Friday's

 Friday's are our Great Grandma Jake days. 

 During the summer we would ride the bike down early and work in the garden.  The girls would come and go from the house until lunch when Kate, Archie, Annie, Cousin Stephanie and her girls Toby and Scout would show up.  We would all share a huge pot of Mac and Cheese and sit around chatting the afternoon away while the kids ran and had adventures.

 But now I'm nauseous all the time and the thought of the garden makes me break out in a rash and want to puke.  Not to mention Kate has left us and Toby is in Kindergarten! So Friday's are a bit different now.

Last week we went prepared with carmel dip.  It's apple season!

 Alex has been eating the unripe little green things all summer, so now that they are big and ripe it's a special treat for her.  Heidi hasn't gotten past taking 3 bites and throwing her apple on the ground.

 The girls adore Grandma Jake.  She is quite the character and I'm pretty sure Heidi's best friend.

 While I weeded the garden with Alex, Heidi would follow Grandma around EVERYWHERE, getting the mail, watering the grass, feeding the cats, in the kitchen, out of the kitchen, and of course she would get stuffed full of chocolate the whole time.  Heidi and Grandma sass each other like an old married couple.  it's hilarious.

 When Heidi isn't teasing Grandma, she is following around her best little friend Scout.  Heidi is only a few month older than scout, and bosses her around quite a bit.  But Scout can hold her own!  Heidi doesn't play with any other kid the way she plays with Scout.

 Friday they took advantage of the ripe Dandelions.  Picking bunches and then knocking all the little seeds into the air.

 I'm pretty glad we have our Friday Grandma tradition.  It's fun to let the cousins play and watch Grandma admiring and spoiling her little greats.

Last friday we spent the morning at Grandma's and then hurried home to pack for an overnight trip to the cabin!  This is Alex showing me where on the map we were going, and then pronouncing it "Outer Space!"  We didn't quite make it that far.

 It was a little bit of a drive to the family cabin at Willow Creek, and the fall colors were starting to show!
Tyler went over and above the call of duty by making a "princess tent" inside the cabin for the girls to sleep in.  We took all our old sheets to hang from ropes- and the girls enjoyed their little refuge.

 We enjoyed the crisp morning by going for a walk to the beaver dam to shoot Tyler's 22.  Heidi just wanted to go see the gate and Alex wanted to climb a mountain.

 Tyler and Grandpa took the girls on a big hike, up the side of a hill about 30 feet.  Alex was thrilled, Heidi got carried most of the way.

 2 seconds after I took this picture, Heidi ran into the side of a suddenly stopped Ashes and wiped out.  It was hilarious.

 Heidi and Grandpa bonded by the fire.

 All Alex wanted to do was wander around filling her pockets with rocks and going on "adventures".

 Heidi loved playing in the rocks and rolling around in the dirt and picking up sticks.

 Grandma and Tyler were great, I wasn't feeling so hot and got to lounge in a camping chair for HOURS! With no responsibility!!!! Heaven.

Grandma took the girls on plenty of walks to see the leaves and climb on rocks.  They LOVED it!

And of course it wasn't long before both girls lost their shoes.  Heidi found a bucket of wooden cars and talked to herself for about 2 hours.

I think everyone had a good time and got to do something they wanted.  Heidi climbed on the gate, Tyler started a fantastic fire with his flint.  Alex brought home a bucket of rocks, and I got to sit outside next to a fire without the kids and boondoggle.  It was great.

How the kids took the news.

We decided to tell the kids.  Unfortunately they both decided to throw monster tantrums right before.  So we quieted them with cookies, and it worked too well.

This movie is for Grandparents and posterity, I have no illusions that it will be entertaining for anyone else so don't feel pressured to watch.  It's also my first time posting iflip video- so I was unable to figure out how to edit it for length.  And for my last disclaimer- this pregnancy has given me my first ever eczema outbreak and unfortunately it decided to appear around my eyes.  So that's why I look like death warmed over- oh and I'm pretty sure I puked at some point after this too.

I guess the cat is already out of the bag.....

Sidewalk paint, apples and Jean-Luc Picard

It's that time of the year where we go through our clothes and rotate the summer things out!  I'm excited this year- I feel like we can start getting rid of things.  We have been the lucky recipients of LOTS of hand-me-downs, in fact Alex rarely wears new clothes at all.

