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.

Oregon Coast 2013!

 Every couple years, Kevin's family rents a house on the Oregon Coast and we spend a week at the ocean. Its always wonderful and we look forward to it all year. Its the one time we get everyone together and all the cousins get to see each other. This year we had 13 kids between all the great grand-children, all age 8 and under. So it was a little chaotic to say the least! After loading the truck and then retying it down two or three times, we were finally on our way, in our giant caravan of cars.

Above is Ella, Edyn, and Adalyn, all born within 5 months of each other in 2012.  This was the first time they were all three together.

 Kevin's grandma's 13 great grand-children. Its pretty much impossible to get a picture of all them holding still.

 The second day we were there was by far the warmest and when we spent the most time on the beach. Regardless, the kids didn't care too much about the cold and still played in the sand and water even when it was freezing.

 The kids loved "attacking" the waves and having the waves chase them and would run back and forth and as the tide would come in. That water was freezing cold!

 Vicki and Stephanie and I at "D" river in Lincoln City. Its the worlds smallest river but it has a warm stream of water that goes out to the ocean and is great for the kids to play in.

Isak and his cousin Josh loved spending time together and despite being two years different in age always play so well together whenever they see each other.

 I loved being at the beach and getting to relax with my kids. Even though it was crazy at times, I really enjoyed taking Isak out to the beach by himself and chasing the waves with him and searching the tide pools early in the morning with my kids.  Good memories.

 Kevin's grandma picked four names to do glass blowing and Kevin was one of the lucky ones! He made a gorgeous glass ball float for our house. I need to post a picture.

 One of the kids favorite activities was burying each other in the sand. They thought this was the best activity ever and I've never seen them lay so still..

 Oh Lucy. Lucy likes to wear her own style. Even her headbands that really work better as ninja bands. I love that kid.

 We took a pretty fun 3 mile hike on Sunday while we were there that led us down a suspension bridge to a waterfall. We also did some geo caching while we were there and the kids got to each pick something out of the box, leave something, and sign their names in the log book.

 It was pretty warm and a longer hike so I just took Isak with me and left Lucy and Edyn with Kevin.

 Isak loved jumping through all the rocks and soaking his feet. He did pretty well on the way there but needed some encouragement to finish on the way back.  It was a long hike for little 6 year old legs, I was pretty proud of the kid for sticking with it.

 One morning I woke up and got mixed up on the times and thought it was an hour later than it was. Seeing how far out the tide was, I hurried and grabbed the kids and hauled them down to the beach to look at tide pools.

 We found a lot of cool shells, barnacles, anemones, and some other little sea creatures that my kids loved looking at. It wasn't until we got back to the house that I realized how early it was. And then I promptly talked Kevin into letting me go back to sleep.

 Lucy in yet another of her awesome outfits. She found that cat purse and hat at a souvenir shop. Who needs shells to remember the beach when you can have sequins?

 One of our favorite things to do, sit in the 5 person hot tub with 7-8 kids at any given time. It was great because it over looked the ocean which made up for the jets not working and the pee that was probably in it from the over excited children.

 Family Picture that is almost at the beach.

We went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium while we were there as well which our kids always love. This year they had added a whole new kids hands on section and  bunch of exhibits for them to go through.

 Lucy was so excited about all the fish and sea creatures she could hardly contain herself or figure out where to go next. She was all over the place.

 We loved all the colorful fish and these awesome jelly fish.

 Edyn loved being able to touch all the star fish and sea anemones.

 Our classic picture in the shark jaw. I think we have at least 4 of these now, I should make a collage!

 Kevin's grandma had t-shirts made for each of the great grand-kids with their first initial on it. The kids loved them and it made it easy to identify them all at the aquarium

 We LOVED the beach and all the craziness and getting to see our family. It was great being able to play games and catch up with everyone.  I feel so lucky that Kevin's family is able to do this every few years, it makes it easy for our kids to see and get to know their cousins. Thanks grandma for a very memorable and fantastic week!