Oyster Run

We couldn't have gotten out of town fast enough on Friday afternoon.  It was a crazy busy week and we were very ready for the weekend to start.  Best of all, we were headed to Anacortes to camp and go to the Oyster Run on Sunday.  We met Sebastian, Mindy and Dillon there.  

The camp spots we stay in are wonderful.  They are right on the water, overlooking Fidalgo Bay.  We can see Mount Baker, the San Juan Islands and enjoy watching the boats coming and going from Anacortes.

The boys love being able to play in the grass, move to the water to throw rocks (and get wet) then head across the way to play on the playground.  Climbing, swinging, sliding...do it all over again. Colson even managed to get a bloody nose somehow!They also rode their bikes a ton.  There is a great walking/bike path that goes right through the campground.  One way goes into town.  The boys and I rode both ways on the trail a few times.  The boys rode, I walked.  I walked a lot of miles as they rode their bikes!

Saturday we went into town to visit the Farmers Market.  It's a small one, but we bought fruit, a yummy cookie and brownie and then had some lunch.  Chris had a huge burger and the boys and I shared some Mexican food.

Sunday was the Oyster run and the bikes were rolling into town all day, then heading out of town all afternoon and evening.  There were thousands of bikes.  The streets were filled, the parking lots were filled, the alleys were filled and there were still more bikes.  It was fun to wander the streets and look at all of the booths.  The boys didn't have as much fun, of course.  There really wasn't anything exciting for them.  :)

We wish we would have had an extra day to stay and just enjoy and relax.  What a great weekend. We were blessed to have time with family and friends, enjoy the sunshine and let the kids play.


Enjoying every moment.

Randomness

Here are a few random photos...

Colson loves building with legos and both boys are into making

trucks and trailers.  Colson built this trailer to hook on the back of this car

wanted me to take a picture of it!

Another project done.  I wanted to get the piles of shoes out of the house

so we made an area in the garage where the kids can put their shoes

and backpacks.  I love it.  

Karin reading stories to Cannon before bed.  We enjoyed having 

her here last week.  

Colson is in that stage of wanting to everything by himself.  This includes 

putting on the toothpaste and brushing his teeth.  I insist on helping him with

part of the brushing, but he gets to start doing it by himself first!  

Enjoying every moment.

Cookie Science

The first science mini-unit we do with the third graders is have them make cookies.  We introduce them to scientific observations and practice making observations of various types of store bought cookies. They used their five senses to make observations and made detailed drawings as well.  Then we looked at five different chocolate chip cookie recipes and read through the ingredients  and directions.  There was an original recipe and each of the four other recipes had two ingredients where the amount was switched.  This led us to a discussion on changing variables.

The day before the cookie making, the kids practiced their observation skills again when they tasted the dry ingredients.  The baking powder got the biggest disgusting faces, as well as the unsweetened cocoa powder.  It was pretty funny to watch!    

The following day, each group was assigned one of the recipes.  They had to do everything themselves, under the watchful eye of a parent. One recipe switched the amount of baking powder and flour.  One of the recipes switched the amount of margarine for eggs....so 7 eggs instead of 2!

Each group made observations about their dough before they put the dough on the cookie sheets.

The following day, we all tasted each of the cookies and made observations.  Only two tasted any good!  The other three recipes, not so great!  The baking powder one was so crumbly and the recipe with 7 eggs was like rubber.  The kids all got a kick out of tasting the cookies they made.

We finished up with a graph on which recipe was their favorite, discussed more about changing variables and watched a quick video on the importance of making scientific observations.  This was a very simple, but very engaging week of science!

Enjoying every moment.

Doin' the Puyallup

Today was the perfect day to do the Puyallup!
And Auntie Karin was here to take the boys to the fair and got to enjoy the day with them while Chris and I worked.  :)

The boys loved their time with Auntie and their favorite thing was going on all of the rides!  They both had a few favorites and Colson made sure he told me he wasn't tall enough to go on the big slide and he REALLY wanted to ride on the Ferris wheel.

Another hit was the scones, which they bought right away and ate!  For lunch they had a corn dog (my favorite) and some yummy lemonade....plus the treats Auntie brought from home.

Oh, they did ride on the small tractors around a track and then got their picture taken at the end!

They also got to see some animals:  horses, cows, dogs, etc.

According to the boys and Auntie, it was a great day.  They all had fun and got to ride on a ton of rides.  They ate yummy fair food and even brought home some scones for us!

What a special day!  Thanks for taking pictures, Auntie Karin!

Enjoying every moment.

Celebrating Dillon

Today Sebastian and Mindy's son Dillon turned 6!  We were invited over for a small, relaxed birthday party.

Mindy had put out helium balloons tied to rocks in the yard.  Those kept the kids busy for quite some time.  They also loved playing on the big toy and jumping on the trampoline.  That ran around the yard moving from one thing to the next.  When they were done in the back yard, they moved to the front and rode bikes and trikes.  

As always, there was great food. Sebastian cooked chicken and we had baked potatoes, beans, corn and watermelon.  It was so very good.  We ate and watched the Huskies some, sat outside in the sun and watched the kids keep themselves busy.

Super time!  