By the time they hit Heidi, the 3rd child, They are about as stained and worn out as they can be and I can finally put them in the scrap pile!  Of course there are those few outfits that you wish they could wear forever, but overall it's been so wonderful cleansing the closet!

I also get to go through the boxes of hand-me-downs and figure out what is going to fit the next 6 months- labor intensive but super fun.  I like seeing all the cute clothes Alex gets to wear that I didn't have to pay for, and refinding the clothes that Alex used to adore for Heidi!!!

   It seems the day's have been busy for everyone and Tyler has had so much going on lately.  LAst Saturday Alex said " WHAT?! it's just you and me and Heidi today AGAIN.  I DON'T LIKE THOSE DAYS."  I didn't blame her, I felt the same way.  After 5 days of just the 3 of us, at the house, all day- by Saturday we are going crazy for someone else to spice up the mix and to get out of the house.  We went on a bike ride to the school and played on the play ground.  It was fun.
 

We also discovered sidewalk paint.  Cornstarch, water and food coloring.  The girls get bored after half an hour, and then I get to doodle on the sidewalk until the paint is gone.

 Heidi inherited a scooter from her second cousin and is in LOVE!  She rides it up and down the sidewalk for hours.  The other day I was distracted talking to a neighbor and had to break up the conversation when Heidi didn't reappear around the corner after a minute.  Turns out she had scooted down the next block and was crossing the street "To get Ashes safe out of the road, MOM!!!"

 Alex is excited about playing outside again now that it's coolings down.  I discovered that allowing her to take a few toys outside will keep her entertained for hours.  The novelty of being able to do something previously not allowed has not yet worn off.

    Grandma and Grandpa brought home some genuine Apple Juice the other day and now I'm in full fledged Fall mode.  I want the pumpkin pie and the stews and breads, I'm ready for snow days and hot chocolate and Christmas!  But I need to remember we still have Halloween and Thanksgiving, and before either of those- a visit from the Ben and Kate family which will be it's own week long celebration and holiday.

First Day of Preschool!!!!

Today was Alex's first day of Preschool!  She has been SO excited, especially since all the neighbor kids went back to school a week ago.  

She loved her new dress and surprise headband and looked SO grown up walking to school!

She tried to convince me ALL morning that she was going to walk on her own and I could stay home eating M&M's and watching Curious George with Heidi.  I told her it was the first day of school and she HAD to let me walk her there.  She replied that she would then run ahead of me.

Heidi was also convinced she was going to preschool, and tried to sneak in and take a seat with all the other kids.  I didn't fully get to savor the moment of Alex choosing a seat and sitting nicely at her desk waiting for class to start, because I was dragging a screaming Heidi out of the house- bribing her with M&M's and Curious George.  She then ran all the way home.

I'm glad I have a little girl because she filled me in on all the details after class.  Including her falling asleep during storytime, and the girl with curly hair being so sad she wouldn't eat her cookie.

Labor Day

Alex is all about dress up these days.  She decided to wear this outfit to the garden last week.

  Heidi has started to get into the spirit as well, especially when friends are over.  Here we have a tap dancing accessorized tinker-bell and a Bride on her wedding day.

For Labor Day we decided that we just HAD to do something fun.  Our summer of camping and hiking had boiled down to one kind-of campout and a couple dutch oven dinners.  So when we drove by Deer Creek Reservoir a few weeks ago and Alex begged to go to the beach, we decided that was the ticket.

 We were able to borrow a canoe from some friends which officially made the day "cross everything off of Alex's summer bucket list day"- since she has been asking to go on a boat all summer.

 We canoed out into the lake a few times, and as much as I wanted a picture of us in the canoe, with all the near tip overs (thanks Heidi), We decided (Tyler) that is wasn't worth risking the expensive camera.

 Alex's absolutely favorite part of the whole thing was playing in the mud.  She made pies and castles with moats.  It was such a treat for her to be able to mix sand and water without Mom yelling out the window at her to "Turn off the hose!"

It was a fun relaxing day on the beach and a great end of summer activity for the whole family.  After the beach we went home and had a family BBQ with Tyler's cousins and then that evening Tyler took Alex and I back to school shopping!  We both got cute dresses and cupcakes and I decided Tyler is actually the best shopping companion ever!