Fun Times

So, the first day of school was August 30th. Asia and Ethan were not too excited for it! I guess it was such a fun summer that they didn't want it to end! Asia has Mrs. Roberts who Ethan had for first grade as well. She's one of those teachers who is pretty strict, but gets the kids to get their work done and they learn. But since Ethan already had her, he had to tell Asia all about how "mean" she is. So, maybe that's why she didn't want to go to school! Hmmm. Anyway, they're both doing really well. Asia is reading at a third grade level and she's already on plus-8's in her "mad minute". Ethan is a very smart boy, but he has trouble paying attention and listening. He gets everything right on his homework and tests, but he has to constantly be reminded to do a question he skipped over or do a whole back side of a test that he forgot to do. Hopefully this changes soon!

Here they are getting ready to leave for their first day:

The next week was Labor Day weekend. My parents and Naomi came down for a visit. We went to The Riot Zone with them because it was their $10 deal. You could go and do everything and anything for just $10 a person. It was so fun!

Jacob loved doing these cute kiddie paddle boat thingys. You have to paddle with your hands.

He got to ride this huge teeter-totter too. It has a bell at the top of this pole that you have to try and ring. It took Jacob a few tries and a bit of help from the attendant, but he finally rang the bell!

Ethan on the other side of the teeter-totter:

Here's what Ethan wanted to do the whole time; rock climb:
The go-karts were a fun thing to do also. Here's Mike rounding the corner:

Asia and my Mom ridin around. My Mom wanted to ride in a car all by herself so she could be faster! The 2 person cars are not fast enough for her! But Asia was too scared to drive one all by herself.Speedy Gonzales:

Small guy in a huge car:These smaller go-karts were more Asia's speed:
Ethan going with Asia to appease her. He thought these were too small and too slow!

Camping at Palisades

It was nearing the end of summer and we hadn't gone camping yet. The kids had been bugging us all summer to go, and finally we found a weekend where we had no obligations! Yaaay! So a-camping we went. We knew that it could be a rainy weekend, but we were willing to brave it. We drove through rain on the way up, but there was no rain at our campsite. Phew! We started to set up camp and a few raindrops started to fall, but nothing major. Here's our lovely abode for the night:

Ethan couldn't wait to get started on building a fire:

A couple of pyros:

We got the fire just right and loaded our bellies with s'mores. Then it was off to bed. We brought the pack 'n play for Mia to sleep in and the other three just slept all together at one end of the tent. It worked out pretty well with only Mia and Jacob crying in the middle of the night and only one time each! Yaaaay! I can handle that.

I don't know what time it was, but the sun was just coming up (so around 5 or so) and we hear this downpour of downpours. Awesome! (sarcasm) It only lasted for about 15 minutes or so, but I was worried about how wet everyone would be when they woke up. Everyone stayed dry, thank goodness, but that was not the end to the moisture. We all got up, got dressed and started making the fire. As we were eating our breakfast, there was loud thunder and lightning everywhere. Then, it started to hail! Big marble-sized hail started pelting us in the head. We tried to just hide under the trees for shelter so we wouldn't have to go into the tent with our muddy shoes. That worked, for the most part, except for Jacob who got pelted pretty good in the head a few times! We survived! It felt like forever for the hail to stop, but I'm sure it was only a few minutes. Once that passed by, we had beautiful blue skies and warm weather. We finished up our breakfast and headed down to the reservoir to play in the water and hike.

I love pictures of people from behind. I think it's very nostalgic or something like that. Or I just like butts! So I took every opportunity to do this, as you will be able to tell: Then we just played in the water, skipping rocks and throwing big rocks into the water.



Then it was time to eat our lunch. Mmm nothin' better than a hot dog cooked on the open fire. Ok, maybe there is, but that's the best way to eat those nasty things!

Then it was time pack up and go home. We made it out just in time. While we were pulling out of the campground, it started to rain again. Another Phew! So, we took the family camping. Check that off the list! Now we should be good until next summer!

The Rexburg RUSH

Mike and I decided to do another triathlon in August. It was nice because it was close and the weather was A LOT nicer than the triathlon we did in May. I was able to practice the bike and the run portion the week before the tri, but Mike had no idea what he was getting himself into! It was ok though, because he can do anything!

The race started at 8am, but we had to get there by 6 to get everything set up. Here we are at transition 1 where we go after we get done with the swim portion and hop on our bikes:

Our bikes are cheapies from Walmart, so they are very heavy and very slow. It was frustrating having people pass you when you know you could be going faster on a better bike! Grrr! But I don't want to spend thousands of dollars on a bike just yet. Mike and I just had to make up the time in the running portion. That's the easiest part for me. Although, this run course was a killer! We had to go trail running up a very steep dirt trail that killed my sprained ankle. But once we made it through that, it was all downhill from there, literally. It was perfect weather for a traithlon too. It felt so good to cross the finish line and complete something I never thought I could do! We had fun and are wondering what to do next year now...

