Ready to Play in the Snow?

November in Montana

Halloween 2010

Ascha's Big Girl Bed

Aric's First Basketball League

Aric played basketball for the first time this fall. He played hard and learned a lot, and even had fun along the way. He was a great scorer and rebounder. We are very proud of him!

SO BIG!


Ascha is now 2 1/4 years old, and cuter than any button I've ever seen!

September Fun, Part 4 - Harvest Festival, Pearson Air Museum, and Fort Vancouver


(...yes, all in one day!)

We went to a harvest festival where we decorated three pumpkins and made a scarecrow. I got a lot of stares and smiles as I carried said items in the baby backpack and herded the three kiddos back to our car. (I was even informed our towering scarecrow had frightened an alpaca!)



Then, we went to Pearson Air Museum (hooray for free museum day!) and toured Fort Vancouver (hooray for free public lands day!). Of course, we couldn't let ourselves leave without walking over the land bridge and strolling along the Columbia River. My kids pretty much collapsed with exhaustion when we got home after about 8 hours away.





What a great day!

Aric's 6th Birthday Party


Aric opted for a Transformers theme this year, and the boys helped decorate



We started the party off by bombing Megatron. His likeness was pasted to a box and each boy got to take a turn knocking it over. When that was done, we had enough ammo left for one massive frontal assault. Ready...aim...

...FIRE!!

Then we came inside for a maze. The goal was to rescue a transformer who'd been tied up and carried off to a secret lair. Each boy followed a string through the "obstacles" to find his car.

Then, of course, it was time for cake and presents

After that, we carried a cube of "energon" in a spoon relay

We wrapped up the party with a long game of tag

Aric Turns 6


On September 17, Aric turned 6. It's hard to believe he's that old already. If you don't believe me, just go back in the blog archive and see what he looked like when I started this blog.


On Aric's special day, I made pancakes for him and sent him off to school (where he acquired a very stylish birthday hat). When he arrived home, we had a little family party.


Birthdays are always a good time to try for a family picture. The one with Mommy in it didn't turn out, but all of my most-favorite people look pretty great in this one!



Taylor knew about Ari's big gift from Mom and Dad, because he test-drove it for us. He was supposed to keep the secret, but he gave Aric suggestive hints along the way like, "Your birthday present has wheels." Then, to make matters worse, Aric came to me sheepishly a few days before his birthday and said, "I was playing hide and seek, and when I went to hide behind the boat, I saw wheels sticking out from under a tarp." I told him to forget about it and stay away from that part of the garage (somehow I even maintained a straight face). He said ok and walked off. On his birthday, he was somehow surprised that he got "a gear bike," as mountain bikes are known around this neighborhood. I couldn't believe he was surprised, so I said, "Didn't you know???" He told me he'd tried very hard to forget. :-)

"Look, Ma. I'm 9!"

Best Friends and Great Brothers... I've loved watching them purchase gifts for one another with their own money this year. They are both very generous young men.

September Fun, Part 3 - The Zoo


As part of our field trip - happy September, we spent an afternoon at the zoo. The parking lot was full, so we were shuttled on a school bus, which was nearly as exciting as the zoo itself for Ascha.


She was only a little nervous about her first bus ride


Sweet Munchkins



Can you believe how grown up those three look?

Aric's First Day of Kindergarten

Our "little buddy" is growing up! He loves school, although he does come home exhausted and even started taking naps again this fall.

First bus ride home with his two neighborhood buddies

Can you believe how grown up he is?

September Fun, Part 2 - Tri-Cities Park Play Date


Just before school started, we had the opportunity to meet little cousin Sydney, who is 3 months older than Ascha, for the first time. Her mom (Jeremy's sister Maria) drove with Grandma Janet from Spokane and we drove from Vancouver to "meet in the middle." We met at the wonderful Columbia Park in Tri-Cities for a play date.


Grandma Janet with all her grandkids



Can you tell these two little girlies are related?



Fun on the tire swing


Two peas in a pod

Down in the "elevator"

Grandma Janet took the opportunity to celebrate Aric's birthday a touch early and brought along cupcakes, frosting, and gifts

MMMmmm...

I love this expression. Aric is such an all-out personality that when he's happy, everyone around him knows it (same when he's sad or mad, but those are different stories :-). This little white tiger has always lived at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and Aric has always loved it and wanted to take it home with him. It was such a wonderful surprise gift he could hardly believe it (if only present giving could remain that simple! :-)

It was a great play date. The little girls so enjoyed finally getting to play together, and the big boys loved the park, chasing the seagulls, and, of course, cupcakes. It was a very long day with 8 hours of drive time, but it was well worth it.

September Fun, Part 1 - OMSI


The month of September was very fun and busy this year. Taylor's school and extracurricular activities don't begin until the end of the month, so we are free to do our homeschooling month however we so choose, so long as we hit the required hours for math and language arts. A few days before Aric started kindergarten, we decided we'd kick the school year off with a field trip to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI).


Here's Samson the T-Rex


Isn't she the cutest chipmunk you've ever seen?



We loved the mirrors, and the water play, and the sand play...pretty much all of the children's room we loved!



Astronaut Taylor



Astronaut Aric