A weekend of fair, friends, and camping

We took the kids out of school a little early on Friday to get some fair time in.  Carson is finally 4 feet tall so was able to go on some of the adult rides.  We spiked his hair to make sure he'd pass the line.  It worked!  He went on the Wild Cat roller coaster and absolutely loved it!  He called it the "Crazy Kitty."

I made the mistake of taking them on my favorite ride- the Zipper.  They were both so scared- I felt so bad afterward!  I think I scarred them for life.  😦

Saturday night was spent celebrating my friend Tania's daughter Alexis' birthday.  We went out for italian sodas/ champagne, got pedicures, and then went back to her house for pizza and a slumber party.  It is so awesome having friends with daughters that get along so well!

While the girls were gone, the boys went camping on the Naches River.  They were the only campers at the campground, which made it fun for them to play tag and hide and go seek.  They did lots of fishing and Carson caught his first fish on a fly rod.  It was the first thing he told me when he got home, I think he was pretty proud.

First Day of School- 1st and 3rd grade

It's that time of year again!  Back to school! 

Carson is in 1st grade with Mrs. Nordberg.  He has 2 of the 3 neighbor boys (Damon and Weilan) in his class this year.  I hope they don't get into too much trouble together!

Rylee is in 3rd grade and has Mrs. Thompson as her teacher.  Her best friend Joanna is unfortunately not in her class this year, but it sounds like there are lots of other kids she knows.  She is looking forward to improving her reading skills and learning more math.  They are already starting with some simple multiplication.

The kids are so lucky to have so many little friends in the neighborhood.  Waiting for the bus is so much fun and a great way to start the day!  🚌

Enjoying the last days of summer

Sadly, summer has to come to an end and we all have to get back into our back to school routines.  We will all miss the sleeping in and most of all the sunshine!  I hope it sticks around for a little longer.  I'm not quite ready to say goodbye just yet!  We had a busy but fun last few weeks.  We went to Emerald Downs for the first time with the kids to watch the horse races with some friends.  It was really fun!  We'll definitely add that to out summer checklist for next year.

We got together with Lance's college friends for our annual summer BBQ.  We finally got to meet Matt and Erika's twins Harper and Asher.  

Unfortunately we only made it to one Rainiers game this year.  The kids got free tickets for completing their summer reading requirements.  Our neighbors tagged along and we all had a blast! 

Susan (my sister in law) had her 50th birthday party in Sequim so we spent the night and camped in their beautiful backyard!  It felt like glamping.

While we were camping in Sequim Rylee was helping my parents with their annual shorefest community celebration.  She had so much fun!

Carson and Lance went hiking one day while I stayed home with Rylee (she was feeing under the weather).  They found their own trail and had quite the adventure.

We've been spending lots of time with baby Kennedy!  She is so sweet.  She is almost 6 months old now and is becoming more fun and interactive.  She loves playing hide and seek, giggling and drooling.

Lance and I had 2 date nights last weekend.  It was a record!  We went to see Zac Brown at Safeco field and then had a double date with Mandy and Jon to see Florida Georgia Line at the fair.

Carson had his first friend sleepover at our neighbor Weilan's house.  He did great and didn't miss us at all!  They all woke up early the next morning to set up for a garage sale.  Rylee slept in at home and then showed up to sell lemonade and homeade cookies (that she made all by herself).  It was no surprise that she made the most $$$!

Date Day at ZipWild

 Lance planned a day date this week and it was AMAZING!  We did a zipline/ adventure course at Northwest Treks "ZipWild."  It was challenging, a great workout, and so much fun!  Lance gets a big thumbs up for this date!  👍

Banks Lake 2018

We just returned from our annual camping trip to Banks lake.  It was a pretty quiet trip this year as our friends canceled last minute due to a death in the family.  My parents were there for the first few days, and then it was just us.  It was kind of nice having a low key, no plans, family trip.  It was really hot, like 100 degree hot. The water was smooth calm every day, which was amazing.  We were able to tube all day every day, and knee board/ wake board anytime we wanted.

The kids tubed as often as we would let them.

Carson and Rylee both knee boarded a couple of times, and Carson tried skiing.  He got up the skis once, but then got nervous and didn't want to try again.  Maybe next year!  

Here are a couple of videos of them knee boarding.  (The top is Carson and the bottom video is Rylee).  They have some skills!

We did LOTS of relaxing.  We did whatever we felt like.  Floating, fishing, swimming, napping, water sports, etc.  Lance and I won the holy balls tournament (against my parents) once again.  We're pretty stoked that we get to keep the trophy another year!

Lance and the kids fished a lot.  And they caught a lot!  They caught carp, bass, croppy and Lance's first walleye.  

We also did some cliff jumping and diving.  Carson impressed me once again with his fearlessness.  I was pretty nervous watching him jump from so high, but he loved it and did it over and over again!

Here are some videos of the kids jumping and Lance diving.

The kids played together so well.  It made for a very relaxing trip for momma!

One night was still 95 degrees at 8pm.  We decided to get ice cream and take the boat out until it cooled down.  The kids thought that was pretty cool.

Once again Banks Lake did not disappoint.  Can't wait for next year!