Back to school

Today was the first day of school.  The weather was rainy so the kids had to wear jackets.  They were both kind of excited and nervous at the same time.  They are at different elementary schools now so Marc took Kyle and I took Hailey.  I think that they both had good days.  Hailey has several of her good friends in her class and she got the teacher that she wanted so she had a lot of fun.  Kyle is trying to figure out the new school and make new friends but I think that everything went okay there was a boy from his soccer team there and he played basketball with him at recess.  I know he will make more friends and have a good time but it will take a few days to get used to things.  The girls and Marc and I had a good time at home the house was definately a little quieter, we were able to get quite a bit done, but boy were we excited for Kyle and Hailey to get home so we could hear all about their day. 

summer vacation week #11

This was the last week of summer vacation, boy did it fly by.  Sunday evening my mom came to help Rachel and I do some canning.  We had fun making some jam and canning a few peaches. Monday she took all the kids on an outing to Costco and let them pick out a pair of PJs and the girls got a fun skirt.  The kids thought it was great.  My girls have worn their skirts pretty much all week. 

Katie, Nicole, and Hailey

My Mom had to leave Tuesday morning so the rest of the week I was still busy doing a lot of canning.  Hailey was able to play at a friends house on Tuesday and then on Wednesday we were able to swim at the neighbor's one last time before school starts we also got to go to Kyles new school and see his classroom and meet some of the kids in his class.  I think he is really going to like it.  Thursday was Marcs last day home before school starts so we wanted to do something fun with the kids.  Rachel suggested a scavenger hunt so she made a list of things for us to take pictures of so we spent some time driving around taking the pictures on the list it was a lot of fun.  Then we ended our adventure at the soda shop having ice cream cones. it was a fun family activity.  Also On Thursday my Grandpa and his wife Lois stopped by for a short visit, it was great to see them, and the kids always like seeing them so that the have a face to put with the stories that I tell them. 

scavenger hunt-everyone wearing sunglasses

scavenger hunt-all the kids on the slide

everyone enjoying ice cream

The rest of the week we spent canning and cleaning and getting everyone ready to head back to school on Tuesday.

Lydia reading a book-4 months old

Rachel did a little photo shoot with the twins one day. Nicole is in the pink skirt katie the blue

Doctor apointments

I took Lydia,Katie and Nicole to the Doctor on Tuesday for their well child visits and shots. Lydia is 4 months she weighs 15 pounds 6 ounces(90th percentile) she is 25 inches long (80th percentile) and her head is 15 1/2 inches (25th percentile). She is doing great, she smiles and giggles, she loves sitting and playing with toys in the walker. She is a lot of fun. Katie is 39 pounds (8oth percentile) and is 40 inches (75th percentile) she was pretty stubborn and wouldn't open her mouth for the doctor and boy did she scream when they gave her the shots. Nicole is 37 pounds (50th percentile) and is 39 1/2 inches (60th percentile) she was very brave and just cried a little with the shots. Neither one of them would say a word to the doctor except for thank you when they gave them a sticker and a sucker. They are done with shots know until they are 11.

summer vacation week #10

Monday we headed out on our family vacation. This year we decided to go to Lake Chelan for a couple of days. We left Monday morning and spent most of the day in the car, we drove through several cities on the way so it ended up taking us quite a bit longer then it should have to get there so by the end we were all very ready to get out of the car. We got there and got all checked into out cabin, it was a cute little 2 bedroom cabin about 10 minutes from the lake.

The cabin- Hailey, Marc with Lydia, Nicole, Katie and Kyle

The inside of the cabin

We ate dinner and then went down to the swimming pool and swam for a little while and then came back and the kids and Marc went in the hot tub while I put the baby to bed.Katie

Hailey

Nicole

Marc and Kyle

Everyone in the hot tub

The kids were pretty tired so after we got them to bed Marc and I went and sat in the hot tub we heard something moving in the bushes and this deer walks out right by us and it just stood there, it was so close you could hear it breathing it about scared me to death.

Tuesday morning we got up and had breakfast and Marc took the kids for a little hike and then we got ready and headed over to the lake. The lake was beautiful, the water was very clear and it was a beautiful hot sunny day. The park that we went to was very nice they had an area where the kids could play in the sand and they had blocked off an area where the water was just a couple of feet deep so that the kids could play in it with out it getting to deep and then they had a couple of docks out in the water that you could jump off of and swim around.

Hailey is our little fish, she loved the water I think she was in it the most. I think she would have jumped off the docks all day if we would have let her.

Kyle loved the water also, but he spent a lot of time in the sand as well.

Kyle jumping off the dock

Here are the twins playing in the kid section, it was nice they could touch the bottom the whole time so we didn't have to worry about them and they could just go from here to the sand and back again whenever they wanted.Nicole playing in the sand

Marc and Hailey drying off after a long day in the water.

We got back from the lake and ate dinner and then Marc took the kids for another little hike while I got Lydia to bed. When they got back I went outside and asked them if they saw any animals, just as I was asking them I look over on the hillside and see something moving. My first thought was that it was a raccoon because I could see a tail, but then I realized that it was a bear. As soon as the twins heard the word bear they were in the house but Marc and I and Hailey and Kyle had a great time watching it walk across the hillside, it got pretty close and we got a good look at it.
Later that night the kids snuggled up on the couches and watched a movie before bed.

Wednesday we went down to the lake again for most of the day.

Marc and Kyle and Hailey spent of the day jumping off the dock

This is how Lydia and I spent most of our time-either I was holding her or was sleeping in the stroller.

Nicole and Katie after a long day at the lake.

Thursday morning we got up and packed and cleaned up the cabin and left, we decided it would be fun to stop in Leavenworth on the way home. It is a cute little town, I think that the kids enjoyed it.

The kids eating pastries

Nicole, Katie, Hailey, Kyle and Mom
This was their favorite store it had all Christmas stuff.

It was a great vacation, it was so nice just spending time together. I think it is a place that we would all like to go to again sometime.