Back to School

Avery started preschool! Like the REAL kind - not the kind where I stay and get covered in paint and playdoh and listen to lots of screaming children - the kind where I leave her there and have a little time to myself. Sigh...

I was very nervous for the first day! Poor girl (and poor mommy) has never been left with anyone except her dad and her grandma, and these days she has a mild panic attack if I try to go upstairs without her. So leaving her in a strange place with people she didn't know sounded... risky.

But we talked it up for months in advance and she was all for it! Here she is getting her lip gloss on in the car on the way.



And here she is with her good buddy Mina (so thankful for Mina being there!) in the lobby before we went in.



So we went in and said goodbye with lots of hugs and kisses and then the SCREAMING began. Her teachers had to hold her to keep her in the room and I quickly and tearfully left the building so I couldn't hear the screams, but they could be heard even in the parking lot. It was horrible!! Luckily my friend was there with me or I don't know what I would have done.

I picked her up a couple of hours later and she was happy as can be and told me that it was great fun.. hmmm... so I gave her a giant-sized ring pop to show her how proud I was! Nothing says proud like green sugar. Think she liked it?



The next drop-off, two days later, can only be described as equally horrible in intensity, but just half the duration. So, progress, right? After that it was just a few tears followed by none at all. So in just two weeks we are doing AWESOME!!

These were taken earlier in the day on her first day when we were still happy enough to frolic in the field.

I Heart the Oregon Coast

We had the most perfect and amazing little trip to the Oregon Coast! I had no idea that THAT was so close... Why oh why have we bothered with the Washington Coast all of these years? No more, I tell you!

The first day was about half and half clouds and sun, and each day got progressively better and our final day was clear blue and very warm start to finish - it was heaven.

Kite flying was a big hit on our breezy first day.

Caught in the act at one of our pull-offs! It's a photographers dream!

Avery was intrigued by the water, until the waves came rolling in and then the girl RAN. Like Forest Gump she ran from the waves not looking back! It was hilarious. In her defense, that water is dang cold.



Fell in love with Ecola State Park! It may just be the best three bucks we've ever spent! This is, however, where poor Kyle got sick...


My goofy guys.. this picture makes me laugh every time I see it.

What they are looking at through their "spotting scopes" - off one side (gorgeous!!):

and off the other (are you kidding me?!):

Indian Beach! I could have stayed and played there forever!

I started creating this sandcastle and then realized I have NO IDEA how to build a sandcastle (while sicky Kyle lay sick and writhing in the dunes I had to figure it out on my own...) Avery liked it though, she told me "I like that cake, Mom." Sand cake, yes, that's what I was going for!

One last kite launch on our way out of town!

Sunrise, Sunrise

We recently jumped in the car and headed up to get a closer look at our GORGEOUS mountain. Avery was, of course, completely oblivious to the beautiful surroundings, but was at least semi-patient while I took some pictures!

My Swimming Girl

We did swim lessons again - briefly! (her previous lessons were at about 18 months) We went twice a week during all of July, and I was just amazed at Avery's quick progress. She absolutely LOVES being in the water. And definitely didn't get that from me!

When she first started this time around, she loved to swim across the pool but didn't want to get any water on her face ("giraffe neck" we called her!), and forget about jumping in. After just a few lessons she was swimming with her face in the water and even jumping off the diving board. I was so impressed!

I would have kept her going, but the class size was way too big, in my opinion, and she wasn't getting enough swim time for the cost, so we stopped... I'm working on fitting lessons in for the fall though to keep her going.

Hot Days at the Lake

Whooo! What a hot summer this has been!

We are so fortunate to have a fun grandma and grandpa that live in an air-conditioned house on a lake. And believe me when I tell you we took advantage of it when record high temperatures, and record heat streaks rolled into town! Avery and I even camped out there for a few days in the worst (best?) of it. We had so much fun it felt like a little vacation for us!



Daddy would come over every afternoon and swim with us!





Relaxing and visiting with Grandpa on the island - one of my favorite pics of the summer. They are such good buddies.





Great Grandma and Grandpa came over to swim too!


Avery even got to have friends over to play in the lake. So much fun, I love summer!

Ice Cream Break

After a fun HOT playdate at the park we treated the kids (and selves...) to some DQ.


Charlie, Ave, Allyse, and Elizabeth

Whole Fam Dam!

We had such a great 4th this year! The weather was perfection, and nearly all of my side of the family came out to join the party at Grandma Paula's. The kids had a great time playing, swimming and doing their fireworks - Pop Its and sparklers. The sparklers, however, were short-lived fun since poor Sage was barefoot and stepped on a stray spark! Kyle manned up and finished them off.







One of my favorite memories of the day, which was sadly not caught on film, happened down by the lake after dinner. My sister Kim's boyfriend was eating a hamburger patty (no bun or anything else, just a patty in his hand) and cousin Marlee came along interested in a bite, which he gave her. Avery, not to be left out, went over and asked for a bite as well. Now remember, Avery is The. Pickiest. Eater. Ever. She froze with the meat in her mouth and had no idea what to do because what she had excitedly thought was a chocolate cookie CLEARLY WAS NOT. Grandma told her she could spit it in the lake and soon all was well. She insists that it wasn't funny, but I assure you it was hilarious.

NW Trek

We finally made it out to Northwest Trek! We kind of suck at being tourists in our own town to be honest... but now we've been.

While I thought it was great, Avery was fairly unimpressed. She was excited to get on the tram (train as she insisted) but once it started going, and to be fair it moves slowly (kinda the whole point), she was bored instantly and kept asking when we'd go fast. But it was still fun checking out the local animals and the beautiful grounds!

Beach Babes

We had such a fun day with the besties at the sound! The kids collected treasures in their buckets and checked out all of the fun stuff left behind when the tide went out.

At the Park