Nuts

October?!?!?  I haven't blogged anything since the end of August.  It's that time of year when I don't have a second to stop.  School has started, Basketball has started, Scouts is back in full swing, Open House for the 4 schools our 5 kids attend, HOMEWORK.  It's been nuts!!

So....I'll try to catch you up on what's been happening.  Nothing amazing or life changing, but I guess that's ok in a way.

School has started.  Zak is a Junior, Ryson in 8th, Bella in 7th, Riley in 6th and Blake in 3rd.  That's quite the spread.  I can't believe how fast life changes once school is back in session.  I didn't realize I had so much free time during the summers.  

Bella turned 13!  All she wanted for her birthday was a shopping spree (that's easy I suppose).  We haven't gone yet, that's what the plan is for this weekend so I'll have to post her purchases later. 

She LOVES One Direction so she did get a personally signed poster from them which she thought was one of the most amazing things ever! 

She also got to go to the Jason Mraz concert with the other side of her family which she thought was AMAZING!  Seems like we were just buying her dolls for her birthdays....where does the time go?

Ryson and Josh (or should I say Josh and Ryson?  I think this takes more of my husbands time than it does Rysons) have started Basketball.  Practice two nights a week, extra practice 2 nights a week (sometimes) and Tournaments on the weekends.  They've had a great season so far.  They've played in 2 Tournaments and have been playing harder than they ever have.  It's been fun watching how different they play just because they are all getting older and more competitive.

Scouts is back every Wednesday.  Ryson is behind because he spends his summers in Utah instead of on the camp outs and hikes with his Troop, but we are trying to get him caught up.  The best part is that he really wants to be an Eagle Scout so we shouldn't have to push him to hard.

Every one I know is having babies so I've been spending a lot of time playing surrogate mom (which is one my favorite things to do).  I love them all and even if they do cry 90% of the time their parents are gone, I'd still watch them any time!!

 

So between all of this, dinner, laundry, yard work, etc. etc. etc. I'm glad I found some time to fill you in on what's been happening at our house.

Cannon Beach 2012

It is a tradition in Josh's family to spend part of the summer in a town called Cannon Beach.  This town is on the coast of Oregon and is beautiful.  The family hasn't been going as often and the last time we went was 4 years ago so it was really fun to get to spend some time there this summer.  We looked forward to the trip all year and it seemed like it was over before we knew it.  The weather was good (meaning no rain).  The kids had a BLAST in the pool and the ocean.  They wore every outfit I had packed within the first two days we were there.  Back and forth from the ocean, to the pool and in new clothes every time!

Josh Teaching Blake how to Fly a Trick Kite (they did this for hours)

The Boys Riding Beach Bikes

Hiking at Ecola State Park.  All kinds of Starfish, crabs and other great things to look at!

Haystack Rock



Summer Camps

This summer was much busier than usual for us.  Ryson usually spends 9 weeks in UT, we rarely see the kids, and Josh and I have a lot of time on our hands.  This summer was different.  Ryson was only gone for 4 weeks (1 week of which we were in ID and still got to see him).  Blake came and spent a week with us and Bella and Riley came on a different week and spent the week with us.  It seems like we had a house full for the majority of the summer (which was nice for a change).

While Blake was with us, he went to a Basketball Summer Camp put on by the Tahoma High School.  He LOVED it!  He would get up every morning and shower and get dressed and go eat breakfast and then wait patiently until it was time to go.

While Bella and Riley were with us, they also participated in camps put on at the High School  Bella did cheer and Riley did Tennis.  They were equally as excited as Blake and it took very little to get them motivated to get going.

Bella had a performance at the end of her camp so we got to go watch her dance and do her cheer.  She practiced ALL day in front of the mirror and was pretty nervous but she was the cutest one out there!

Riley's favorite part of camp was the water balloon fight on the last day.  He started purposely messing up so that he'd get drenched with a water balloon.  He came home with all kinds of prizes from earning so many tickets during the camp.  I guess he takes after his Dad and is just a natural when it comes to Tennis.

I'm guessing the kids will be asking to do this again next year.  It's always fun to have something to look forward to!

Moses Lake

This summer is completely crazy.  It will be over before we know it.  We planned a VERY spontaneous trip to Moses Lake over the weekend.  The weather was amazing there and we had some friends that we met up with.  For being thrown together in just a few short hours, it turned out to be a pretty good time!

Blake has decided he "doesn't know how to swim" so he rarely leaves the stairs or the edge of the pool.  Better safe than sorry I supposed.  Bella and Riley decided that diving for pennies was a fun way to pass some time since we didn't have any pool toys. 

Josh catching some rays.  He's the only one that went home with raccoon eyes.  Zak playing Super Man off of the deck of our friends lake house.  It's probably about an 8 ft drop to the water.

Hoopfest 2012

You can't live in Washington and be a basketball player and NOT go to Hoopfest at least once!  We decided to give it a whirl this year and had so much fun that I'm sure it will be a yearly tradition for us until Ryson graduates High School (and maybe even after that).

Rysons team was called "4 lil white guyz" and they all shaved their number into their hair before leaving to Spokane.  Rysons favorite number is 7 so I got the clippers out and went to town on the back of his head.

We are lucky enough to have family connections in Moses Lake which is about 1/2 way between Maple Valley and Spokane.  We left Friday night and drove to Moses.  Swam in the pool, ate the famous Chico's pizza and enjoyed the sun for pretty much the first time ALL year!

We got up early on Saturday morning and arrived in Spokane around 10:30am for our 11am game.  We found parking at $15 a day (YIKES) and made our way down the streets trying to find our court.  Next year we might opt for matching fluorescent shirts just so we can keep better tabs on where everyone is.

We found our court and lost our first two games.  The team Ryson was on only practiced together twice and he only knew two of the other boys but I'm pretty sure he had a good time anyway.  They ended up winning one game and losing 3 but he's already making plans for next year. 

So Long 6th Grade

Bella graduated from 6th Grade this year.  Which means she moves to the Jr High next year.  Not sure how excited we are about that...
We will have one kid in High School, two in Jr High and 2 in Elementary.  They are growing up fast.  For Bella's 6th Grade Celebration, they had a dance at her school.  Josh volunteered to chaperon so he spent an evening watching her have a great time with her friends.  She was a bit mortified at the fact that her Dad would be there and that he could quite possibly spoil all her fun, but when I asked her about it she said that he wasn't embarrassing and that he spent most of his time in the other room.  She also told me that it was the 'best four hours of her life."
She also participated in 6th Grade Graduation which Josh and I went and watched her receive her 'diploma'.  They had some refreshments and a slide show and went through all of the 6th Grade classes.  They were all given a t-shirt from Stahl to wear the following Monday on their tour of the Jr High.

Field Day

The end of the school year is jam packed with all kinds of activities.  It's crazy how you can go from 1-2 events a night to absolutely no schedule at all in just a couple weeks time.  One of the activities the kids got to participate in was Field Day.  Josh volunteered his time to help out at some of the various stations and spent the day in Puyallup with the kids.  It was one of the nicest days we've had this summer so he lucked out.  He came home smiling and sun burned.  Can't ask for a better day.