Labor Day Weekend brought a wonderful visit from Lisa, John, and the four girls (two of them being dogs). The cousins had a great time together and seeing that Quincy is 12 now, we were even able to leave them home alone while the four adults went out to dinner downtown one night. That was heaven! No babysitting cost!! The kids loved the independence and surprised us all by taking the three dogs out to the dog park and for a walk while we were gone. We played at the pool one day and on Sunday we took a long bike ride along the river, stopping at Ann Morrison Park to play in the fountain and Joe's Crab Shack for lunch. I think everyone had a good time. It was really a fun visit and with the kids all older now we were able to do lots of talking with the adults while the kids all played and played.
Lisa and family left on Monday afternoon and Grandma Mary arrived on Tuesday evening. We switched our bonus room into "guest room" mode and enjoyed having Mary visit for several weeks. She was able to see one of Jake's football games, joined Faith and I on our weekly Sunday trips to Fred Meyer and Starbucks, and (of course) kept us all well fed! Between the pies, brownies, Sees candy, and 2 foot Twizzlers, Brian and I both have a little working out to do this next month! She played countless card games with the kids and kept herself busy during the days by investigating places to live nearby. For a week or so we were hopeful that she might decide to make Boise (or even Hidden Springs) her home but in the end she decided to stay in CA. But we are so grateful that she is back on the West Coast and able to come visit more frequently.
School is going well for all of the kids.
-Faith cried everyday at K drop off for the first 10 days or so but since then she has been happy as a clam- if not a little bit nervous as she stands in line and waves to us repeatedly until she disappears through the front doors. She is taking to the math and reading like a fish to water. She shocked the heck out of me today on our way to the grocery store as she sounded out words off signs like a pro. Being the third child I am sure she did not get anywhere near the parental attention to pre-reading skills that Jake or Tanner did (and Tanner got it way less than Jake). No rhyming games for this one (Bad mommy) but she seems no worse for the wear. She loves her teachers and is making new friends. Her love of animals continues, however her love of horses seems to have stopped. She's never met a dog she doesn't like. She holds her own with her brothers but is quick to tears if she feels wronged by them. We can definitely see signs that her teenage years will be rough. She will get mad and stomp up to her room, saying things like, "FINE! No one likes me. I guess I will just NEVER play with Tanner or Jake ever again! HUMPH!" and we will hear a door slam and half an hour later we will find her listening to her iPod in her room.
-Tanner loves first grade and we continue to be amused by the long emails and texts sent home by his teacher. He is very confident at school, has lots of friends, is well behaved, and is reading like crazy. His favorites these days are Junie B. Jones and Geronimo Stilton. He is obsessed with cursive writing and even though he doesn't have to learn it officially for two more years (and by that time I certainly hope that it is no longer required and instead that time devoted to keyboarding) but he wants to learn it now and is constantly asking us to write things in cursive so he can copy them. This is hard for both Brian and I since neither of us really knows this long lost art form. He is excited for basketball season to start next month and will be on a team with all his buddies. He is skin and bones and we were cracking up the other night as we read a blog from his 2nd year where we were convinced he was going to be a line backer because he was so stocky and big. Still my sweetheart, he loves to cuddle up and cover me with kisses. I continue to eat it up.
-Jake loves his teacher and both Brian and I find him to be very easy going and funny. I think it will be another good year. He balked at the required 25 minutes of reading each night, and doesn't particularly enjoy the required written summary of what he's read, but he's doing great. He is still one that will get away with the minimum (academically at least). He is capable of more than he does but I am not one to push academics so it is what it is. We have pushed him to try out new books lately and that is going well. He still won't do anything remotely "fantasy" or anything that is the least bit scary so lots of our favorites are out but at least he is expanding past Mike Lupica. He joined the school choir and is very excited for this experience. It starts Tuesday and requires that he be at practice Tues/Thurs mornings from 8-830. We were anxious to let him try it since it is so out of the realm of his normal sports related interests.
Brian and I have been spoiled lately with nights out. We had a great dinner out with Lisa and John when they were here, then went out for an early anniversary dinner with Sheila and Wayne while they were here. We spent the night in downtown Boise after dinner while Mary stayed with the kids and enjoyed a leisurely Sunday morning downtown before heading home. Then this weekend, our actual anniversary, we went to the Train/Mat Kearny concert at Taco Bell Arena. What an amazing show!! We both loved it and had a great night out. The kids were very envious as they love Train- both the old stuff and the new album. Seeing as I had a girls night out two weeks ago and went to see Jake Owen at Idaho Botanical Gardens with a friend the week before that, I can't complain that I haven't been getting time to myself! Jimmy Buffett is coming to Boise (first time ever!) next month so that will be another night out. I think I am getting spoiled!
We are planning a fall vacation from November 1-6th. Brian had to take some days in 2012 so we planned it to coincide with the fall conference days for the kids so they will only have to miss 2 days of school. We had originally planned to do an RV trip to the Utah National Parks but upon further investigation realized that most of the RV parks close in October there. We looked up average temps for that time period and decided we didn't really want to wake up to 14 degree mornings. So... we are considering RV trip to Oregon Coast (also chilly but highs in 50s during day and 40s at night). We would do the sand dune buggy tour, the coastal aquarium, a whale watch boat trip, and explore the towns of Newport and Yachats, etc... In any case, no matter where we end up, we are looking forward to it.
Giants are the National League Division Champions so we are looking forward to a magical October :)
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