End of September. We finished soccer, Isak scored some of his first legitimate goals and was very excited. Edyn getting more into everything and ran all over the place while the kids were playing their games. I was so glad when their season was done!

 My mom's birthday the end of September. We made her a cake and the kids put her candles in and then blew them out for her. My kids wrapped presents then played our favorite "heavy heavy hangover" game when we gave them to her. It was a great night.

 My parents took Kevin and I and Isak to a WSU game in Pullman the end of September. We were uncertain of how their season would go so we made sure we picked a game we knew they would win...the game vs University of Idaho. This was Isak's first college football game and he was pretty ecstatic that he was old enough to go and the only kid we brought with us. 

 We sat in the endzone and I was unsure of how Isak would do with such a long game. Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. He did great and was cheering the whole time.  Kevin and I were thoroughly entertained by the U of I cheerleaders who were sitting facing the megatron screen eating popcorn and snacks during the first half in their sweatsuits. We kept thinking, "Aren't they suppose to be cheering?" But there they sat, eating their popcorn. Finally right before half time, they started to warm up and then they performed during half time and cheered the second half. Maybe I was just jealous of their young metabolism. Anyway, also entertaining and true to the college football experience was the pair of drunk guys sitting behind us. Our first clue was how they sang the national anthem along with the singer at the start of the game. At least they were friendly drunks, and aside from accidently hitting Kevin in the head a few times, were not a problem.  One was in a whoopee cushion costume and he kept high fiving Isak every time they would score a touchdown. Brought back such great memories of my own experience at WSU at the football games!
It ended late and Isak ended up falling asleep soon after he got in the car on the way home. It was a great night and even better that WSU won!

Preschool

Lucy girl started preschool at the beginning of September.  I drop her off in the morning and the Lucky Lion bus brings her home. I originally was picking her up but she badly wanted to ride the bus and since we live in town and its a novelty, I decided to let her. The school district is nice enough to offer busing services to and from the preschool, no matter where the student lives. She LOVES preschool and wants to go first thing in the morning when she wakes up. The fact she has to wait a few hours is always hard for her. She bounces in the school and declares "I'm here!" and waves me away, hangs up her back pack and runs into the classroom.  And I see her again two hours later.  The only thing I don't like is I'm not sure what she's doing while she's there. She's been singing a lot so I'm guessing they must do a lot of songs. And she does bring home coloring and writing practice.   When I ask her about what she did at preschool she responds with "I did lots of things. It was so fun. I love preschool!". And the other day I found out from her that she spent some time in timeout and it was somehow connected to an apple. With her preschool last year I helped out quite a bit and knew what was going on so its been different.  However, she appears to be learning quite a bit and I know that the school district preschool has great teachers and a good set up. They retest the students every three months to ensure the highest need kids are enrolled. I'm pretty sure she will be tested out in December and I feel really bad because she will be devastated. I went ahead and put her on the waiting list for another preschool in January just in case it happens.  But who knows? Maybe she will decide to only half answer all the questions again and get to stay in longer!

Fair

 The second week of September we had the Adams Country Fair. We look forward to this every year and my kids love going to see the animals and of course, the rides. My parents joined us this year and it was nice to have an extra set of hands to help with the kids. We saw all the animals and Edyn really loved the cows, bunnies and goats and tried to talk to all of them.

 One of my kids favorite parts of the fair is always the petting zoo. They have a llama, donkey, kitties, puppies, bunnies, ducks and some other poor unfortunate animals that get to be manhandled by overexcited children all day.

 We ran into our friends while we were there and Isak was excited to have his friend, other Isaac, at the fair as well.

 And Lucy attempted to feed the animals and was super excited (as usual) to see "Ashalynn!!" (ashlynn) at the petting zoo. These two I'm pretty sure were sisters in another life.

 Isak really wanted to try these balls last year and we didn't get a chance so this year we decided to let him and Lucy try it. Turned out to be the best ride we paid for all night. They were giant blow up balls that floated in a shallow wading pool and the kids could run in them and bump into each other. They each got about 10 minutes in there and it was only $5 a kid. They reminded me of the Zorbing balls we used in New Zealand only our kids weren't rolling down a hill in these things...