Huckleberry Pickin'

Last year we weren't able to pick huckleberries for some reason. So since we had ran out of them (sad sad day), it was imperative that we make it up there this year. My mom and dad were visiting so it was fun to take them with us and help us pick. Right when we got to the picking spot, it started to rain. Of course! But you know what they say about Idaho weather: If you don't like it, wait 5 minutes and it will change. So we just waited and the storm passed over us within 5 minutes. We picked until it was too dark and we couldn't see the berries anymore, and then we picked for just a bit more! It gets kind of addicting! When you find a good patch, you don't want to stop picking, since these berries are such a hot commodity. We called it quits, finally, and went home with about 4 quarts of berries. I jammed them with fresh garden raspberries, froze some to enjoy in pancakes and waffles and in ice cream, and ate some fresh with cereal and with ice cream. Yum Yum!
Good Times!

Jacob's Birthday in Boise

So, Mike had to go to a "Kettle Bell" training in Boise, so we all decided to tag along. While he was in boring meetings all day, we got to hang out with the Bells. It happened to be Jacob's birthday, so we decided it would be fun if we all went to the Boise Zoo. It wouldn't be a true zoo trip if we didn't feed the goats:

We always have to ride the carousel too:

Jacob and Mia lookin' at some animals:

Checkin' out the murky slough that you can pay to ride a boat across:

Ridin' the cute little tiger:
After the zoo, it was naptime. So the babies took naps, the older kids watched a movie in Jason and Mandy's theater room (so cool), and the mommies made birthday cupcakes. After naps we went swimming in the nieghborhood pool (also soo cool!) and then got ready to go to dinner. Since there is a Chuck E Cheese in Boise and since that is Jacob's most favoritest place in the whole world, that is where we went to eat and play.

So first, scarf down some pizza so I can play:
Then get a big hug from Chuck himself:


Then off to play. Jacob was old enough this time to get his own tokens and just use them at his will. Mia liked to ride the little rides. Barney was one of her favorites:

Then it was time for cupcakes. Jacob couldn't wait to dig into them. But first, he had to blow out his candles:And then he was in heaven, eating his cupcake:

We love our little Jacob! He is such a cute little guy and so loving and loveable. He always says, "I love you Mom," or "Mom, you're my best friend, " without being prompted. When someone says sorry to him, he says, "Sanks for saying sorry" with his cute little lisp. He has the biggest, brownest eyes that make you melt when you look into them. He loves to read books, especially ones about nature and natural disasters. His favorite book right now is about hurricanes. He also loves Toy Story and the Cars movies. Whenever someone gets hurt or is crying, he is the first to go over and ask "What's wong?" and see if he can fix your problem. We are so grateful for our little Jacob and love him so much! Happy 3rd birthday buddy!

August Adventures

I love August! I love the hot weather, the playing in the sprinkler, the swimming, the harvesting of the garden, and of course, the going back to school! Every August, Idaho Falls hosts the Roaring Youth Jam. We try to go to it every year because we have so much fun! They have awesome FREE things for the kids to do and fun, cool, FREE shows to watch on stage. The kids want to do everything and we try to get everything in. Here's Ethan trying to hula a huge hula hoop: Jacob making his clay creation:
Ethan and Asia making clay stuff:
Mia figuring out what to do with her clay:

Racing their homemade boats:

Painting the giant dragon:
It was all very fun, except for the part when Jacob got lost... I think it was the scariest moment of my life! I feel yucky right now just writing about it. We all took a break from the activities to take a potty break. We all finished up and started walking to the next activity. I went to get Jacob to sit him up to the table and he was nowhere to be found! I started to walk up and down the walkway where we were and he was gone! I started to panic because the river was right there, rushing along really fast and I figured he had drowned in the river trying to catch the ducks or something. So many nasty things were going through my head! It had only been about 2 or 3 minutes, but it seemed like hours! I finally talked to this woman at an information booth and she told me that they had found him, just wandering around aimlessly, trying to find us. Sooo scary! He was so scared too! I burst into tears when they brought him to me and then we left! That was enough adventure for me!

Another exciting thing that happened in August was I was able to get 2 braids in Mia's hair! She actually sat still after bribing her with treats and T.V.! Her hair is a lot different than Asia's. Asia's hair is very thick and started coming in a lot sooner than Mia's did. Mia still has a cute little baby mullet, so we do the best that we can with what we got!