold inside & Emma was terrified that we only lasted about 5 minutes actually inside the cave.

 

Lava Butte

 

Benham Falls

 

Paulina Falls

 

Catching crayfish

Paulina Falls was a double water fall - lots of great hiking & climbing of rocks if you're Hyrum & Hunter

 

The obsidian flow in the Newberry Caldera was fascinating I don't think I've ever seen something like this up close.  Justy was beyond excited to be there.  He is fascinated with volcano's.

We drove around Paulina & East Lakes & ate dinner in a tiny cafe.  We are definitely coming back to go camping & play in the water next summer.

 

Picnic at Tumalo Falls on the way out of town after church on Sunday.

 

 

While Jeremy was at his meeting the kids & I played in about 3 different parks & went to a great jump house.  Their favorite was the one with the ship.  We stayed until it just got too darn hot.

  

 

The second week of September was the beginning of Justy & Emma's second year of Mommy preschool.  I, again, begged to be first so I taught the first four weeks.  It was exhausting!  I'm happy to let some one else have a turn :)  But I wouldn't change it for "real" preschool for the world.  I'm hoping next year we can start the tradition with Dallen.

 

Dallen was going to play at a friends house while I taught but he didn't want any of that so I let him stay & he did pretty well sitting with the big kids & coloring while we worked.

Snuggle buds

He found some of my preschool stuff

I keep waiting for it to not be exciting when a giant herd of elk come stomping through our yard but it is just amazing every time.

On the third weekend of September we again took the kids out of school on Friday & we went up to Pa & Darlin's house.  Jeremy had another dental conference at the Great Wolf Lodge.  We spent Friday with Darlin' at the Children's Museum.  It is really the best Children's Museum I've ever been in & it was fun because they added some new features.  Dallen is obsessed with the 'screaming room'.  A padded closet you go into, close the door, scream as loud as you can & your friends can tell you how loud you were by observing the gauge outside the door.  He has never braved the inside but talks about it incessantly.  He finally faced his fears & screamed in the screaming room.

 

Friday afternoon after Pa was off work we drove down to the Great Wolf Lodge to meet Jeremy.  Up above is the view from our room of the Howlin' Tornado - the craziest slide ever.

We ate at an authentic Mexican restaurant Friday evening after a couple hours of splashing around.

I love this picture of my Dad- such a happy guy!  I'm so glad he could come along.

It was so much more fun this time because Justy & Emma could ride (with an adult) on everything but the Howlin Tornado & they were so brave to try everything multiple times.  Can't wait until Dallen is tall enough too.

This kid & his faces!  There are about 4 times as many pictures on the camera of us making faces.  He got cold for a while & wanted to just sit & snuggle so that was how we passed our time.  Then he was good to go jump in again.

Sunset on date night

I have enjoyed jogging ever since I was 18 but I have to say this is the best place on the planet if you're trying to get into running.  First off the views are breathtaking - I never get tired of them.  Then of course it's pretty awesome there is practically no elevation if you stay close to the beach :)  And the weather is hardly ever too hot so there you have it. 

     

On the left was something Hyrum wrote about his hero - his Dad.  So simple, so sweet & so true.  On the right is Hunter's good behavior report.  I want my kids to do well with their school work but I think I care more about their behavior.  I'm so happy they are both doing well in that area.

This is what I've been doing with any spare moment the past 3 weeks - knitting Gryffindor scarves for Halloween.  I thought I had until Halloween to complete them but Brigg & Hava are throwing a HP party on the 18th so I've had to speed up to get them done in time!

Hyrum, Hunter & I finished the last book of the Fablehaven series & were quite sad.  Five long books later we had become quite attached to that world.  Luckily for us Brandon Mull has written quite a few other books & now we've jumped into the Candy Shop Wars.  Hopefully he can spit them out as fast as we read them :)

Balloon painting for preschool & the big boys want in on the action after school.  It was actually really fun & looks really cool.

Anyone else thing this picture is extremely creepy??!!

 

Emma with her preschool bud Sara & Em finishing up her preschool workbook.  Now both she & Justy are going strong in their Kindergarten ones.

 

You know how I can tell who's turn it is to unload the dishwasher?  If it looks this organized & color coordinated it could only be one person in the family...Hyrum.  So then naturally it's Hunter's turn because although I don't have a picture it looks nothing like this when it's Hunter's turn :)  Or mine for that matter!

I ate like a wannabe vegan for about 2 months recently.  It didn't last & I'm back to eating whatever but it was kind of fun to discipline myself & see that I could do it if I had to or wanted to.  I found lots of interesting recipes on Pinterest & although I liked them all they didn't always go over well with the family.  The above is one I thought was delicious but no one else did.  Ah well!

A blue ghost at a soccer match...

Temple building for FHE

We have hardly had any rain for a long time but we did have one day that just down poured for hours.  Well as a result Shakespear Lake made a reappearance.  This will be our only experience with having lake front property so we enjoyed it while we could!