August 2012

It is October the 4th and I was so determined to catch-up before September was over. 

Guess that didn't happen but I trudge on...

And here comes another great big giant one whole month full of adventure post.

Ready...set....GO!

Had lots of fun with our buddies Joshua and Anthony.

We traded out date nights with their mom and dad so we really did enjoy having them over for more reasons than one. Wink Wink.

Had a follow-up family day from Vacation Bible School....

Ryne swinging at water balloons.  Kade was next in line.

Once free from the stroller, Tyce just really wanted to get in the bouncy thing.

Tesa needed to first make sure she didn't leave anything important in the stroller.

Then she joined Tyce trying to figure out a way into the big blown-up bouncy thingy.

Got distracted by the grass for a minute.

Then they spotted their shot....

Kade was about to enter that bouncy-thingy.

Surely he will take us with him!

Guess he isn't the big brother that we thought he was.  Sad face.

Ryne was busy telling D and important story.

That balloon hitting and story telling were so tiresome he had to take a break.

Most certain this was one of his first soda in a can all to himself experiences.  He liked it.

It was a fun day and when we were all played out it was time to head for home.

On the bike...

Check out Tesa and Tyce sporting their new birthday helmets.

Yep, they didn't like them very much for the first oh ten or fifteen times they wore them.

Tesa got a cute ruffled romper so I had to take her picture...

She wasn't much into posing for me.

Look at that toothy grin!

Since I took Tesa's picture I felt it only right to let Tyce join the party.

Wouldn't you know it....he was a total poser.

There were lots of snack times...

And a few times that I just had to let snack time become mess time in order to keep them occupied so I could get some things done.

They didn't seem to mind.

Kade decided he really wanted some pictures of him jumping. I have no idea why?????

But we got some...

And they made us laugh. So it was totally worth honoring his request.

Ryne kept us laughing too.  Not because he requested anything bizarre...just because he is Ryne and he can't help but be funny.  Even when he isn't trying to be.  I mean come on...who wouldn't pair an Incredible Hulk shirt with Curious George socks????

A package came...

Tesa and Tyce are catching on to this package business.

Look a toy we left in Arkansas!  Oh boy, we have it back now we can fight over it all again like we did before.

Look our Vacation Bible School treats that we left in Arkansas.

Wow, a box full of stuff we left in Arkansas mixed with some cool new stuff that C.G. packaged to us!

Yes, it was fun to get a package...even when it contained things that weren't new just left behind from a month spent in Arkansas.  

Took the babies on their first hiking trip...

They weren't too sure what to think of those back-pack contraptions they were being strapped into.

And we weren't too sure what to think about Kade and Ryne not being strapped onto us for a hike.

*Do note that Ryne is sporting a nice little puppy dog back-pack attached to a leash.  That gave us a bit more confidence that he family hike thing might be doable for us.

Me and my hiking buddy Tyce.

Checking out the map to pick our trail.

Kade definitely wanted to be the leader.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day at Mt. Rainier.

Just as we started up the trail a sweet lady stopped us and asked if we had a picture of all of us because it was a must if we didn't.  Wasn't that thoughtful?  So glad she took our picture all smiles at the start of our first family hike.

We hiked a pretty good way admiring the beauty of the creation around us.

Then there was snack time.

And break from the back-pack time.

Packed up the snacks and babies and took off again....

This was August and there were still snowfields that we had to cross.

They were pretty steep in places.

But that just made it all the more adventurous!

We heard there had been a bear spotted near the trail we were hiking so Kade was keeping a close eye out for it.

Saw lots of beautiful wild flowers....but no wild bears that day.

And these guys were total troopers.  Awesome hikers!

Obviously Tesa was enjoying herself.

Our family shadow portrait at the end of the trail.

Back at the parking lot!  We made it! Three hours, four or five miles.

And Mom and Dad were still sporting smiles at the end!  Success!!!  We totally enjoyed our first family hiking adventure.

Speaking of smiles.  My Mom was needing of all four kiddos to use for something so I told her I would try to get a good one that was up to date.  

Oh. My. Word.

Can we just say impossible? 

I tried.  Not happening...

