Camping again...

I think our family is finally becoming used to sleeping outdoors. We thoroughly enjoyed this weekend with everyone. After coming from a 5 day camping trip it seemed really short but our kids enjoyed it tremendously. Alyssa was so into the dirt. She only asked to have her hands cleaned a few times this weekend which is huge. She found joy in the simplest things...like taking a water bottle cap and putting dirt into it then transferring the dirt to the bottle. It took a lot of patience but she was able to actually get dirt into the bottle. We did get down to the beach but the weather was so cold we opted not to put our feet in. Although the kids really wanted too.

Tyler seems to really get back into the hang of school and is fine with getting up earlier. He will be starting school sports in a few weeks so we have a little bit of time to get the schedule down before we have to change it up again.

Homework on the first day?

Having to get back into a routine for anyone can be pretty difficult but for Tyler this year is even more difficult. We, which means mostly me, decided that a kid going on the age of 12 needs more responsibilty and a mom less involved in terms of getting him ready and out the door and of course, reminding him to do and get everything. I don't remember how many times I would get a call asking me to bring his lunch or a forgotten homework assignment and me always rushing to bring it to him. Well, that was then and this is now.

He will be waking up 45 min earlier than before and having actual chores to do before and after school. Most of which will be for him like getting his homework and uniform together the night before but will also include setting and clearing the dishes after breakfast and dinner (last night he set the dinner table and had lit candles, WOW!) and so on. But all this doesn't come without the cons! With the family waking up earlier means Rob has less 'Rob time' in the mornings. He used to watch a movie (sometimes the entire thing) while drinking coffee in a silent house. Not anymore!

One of Tyler's biggest changes besides waking up early and chores will be his responsibility of lunches. Before I packed it, now he does but I will go through it just to make sure. We go through a list of possible items and he just picks what he wants and then we, together, goes shopping on Sunday. Okay, so there are three big changes for him!

He started his morning out with a wonderful breakfast and a healthy but 'cool 7th grade' lunch and off he went. He did manage to pose with his sister for the first day of school pictures!

Oh, and the first thing out of his mouth when I picked him up was, man! i have homework!!!

Well, there is nothing like starting the school year off with homework on the first day!

PS. he did say after all of his complaining, that he enjoyed his first day and it felt like it was last year because he has all the same teachers except for Bible class. That has to feel like he is still in the 6th grade.

End of summer backyard BBQ with friends

We have been doing so many things this summer that it was really nice to just relax as a family but with our friends. We spent last Sunday over at Cailin's house and they have the most awesome backyard. Pool, big playhouse (two story), sand area with sand trucks, swing set, hot tub, and a pretty nice garden. We felt like we were on vacation! Alyssa loves the water but loves it even more when Dad throws her up high. She screams in delight and it makes us all laugh. She comes out of the water with yelling for more. I am not really sure what we are going to do in the future in terms of her loving speed and being an adrenaline junky because neither Rob, Tyler, or myself care for roller coasters anymore. We may have to send her to Aunt Suzie's house for all her rides. I think it was the weekend that she came to visit where we spent ALL day at Great America and both Rob and I took turns riding the roller coasters with her. I know we both were feeling a little nauseous towards the end of the day and I seem to recall having big issues that night! Although, I have gone skydiving...twice..and would definitely go again so who knows.

Pictures from the WA trip

So here are the pictures that I have been trying to post for a few days now. She really loved to play in the water until a tour boat sped by and caused some pretty big waves (well, they were big to a one year old) and then wanted immediately out. Tyler got her to calm down and actually start to enjoy the waves, as long as big brother was holding on to her. The third one is obviously my family, there were 11 people not in it which means we have a pretty big family and growing every year. The fourth picture shows the pure delight Alyssa has with riding the neigh neighs. I am hoping she continues the love for them so one day we can go riding together.

Trip to Washington

We just returned from a long but very enjoyable trip to Washington State. It was nice to relax and hang out with family without having errands or the phone ringing. It was also to have the entire family back together. With Tyler spending a week at church camp then Rob leaving for Singapore only to return home to Lyssa and I because Tyler flew up to my brother's house for 12 days. It has been a long time! Every year we go up there to have this reunion and it is wonderful to catch up with family members and meet new ones. This year we welcomed three new babies to the family which means Alyssa will have three new cousins to pal around with next year. She really wanted to play with the big kids but they pretty much left at the campsite.The kids really enjoyed the water and of course, riding the neigh neighs. Lyssa went to bed that night talking about the neigh neighs.

I have tried to post a few pictures but it is not working, I will try in the morning. sorry!

22 months old today

A grown up girl. Her verbal skills expand everyday, she is saying four and five word sentences, knows how to count to 6, is learning to think in complex thoughts, and is taking over reading the books that we have been reading to her. Absolutely amazing. She is also learning to go in the potty...a lot! I bought her her first pair of panties and her booty looks so small in them. She went to the potty on her own four times today. So proud! She is now 22 months old and we fear that she is onto the terrible twos. Not sooo proud of that but we feel that she is ahead of the group in many ways so this is not surprising to us. We are working on her colors and ABC's which she loves to do. She loves to have her picture taken and she really really enjoys wearing shoes. