Keeping Busy

These weeks are just flying by!! It's hard to believe that we are already in October. I am still mourning the loss of summer, but we've had a nice warm spell the last few days to help me transition to the cold and rain coming our way. I have developed my own little preschool program for the kiddos, so we keep busy with that. I focus on a letter and a topic a week. We read books, make art projects, make food, sing songs and go on "field trips."
We went to the fair a few weeks ago. The topic that week was apples, so I thought we could get a caramel apple at the fair, but they were $5 each and looked like they had been sitting there for 3 weeks. So, Jack enjoyed the rides, Lindsey enjoyed seeing all the animals and Chad (my brother) and I enjoyed people watching.




We went to the Locks last week as we were talking about boats. The kids loved watching the fish in the fish ladder and watching a big yacht going through the Locks. We had a picnic lunch at Gasworks park and made a stop to see the giant under the bridge in Freemont.



We spent last weekend at Snoqualmie Pass at a cabin that my mom's friend let us use for the night. It was a perfect getaway weekend- only 45 minutes away- and the weather was gorgeous. We biked, hiked, scooted, ate, played games and hot tubbed.

Boise

Last weekend, we took a road trip to Boise, Idaho to meet up with my sister, Erin, and her husband, Spencer. We took off Weds afternoon and made it as far as the Tri-Cities area (about a 3.5 hour drive). The kids did really well and stayed busy despite the fact we didn't have a DVD player. We spent the night at Clint's cousin's home. We drove the remaining 5 hours to Boise in the morning and settled into our hotel. We immediately hit the pool to burn off some energy. Unfortunately, the water was a bit chilly, so Lindsey did not want to get in. She sat on the pool chair all wrapped up in a blanket while we played in the pool. We found a fun park to play at in the evening (Boise has awesome parks!!). Erin and Spencer rolled in really late that night and we didn't get much sleep thanks to some really loud hotel neighbors.:(
Friday, we stayed busy checking out a street fair, going to the zoo, having a picnic at the park, going hot tubbing, and just having fun together.

Riding the carousel at the zoo.

Jack loves riding carousels and he has to ride one whenever he sees one.

Clint and Spencer hanging out in the penguin house.

Chad, Erin and little monkey, Jack.
Saturday, we went to a geology museum and the old penitentiary in downtown Boise. The geology musuem was having a special scavanger hunt and we completed it, receiving a 10% coupon for the gift shop. Yipee!! The old penitentiary was fun to walk through. It made me want to avoid jail if at all possible :)

Check out these scary prisoners!

Or how about these ones?!

Sunday, we took an early morning swim and then packed up to head home. We drove the whole 8 hours with a short break in Richland for dinner. By the last 2 hours, the kids were losing it. Lindsey started screaming (which she does quite often now and it is ear-piercing every time) and then Jack started screaming at her to stop and Clint, Chad and I wanted to jump out the window. I think I may just go deaf after raising this little girl :). All in all, it was a great trip. We loved seeing Erin and Spencer and checking out the city of Boise.

The boys.

The three girlies.

The happy family before the ride home. This is before the screaming started.....

The three siblings a little squinty from the sun.

Family Photos

A friend, Christina Wilson, was kind enough to take our family pictures last weekend. We hadn't had a picture taken of all 4 of us in a long time. I was a little worried about everyone smiling at the same time, so we brought along my mom and dad to entertain and help out. Christina's husband and little boy were there, too. It was a like a 3 ring circus entertaining us and the kiddos STILL didn't smile half the time. Oh well. I have posted some of my favorites.




I loved this pose, but Lindsey was done smiling at this point. She didn't smile once while we were sitting like this.

Another great pose, but both kids were done at this point. I think Clint was too.

This picture cracks me up every time I look at it. Typical Jack.

The happy couple 6 years in. Our hair is a little darker (Clint's is grayer :)), we've shifted weight around a bit (Clint's gained what I've lost :), we have a few more laugh/stress lines around our eyes, but I still feel the same way about Clint as I did on our wedding day.