Never mind...

Clearly these guys were not in the mood.

They would much rather play in the sand.

We gave up and went to do something way better...

Watch some people get baptized in the frigid waters of the Puget Sound.

Can you tell by looking at Kadence that the water is cold?

Her Daddy, Arin is one of our pastors and he got to baptize his daughter.  So sweet. 

So they just let him go ahead and enjoy the chill and get the thrill of baptizing everyone that day...

What an awesome day!

Even if my boys did end up soaking wet

So we tried the picture thing another day....

See, it isn't like I wasn't trying.  I took LOTS of pictures.

But couldn't make it happen this day either.

Oh well.  Maybe next time???/

Finally got warm enough to fill the water table up...

It was a hit.

And then the twins realized they were free in the front yard....

For some reason they were totally drawn to the sidewalk.

Poor little scuffed up knees.

But my biggest fear is that his little guy was going to bust his face.

Thankfully he did not.

And they did find their way back to the water.

Kade and Ryne were having so much fun that I had to make them take a break for a bit so that Tesa and Tyce could enjoy their birthday present.

And they had a ball!

Guess all of that playing made them hungry.

Because when we came inside they disappeared and this is where I found them.

Busy picking out a snack.

So, third times a charm, right?

Not a charming time here...trying again to get a decent picture of all four children.

Wait, does this count as decent?  Everyone is sort of looking the general direction of the camera.  Does it matter that they aren't smiling?  Surely we can do better...

Nope, guess not.

Didn't get better at all.

Wondering now as I look back over these pictures, why did I keep trying?

You were probably asking that question thirty pictures ago, huh?

Okay everybody...let's go in and try one last spot...

Yeah, right Mom!

I suppose I'm going to have to hire a professional to do this job.

I gave it my best shot but one Momma with a camera is no match for these rascals!

But they are my rascals and I love them just the same as I would if they had posed perfectly the very first time I perched them upon the log at the beach.  Besides if they would have...what in the world would have have filled this August blog post with pictures of???

Maybe this...

Walking Babies!!!

Or us practicing our "cheeses"

Or maybe Ryne's mad Lunchable sandwich making skills.

Or better yet, the eating of that serious sandwich

I told you that this boy cracks me up, right?

We did venture out on another one of our early lunch while the boys are still at school dates in August.

Complete with our cute chaperones once again.

They weren't much trouble....something behind them kept them totally occupied.

Our big August excitement was the arrival of sweet Emily Claire! If you were just checking out the July post you saw her baby showers.

Kade and Ryne could hardly wait to meet her.

They were in awe as if they had never seen a baby before.  Her sweet grandmother was so awesome to let the boys gawk over her while Abby and I chatted.

A few days later this precious baby had to go to the emergency room because she was getting sick.  Found out that she was born with a heart problem and had to have open heart surgery.  If any of you keep up with us on Facebook then you quite likely saw my plea for prayers for this sweet baby.  God heard the prayers of literally thousands of people praying around the globe for Emily Claire.  She did great with surgery and is home and on the road to recovery.

Remember those boys at the picnic table at the beginning and that trade out date nights deal?

We used a date night and went to the movies.... 

First movie date in ages and how can you top going to the movies where you get to kick back in red recliners?  So fun!

Then there was birthday party fun.

A water party for our sweet friend Ainsley.

Brrrr.  It was chilly.

Can you spot any blue lips?

Crazy how kids can be so oblivious to temperatures.

Here's my smart girl...nice and dry.  And content to stay that way.

Check out the awesome Dora birthday cake that Ainsley's mom, Kristy, made.

Amazing!

August continues with some fun with the Gonzalez kiddos....

Olivia entertaining Tesa and Tyce as they are trapped in their play pens.

The wagon was well used this day.

I laughed so hard seeing Zak and Ava being pulled/pushed around by Kade and Ryne.

Then there was craft time.

Everybody was getting crafty.

Kade has some admirable art skills, doesn't he?

Love that these babies like outside so much that they are happy just to be out there, even if they are trapped.

Finally, August 24th arrived!

Kyle's Birthday!

