Alex, Boo and KK Too!

I told the kids that Saturday we would go hiking after the basketball game.  That was followed up by emotions ranging from "how long is the hike?" to "Mom, I don't really like hiking" to a complete emotional meltdown that it would hurt their legs too much. The weather also wasn't super favorable but I decided it was time to persevere and make my kids go.  Of course I'm not going to "force" them but they got to pick their lunches and snacks.  When the basketball game was cancelled I danced for joy and we headed out. Family outside & happy = super happy mom Amazingly the drive there was lot of laughter and easy conversation and once we got there everyone got their backpacks on.  The kids were expecting about 3 miles. We headed out on the Rim Trail first, which is the least exciting start, and a mile in KK was telling me this wasn't like a real hike because it was fun.  What made it fun was little things like letting them throw snowb...

 There are a LOT of Halloween events scheduled for us and we've actually trimmed them down without complaint from the kids.  You know there is too much scheduled when the kids are willing to not attend one of the parties!  Lucky for me my work party was one of the ones picked for attendance.  We had a great time hanging out with all the other kiddos and of course I was able to get some pictures!

Once I brought up the fall decoration Boo asked me non-stop if he could carve a pumpkin. Since it was still September I pushed back but by the weekend I just couldn't handle the questions any more, so off to the Pumpkin Patch we went. The weather was great and it was quiet which was perfect for me. We found a less commercial pumpkin patch too which was nice. We got a few decent pictures...  After bringing home the pumpkins the request for pumpkin carving still didn't end so two pumpkins were cleaned out that day.  The following morning we were up at 7am carving pumpkins.  SInce then I don't think the pumpkins have been looked at but that's ok.      

For those of you not familiar with the Swagger Wagon name, be sure to check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql-N3F1FhW4 And yes, this family has finally given in and we now have a mini-van, or swagger wagon as we call it.  At the time it was such a hard decision and realistically the only options we had were the gas guzzling ginormous Suburban or a Toyota Sienna.  We were actually on the lot looking at a smaller vehicle (Honda Pilot or Highlander) but with the third row seat there is so little room in the back.  Although I was sad when we made the decision to go with a mini-van, once we got inside I completely understand why so many people love them.  It felt like going from a small propellor plane where you were responsible for loading your own baggage to going into a 747 with full service attendants.  The kids can all get in on their own, there is breathing room and on long drives we have a DVD player.  The kids are beyond excited....

Generally when I come home from work the house is in a decent state. Things look equal or better than when I left in the morning. Today, as I look around the house at noon it's in a total state of disarray.  The kids have been in an awesome ongoing imaginary game that has used about every item on the main floor.  It's hard to force them to pick up after they are done if the game just moves to the next section of the room! The other confession is that the infant is covered in pen marks and Boo is dressed in a skirt since he wanted to wear what I was wearing. 

This week was Boo's first camp experience which was at his pre-school.  After his first drop off I was surprised at how confident he was being in being left alone.  When I mentioned it was time for hugs and kisses he looked a little hesitant but said he was fine.  Then his friend C. came in and he gave him a big hug and they were off playing.  Once we got in the car Noodle started bawling since she missed Boo so much.  It's so interesting since she often is fine leaving but once she was the one being left it was much harder.  On the final day of camp I found out that Boo and C. were often asked to keep their hands to themselves (this came through C's mom who was doing drop off and pick up).  When I asked Boo later he says "Well, I don't like that rule!  I like using C. as a pillow!" Too funny. 

Although we had an indoor camping trip last year, this year we had our first outdoor camping trip.  We found an excellent campground right on the Lake.  It came complete with canoe and on-site babyholders.  Ok, it was Opa and Oma's new house but can you blame us for wanting to camp at a nice peaceful lake? The kids made it through the night in the tent and I feel about 10 years older than I am after sleeping the majority of the night off of the airmattress as Boo and Ham had taken over my space.  After realizing what had happened I moved Boo back to his super nice mattress and slid onto my pretty puny mattress.  Hind sight I should have just leap frogged Boo and slept in comfort.  The nice thing was that when Ham was up at 6am, there was a coffee maker and hot coffee.  I've decided camping is one of those activities that I'm not really excited about since right now we tend to lean towards camping at campgrounds where there are a lo...

As the weather has been turning nicer we have become that house that all the kids migrate to.  A long time ago J made a comment that it's always good to be the "cool" house that everyone wants to go to because then you have a better idea of what your kids are up to.  Although I am still a believer in this, I've noticed lately we have a lot of kids migrating to our house.  I'm not implying that we are in fact the cool house, but we are basically in the middle of all the homes with kids.  I end up coming home to 8 kids in the driveway playing.  It's quite the transition usually especially given that dinner needs to be made too. One major benefit of this is that I'm often a little happier when the rain comes knowing that the chances of all the kids congregating is a little less!  I do enjoy all the kids though so I'm sure when fall comes and things slow down I'll be sad.