School time is coming...

With school starting next week the kindergartners were asked to come in and participate in a smart start kindergarten camp. This camp is to prepare the kids for leaving mom and dad and getting into a routine for school. While Payten went to summer school already this year it was still hard to let her go. I cant believe that my little girl is going to be going to school!!!!! this mama is going to be a mess next week when she goes all day to school...

Fair and Rodeo time!!

One of my favorite times of the year is the fair time. The games, rides, animals and best of all the rodeo. We started off our fair week with a parade. The girls went to their dads last weekend because I had them the weekend before when they would have been at their dads. With them being at dads that meant that we only had Wyatt and by some stroke of luck David got the day off of work so he could go with us. Wyatt was so excited and dad getting to go with us was just frosting on the cake. The parade ended up being very long and by the end we had a whole grocery bag full of candy people had thrown and Wyatt had collected and were very hot. David cheated and stood in the shade the whole time back behind all the crazy parade goers while we sat on the curb so Wyatt could collect candy and see better.

 

 The fair started and with me being out of town this weekend we were not sure we would have enough time to go this year. We had thought that David was going to be getting tickets for the fair through work but last minute that fell through and with the weekend so busy we spur of the moment decided Wednesday night after work was the only opportunity we had to go. So we loaded up to truck and headed to the fair. First in at the request of the kids we went to see all the animals. Payten was not a huge fan of all the noises of the animals and Allyxis was very interested in all them though she was really concerned with the animals in cages. I don't know what she was thinking but by the look on her face it looked like she didn't understand why they were in cages and not sure what a few of them where. There are some bazaar looking birds.  Then we headed to the games and payten was aloud to play three games. She quickly picked fishing, darts and the hammer game. I was pleasantly surprised by her in that she did good at all the games and won three prizes of her own which she gave on to sister(isn't she sweet). We got dinner after games which is David's favorite part of the fair. Then were headed out when we walked by the rodeo arena but it was still going and David decided we could stop and watch for a bit. I love watching the rodeo and Allyxis proved to like it just as much as me. She sat and watched dancing to the music that came on. once over we headed home to get to bed as David had to be up at 3:30am for work the next day. We had a great night of making memories!

 

Big Family Vacation

A long awaited vacation finally came for us and believe me it couldn't have come fast enough. With David working so much we were lucky for him to get a few days off so we could go. We left first thing after work Friday and drove to my grandparents in Olympia to stay the night and visit real quick with them before heading to the beach. After a quick visit with the grandparents we were off to see the ocean. We arrived at Long Beach and headed straight to the beach before checking in at the motel and settling in a bit. Neither of the girls had been to see the ocean or put their feet in the sand. We stayed until Tuesday morning and then headed home. My parents who we went there with us went back to Olympia and stayed there another day before coming home. We went back through Olympia so we could go to Cabelas. The whole Cabelas trip was supposed to be a quick stop on our way home but turned into a three hour trip (should have known going with David). Once we finally got out of that store we went home. Our life went back to the normal schedule the next day against David's hope that vacation would somehow continue. We hope to be able to go back to the beach again, maybe make it a tradition every year.

the beach was so beautiful! the weather was great, the wind wasn't too bad for the beach

The kids had to get some train time in at great grandpas before we headed for the beach. Allyxis lost interest after about 10 min. but payten stood and watched that train for while and then she would follow it around the backyard track.

 David pulling Allyxis in the wagon while the rest of us search for shells on the beach. I am so glad we thought to bring the wagon. Allyxis sat there so well just watching everyone and playing with things we found on the beach.

 Mom and me on the beach!

 My man and me on the beach enjoying the weather

 The sand castle town that Payten and grandma made while me and David were flying our kites

Payten became brave enough to ride the go karts with papa and a few of the cousins. I wasn't sure she was going to last the whole ride when they started but she ended up having fun.

 Allyxis in the back of the truck with David playing with her new pinwheel that grandma bought her when we were in town shopping earlier that morning. There was just enough wind to make it really spin and keep her entertained. With the sun setting it made a pretty silhouette kind of picture.

Lastly a picture of payten in front of the elephant at Cabelas while we were waiting for David. While we were there for way longer then we expected but David had a good time looking at everything and drooling over all the guns and Payten loved looking at the fish and all the animals.

A backyard for playing

While our old house had a small fenced backyard we were never really able to use and enjoy it because of a couple fruit trees in it that attracted bugs and dropped rotten fruit along with a large dog in our household that used the backyard as his bathroom.  With a new house comes new advantages and with this one it was a little bit of a bigger backyard that is fenced in. We no longer have a dog so we don't have to watch where we step. This summer we have used our yard as often as we can to enjoy the summer heat. The kids have flown small kites they received for Easter, played soccer, rode scooters and bikes, blown bubbles and ran around to their hearts content. What a blessing it has been to have found a duplex to rent and not had to resort to an apartment where we would have had no yard of our own. Sometimes I forget how fortunate we are to live where we do.

 Payten flying her kite. practice for vacation at the beach

 All the kids drawing with sidewalk chalk

Wyatt and Payten throwing a ball. I remember playing with that game when I was little. I don't think they believed me that it was around when I was little. lol!

A picnic with mom

The company my mom works for always has a picnic near the end of the summer for all their employees. For the last few year we have not been able to go for a few different reasons so when my mom called and asked if me and the kids would like to go with her I was excited and said yes. I can remember going to a couple with her and they were always so fun. We lucked out and the picnic just happened to be on a weekend when we had all the kids. So that Saturday we packed up the kids and headed out for a day of good food and fun in the water. First we ate lunch and then let the kids play in all the water activities they had set up. There was a small water park that shot water out of the ground and many huge blow up water slide and obstacle courses. Allyxis had a blast playing in the water. I cant get over how much she enjoys running in and out of the water over and over. In the middle we took a couple of breaks to have ice cream and snow cones. we were there for three hours and I'm sure if we hadn't made the kids leave they would have stayed for the whole night. All the kids played so hard they were all fast asleep before we even go on the highway to go home. They still talk about how much fun they had. Thanks mom for letting us go with you and having so much fun with the kids!!

A hike for the view

My friend Felicia and me took a morning with no kids and went for a hike up Badger Mountain. Our men seemed to think that it would be really hard for us but it turned out to be not to bad. With all the fires that were going on the view wasn't as nice as it could have been but still was so nice. we hope to make it a more common occurrence.

Farmers market with friends

This summer has been so much fun being able to do all kind of things to enjoy it. The farmers market has been just one of those things we have attended and enjoyed. A few weeks ago we went to the market with Natania and her sweet little baby girl Elizabeth. We ended up getting to have Wyatt in time for him to go with us too! The kids even got to hold Elizabeth while she was with us. they love her!!