September Birthdays

The first week of September is a big one for birthdays in our family. On the 2nd, my mom turned 71, and we had a big party at our house with ALL of my sisters and their kids.

We took advantage of the opportunity to get a few pictures of all of the cousins together.

Even from shortest to tallest :)

A few days later, Alaina turned 9.

After school, we went with two of Alaina's good friends (and Eric!) to try out a popsicle bar that had opened over the summer.

Great Grandpa also turned 103 the same day.

Since Alaina's birthday is always during the first week of school, I have never been organized enough for her to have a friends party. I'd promised we would make it happen this year, but Alaina had to wait a few days.

We decided on a woodland theme and set up lots of Christmas trees and other greenery in our living room.

Then we decorated with little trees and animals everywhere.

We had stick pretzels and a cake that sort of looked like a tree stump (I tried!).

Alaina had a great time celebrating with her school friends. 

And now she feels like she's had a real birthday party!

Back to School

This was an intense year for back to school, since our four kids are now in high school, middle school, elementary school, and preschool--with three of them at new schools.

Ben had been at a virtual school for two and a half years, spending most of his time at home with Eric and me (the worst math teacher ever!). He and Janae both decided to go to a fine arts school that has grades 6-12, so they're at school together! I was happy they had each other as I dropped them off to figure out so many new things. They're both doing great and coming home every day with interesting stories to tell.

Alaina got the teacher she wanted and her best friend in the class with her, so no complaints there.

And Eric LOVES preschool.

When he's not there, he's keeping me company at home . . . or on walks around the lake.

It's such a relief that these first few weeks have gone well for everyone!

What We Did This Summer

This was my first summer as a "working mom." Even though I worked from home, I put in 40-60 hours a week, so we didn't get to do as much as usual.

But we still went to the park, 

and to the library for summer story times.

Eric got his Summer Reading Club medal first,

followed a week later by his two big sisters.

We got over to the lake (although somehow not to the actual ocean!),

and the kids did LOTS of swimming. We tried out a new local pool with water slides (it had a long lineup in the hot sun, but luckily we got in).

Janae finished Level 6 and Alaina passed Level 3 on their lessons. Eric is going to need one more season as a Sea Turtle.

We looked after the school garden,

and Grandpa helped us plant a pumpkin patch of our own--something the kids have wanted to do for a long time. It's been so fun to watch the pumpkins grow from tiny plants, to big flowering bushes, 

then from little green pumpkins 

to big orange ones.

We went to the old-fashioned candy store nearby.

And we saw Macbeth at Bard on the Beach,

while Jason and Eric spent the afternoon at Science World.

Ben got in a few fishing trips with Grandpa--even one with some of his cousins, too.

We made our usual trips to local farms for ice cream

and to Fort Langley, where we were surprised to see so many new interactive displays.

Overall, it wasn't too bad, although we spent a lot more time at home--the girls playing Barbies, the boys playing Lego, and me sitting in front of the computer writing dialogues. 

Now that everyone is back to school, I wish we could go back and have some more summer fun, but I guess we'll have to wait until next year.