 The rides are always a little pricey so we let each kid pick out about three rides. My children of course want to go on the craziest ride they can find so I had to steer them towards these very calm spaceships. They talked Kevin and I into going on the Octopus with them which turns these cars very fast as you're going up and down in the air. I went with Isak and Kevin went with Lucy, I'm pretty sure I was much more freaked out about than Isak was. We got done and I was trying not to vomit and he said "That was fun mom! We should do it again!". Um no. I'm not a big ride person, I think I liked them more when I was younger but in my old state I get motion sick easy and I hate heights. I still ended up on the ferris wheel too somehow but the kids loved it and I survived.

Edyn rode the carousel a few times with my parents and I think that was plenty enough excitement for her. At the end of night we got ice cream and elephant ears and watched this very cool reptile show that also featured a cougar and wolves. We had to pull our kids out of there and they collapsed into bed tonight and slept very well. Next year I promise to be more on the ball and have the kids enter something in the fair.  A lot of the Lego entries looked very similar to stuff Isak makes and is all very random so I think he would do great. 

Lucy Girl

Lucy insisted I pack her a lunch on Isak's first day of school and she was pretty sad when she realized she wasn't starting school as well.  I took her to be evaluated for the school district preschool and since she didn't answer half the questions and was quite distracted that day, she qualified! They might be surprised at her rapid progress but they can't kick her out so I think she's good! I do think she will benefit from the daily class and it will help her with focusing better so its a good fit for her. The main reason I took her was to be evaluated for speech which we have been trying to get her help with for a while. Today was her evaluation and they told me her comprehension speech is great but she definitely needs help with articulation. She has "interesting substitutions" for sounds that don't follow a consistent pattern. She basically will make up a sound in a word if she can't say it. So, since we also had her evaluated at Kadalec in Tri-Cities in July, they recommended that we take her there once a week as well as have her worked with at the preschool once a week.  That way she will be pretty caught up by the time she starts Kindergarten next year. I'm going to try and do my best, that will make our schedules pretty crazy so I'm hoping I can work with her at home as well. She starts school next week and couldn't be more excited if she tried. Well, I haven't shown her the pink angry bird backpack I found for her yet so maybe..

August

After our beach trip, Kevin's family stayed for a few days after to hang out and see the farm. We took the kids out to the dairy to see the cows and I dressed Edyn and Lucy in matching outfits and cow boots. Because when else can I put them in matching adorable outfits?

Aunt Lindsey was wonderful to have help chase kids and my kids adore her because she is always so willing to pay attention to them and play with them.

Isak's favorite part of the dairy is always the cottonseed. He really could care less about the cows, he just wants to roll down the giant hill of cottonseed.  I love this picture because the babies are the only ones looking at the camera.

The kids had a lot of fun playing in nana's backyard in her wading pools and driving the toy tractor all around. And Edyn looks really old in this picture and I'm not sure how much I like it...

Lucy made sure she had plenty of lounging time as well in the bean bags with her favorite stuffed animals. This little girl will forever be my loungy kid, she is perfectly happy sitting with me on the couch or laying in her bed listening to stores. Quite a contrast to her two siblings who are constantly wanting to go.

We attempted some pictures of all the grandkids of Kevin's parents and the kids were actually surprisingly cooperative. We got some useable ones and they were all looking in the same direction which is pretty amazing.

 We also set up a giant slip n slide in the backyard which a giant piece of ag bag that was a huge hit as well. Then we started an obstacle course around the yard with it and would time the kids.

And the tire is finally back in Kevin's parents back yard after 18 months. Isak is so happy to have it back!

1st day of school

Isak started 1st grade last Thursday and so far he loves it. He came home telling me that "first grade is way cooler than kindergarten" and that "it was awesome!" His teacher is Miss Fullmer, who also goes to our church and I get to see her frequently which is pretty convenient now that Isak is in her class. He rides his bike to school every morning and Kevin or I walk it back.  I do miss having him home during the day with me but I'm grateful he can be in school because this kid needs constant stimulation and entertainment. And that can be a little exhausting when I'm out of experiment ideas and I've built more legos than I can count...Lucy had a rough first day with him gone but has since adjusted back to having him gone. She starts preschool next week and will also get help with her speech.  She is extremely excited and I just hope that her teacher is ready for her and all her excitement.