Enjoying every moment. 

Hello Cannon!

I'm so lucky to have Cannon at the same school that I work at.  Daily, I get to peak in on him and see what he is learning.  He always seems busy when I stop by and as for now, doesn't seem to mind when I come in!  It's great to see him hard at work!

Today, I snapped a few photos.  They were working on an art project...one I used to do when I taught first grade, too!  I can't wait to see Cannon's finished product!

Enjoying every moment.

Family Fun

Our summer is winding down and fall is right around the corner.  However, we are still enjoying some warmer weather and today we took advantage of it by heading out the sound on the boat.

We put in at Point Defiance and even the drive down there was great.  Chris went along the waterfront and I just love the views from Ruston Way.  From Point Defiance, we headed north, this time up the east side of Vashon.  The tide was running hard and the wind was blowing, so it was a bumpy ride until we got tucked in behind Blake Island and then in around Banbridge Island.  We made it to Poulsbo in an hour and had lunch at the Italian restaurant.  After walking around a little bit, we found the bakery and got some donuts. :)  From Poulsbo, we headed to Bremerton.  The ride was much smoother and Colson fell asleep in my lap.  We headed over to the water park next to the ferry dock and the boys LOVED playing in the water.  It was cool water, but it felt great on such a hot day. They loved watching the ferry boat come in and unload, too.  It was hard to tear them away when it was time to go.  Finally, we stopped at a State Park with a sandy beach.  The boys had been asking all day to play at the beach.  They got their wish.  They got wet and sandy and would have stayed their all afternoon if we had let them.  

What a fabulous, relaxing day on the water.  We live in a beautiful place with so many wonderful things to see and do.   

Blessed.

Enjoying every moment. 

Today

Today, I took zero pictures.  I meant to.  I remember thinking to grab my phone.  But I never did.

We had a productive day and got a lot accomplished.  As always, there is more to be done.  But night is here and we must stop!

I was able to run some errands....make a return, drop off bags at the Goodwill, buy a few plants for the front yard, etc.

Chris continued on with the garage cleaning after more than a month "off".  He cleaned OUT a lot of things and cleaned UP a lot of things.  Then he was able to primer and paint the rest of the walls and ceiling.

I started the process of moving Colson out of his bedroom and into Cannon's.  For now, his bed is still in his room and I think we will keep it there for now.  They are such different sleepers.  But I got a good start on moving books and some clothes.

Cannon and Colson loved riding their bikes all around the neighborhood.  The weather was beautiful and they spent most of the day outside.

Chris also put up the hooks and benches in the garage so the boys now have a "mud room" where they can stash their backpacks and take off their shoes.  I love it.  It looks great.  I just need a rug.

We watched Jaxon for a short time this afternoon for Dan and Claire.  Jaxon's parents, Alan and Ari, are coming back from Hawaii tonight and Dan and Claire dropped off their car at the airport.  Jaxon enjoyed played with a little bit of everything.

I washed the sheets and they are STILL not back on the bed.  However it will feel good to sleep in fresh sheets tonight!

The boys were tired and were asleep before 8 pm tonight.

Great day!

Enjoying every moment.

Colson's First Day of Preschool

Today Colson started preschool!

He is going to Pony Trails in Bonney Lake.  He attends on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9:30-11:30.

Jessica took him today and she said he got right out with his backpack on and headed up the path with the other kids.

Colson said he colored, played with toys and went out to recess.  He was very happy and showed me his coloring as soon as he got in the car.

I'm so glad he had a great day and I know this is going to be a great year for him!

Enjoying every moment!

First Day of First Grade

Wow!
I've had MANY first day of first grades...when I taught first grade for 14 years!

Today Cannon started first grade!
He was excited but nervous, too.

He had a great day and told us all about it at dinner and then again before bed.
Some of the things he shared were:

• They had music.
• He sits by Alex.
• They drew pictures of themselves.
• Mrs. Green read two books. 
• Cannon read the book that he chose at the Ice Cream Social.  It was about a dog. 
• He made a new friend, but he can't remember his name. 
• Mrs. Green went over a lot of rules, but Cannon already knew them all.  :)

I'm going to enjoy seeing Cannon learn and grow this year!  I'm so glad Mandy is his teacher.

Enjoying every moment!

Labor Day Camping

We headed off to Mayfield Lake early afternoon on Friday and enjoyed a wonderful three days, soaking up the last days of summer.  School starts on September 2nd!

We had a bit of off and on rain Saturday, but nothing terrible.  Sunday and Monday were partly cloudy but warm.

A few highlights:

• We went on Dan's pontoon boat and enjoyed a great ride around the lake.  
• The boys rode their bikes daily
• We had wonderful breakfasts and dinners each day.
• There was a ton of relaxing and a lot of reading on my part. 
• Colson got filthy dirty most days. 
• The boys had some friends to hang out with for most of the weekend.  
• We had three days instead of two!

A few pictures:

The boys and friends spent time under Chris' truck checking things out and using their imaginations!

Lots of great walks around the block!

Hanging on the pontoon boat.

Cannon loves to watch the motor and water on the back of the boat.  (check out all of those bruises...typical boy!)

Enjoying every moment!