Not Fall

 This week was the first days of fall and while we are starting to settle into our fall routines, the weather feels like anything but fall with temps into the 80s.

Carrigan had a busy week.  This was her first week of school with homework and we were scrambling to get it done each day.  She has been working on sewing a dress, under the supervision of Nana, and this week they were both ready to get it done.  They worked on it multiple days after school and were finally able to get it completed.  That meant that I actually got to see it for the first time too.  She had been keeping it a surprise from me until then.  I'm so impressed with her hard work.  Not sure if I mentioned it before, but the whole reason they were working on the dress was that it was C.C.'s birthday gift from my parents.  My mom took her shopping for a pattern and the fabric and then supervised the sewing of the dress.  It was the perfect gift for C.C. and I don't know if Nana will want to do it again, but C.C. may insist on it being the new tradition.

Also this week, my co-teacher at preschool's daughter got married.  Lora has been my partner in crime for the last nine years and I definitely owe her, so I was excited about the chance to help her with the wedding.  Early in the week I helped package all the sugar cookies they made as "thank you" gifts for those that attended the reception.  Then, on the big day, I went out early to help with set up, helped manage the food table (keeping it stocked throughout the reception), and helped clean up after.  It was a beautiful wedding and I was happy to get a chance to help Lora, even if I did have to drive over an hour to McMinnville on a Wednesday.

Yesterday was Saturday and you will be surprised to know we spent the day at games.  Carrigan was up first with her soccer game.  This it the first game of the season that Jeremy was able to attend since it didn't directly conflict with Merrick's game (he has to be at Merrick's games because he is helping to coach Merrick's team).  The game was hot and they lost 3-1 but it's still always fun to watch her play.

After Carrigan's game we booked it down to Silverton for Merrick's game.  We found out that they grow them big in Silverton.   Merrick's matchup weighed about 180 pounds. His team still held their own and ended up winning 26-19.  I didn't end up taking any pictures at Merrick's game, but I did take this football related photo in his Language Arts class at his curriculum night this week.

So that's a wrap on this week.  More business ahead next week with doc and dentist appointments for the kids.

Working Hard

 This week we all were working hard and getting back into the school/work groove.

Jeremy was working hard with one client and working on a contract arrangement that will hopefully prove to be a game changer in getting his business off the ground.

After a gentle ease into the school year for me, this was our first full week with the full preschool routine.  The class is actually doing amazingly well and I am optimistic about a great year.  Between school, Elsie, carpool and helping Jeremy, I am as busy as ever.

This week, in addition to school, work, and football, Merrick also had baseball tryouts.  He was very excited and relieved to make the top team for next year.  It was a two day tryout but after the first day he was told he didn't need to come back for the second day and had already been placed on the team.  We should have known it was going to go really well when he showed up for tryouts and his number was 1313 (his lucky/favorite number twice).

Carrigan has really enjoyed her school year so far and is working really hard.  She has just 19 kids in her class and she really likes her teacher.  This week we had her curriculum night and got to see some of the projects she has been working on so far this year.  I particularly love the family coat of arms she created.

Elsie has been working hard at preschool.  She loves school and is sad on days we don't have it.  She has been working hard to write her name and this week she wrote it for the first time entirely on her own.  Her coloring has also come a long way as she gains more fine motor control.  This week I drew her a giant sidewalk chalk heart and she enjoyed coloring it in with all her different colors (until her chalk got a little too low and she scraped her finger on the asphalt- ouch!).

It's been a good, busy week!  Hopefully we can keep this good, positive momentum rolling into next week. 

Back to School and Merrick's 13th Birthday

 It's been two weeks and so much has happened.  All the kids went back to school (Merrick and Carrigan on 8/30 and Elsie on 9/6).  Elsie's return to school also meant my return to work.  We also celebrated Merrick's 13th birthday with an epic trip to Silverwood Amusement Park.

First, back to school.  It's been a good year so far in the two weeks we have been back.  Carrigan loves her teacher and Merrick likes most of his.  This year Merrick is taking advanced math so that might provide some new challenges as the year progresses.  Elsie loves her class as well.  For the second year in a row, our class is made up of 11 girls and 1 boy.  We also have two sets of twins this year.  Our first week was a good one, but it should be an interesting year.

Merrick's birthday was on September 5th and we now officially have a teenager.  I am really not sure how that happened.  Since his birthday also fell on Labor Day this year, we decided to bug out a little early from school on Friday and get the party started.  We drove the 6 hours to northern Idaho to Silverwood, the biggest amusement park in the Pacific Northwest.

Silverwood has an amusement park portion and a water park portion.  The first day we spent at the amusement park, riding as many rollercoasters as possible.  The highlights of the day included Stunt 
Pilot, the only monorail roller coaster in the PNW, the water rides (log ride and river rapids ride) that we rode together as a family, and the fantastic magic show.  The day was cloudy and it rained for about an hour, we actually got stuck at the top of a line when the park shut down for about 45 mins due to lightening, but mostly the weather was perfect for being outside all day.  Speaking of getting stuck, on the last ride of the night, Merrick and Jeremy got stuck on the log ride when the it came to a halt at the very top of the hill it climbs before it splashes you down into the water.  They were there for about 20 minutes.  Merrick didn't seem to mind but Jeremy was definitely more concerned for their wellbeing.

The second day, the sun came out and it was the perfect day for some water park fun.  The highlights of the water park were the big tube ride we could ride altogether as a family, the wave pool and Jeremy and Merrick racing on the racetrack slide. (Sorry no water park pictures)

After we had all the water we could handle, we went back to the amusement park to finish off day 2.  We rode more rides, but the big highlight was the ice cream.  We got the "one scoop" that is really about 5 scoops in a waffle cone bowl, and all shared it.

Monday, before we drove home, we went to Lake Coeur d'Alene for a quick hike and to dip our feet (or our whole body in Merrick's case) into the water.  Merrick made his birthday complete with a big jump from a big rock into the lake.

It's been a fun couple of weeks and Merrick even said he wants to go to back to Silverwood for his birthday next year.  We'll see.  Now it's time to buckle down for school, sports, and routine.