We started celebrating over breakfast.  Gave him his new Run to Remember t-shirt and told him that we were going to give him Saturday mornings free to go join the weekly run that happens here in DuPont.  It is an awesome thing.  Each week people dressed in their blue shirts gather together and read off the names of soldiers who have given their lives for our country in the war on terror then take off to run at least three miles to honor and pay respect to those fallen soldiers.

Just so happened that our friend Jeannette, who left DuPont and moved to California quite a while back, came to visit us this weekend.  So we had someone to join our party!

And we took our party to Mt. Rainier.

It was such a beautiful day and we wanted to do something fun outdoors.

We had a cake and ice cream picnic.

Admired the wild flowers.

And took off for a hike.

This was our guide.  Never mind that he was using the same map that he packed away from our first hike a few weeks earlier on the other side of the mountain. Ha!

And since Jeannette was there, we got another family photo.  I feel bad that Tesa and Tyce didn't have sunglasses.  Like they would have left them on had they had some.  We couldn't even get them to wear hats.

It was an absolutely beautiful hike.

I look at these pictures even now and think, "Wow, I live here!"

And there she is!  Our sweet Jeannette!

Still checking that map.

Kade hiking with Ms. Jeannette

We got to see some deer near the trail.

And at the visitor's center they had a special telescope set up that let us check out the sun and see some solar flares.

The boys really thought this was cool because they had been studying the solar system at school.

Tesa was trying to get a look, too.

Stopped for Kyle's birthday dinner at a cool little inn just outside of the national park.  It was nice.  Then went home and put some rather exhausted kiddos to bed.  Had been waiting all day to give Kyle is "big surprise" and hated that the kids were asleep but I just couldn't let it wait until the next day.  Why?  Well, because all of our families had chipped in on this one and I was afraid he was thinking that nobody loved him enough to send a gift this year so I couldn't wait.  What did he get?  A trip to Kentucky!  We have a great friend getting married there and the wedding invitation came in the mail and I immediately checked plane tickets.  Knew right away we wouldn't be making a family trip to that wedding.  And I also knew that Kyle wouldn't suggest that just he go to the wedding and catch up with all of our old pals while I stayed here with our four energetic kiddos. But I so wanted him to be able to go.  And just so happened that is birthday was right around the corner.  Our families were all happy to chip in for something that he would be super excited about.  Gave him the gift right before we went to bed and he was totally surprised!!! PERFECT, just the way I wanted it!  Ironic thing is, that all happened August 24th.  I'm tell you about it Oct.4 and Kyle is upstairs packing right now for his plane that leaves in the morning.  Happy Birthday to Kyle all over again!

Sure hoping he will take some pics for me.

Next day we finally made it to Sand in the City.

It is a big festival that they have down in Olympia every year with all sorts of activities and a sand castle building competition.  I have wanted to go every year since we moved here and this was the first time we were able to make it.

Ryne did some digging for sea shells.

Kade climbed the rock wall.

Ryne went on a nature adventure sponsored by REI.  He had to answer questions about hiking etiquette then follow the rope attache to the correct answer to find his way through a maze.

He did awesome!  Enjoyed it so much he probably did it six times.

Kade was trying to show off the lightning bolt tattoo that he had painted on his face.

After Sand in the City Kyle took the kiddos and let Jeannette and I take off for some shopping and dinner.  A girl afternoon.  Sure wish I would have taken some pictures...guess I was too excited and not sure what to do not lugging a diaper bag around that I completely forgot about the camera in my purse.  

Nonetheless, we had a great time and it was so cool to have a chance to visit with a friend who left us but didn't forget us.  Thanks for coming Jeannette!

August was just about over.

Time left for some zebra riding.

And to get Kade prepped for going to Kindergarten.  If you missed it...I did do a "current event" post to share his first day of school.  There are more pics of that here on this post.

And last but not least, Tesa had time to turn all drama queen on us...

If things don't go just her way she can lay out on the floor in despair with true emotion.
Cracks me up!

Congratulations if you made it to the end of another month-long blog post.  Thanks for riding the catch-up train with me.   I'm almost there.  One more fun-filled month to go and this blog will be rocking current events all the time.
Stay tuned for September....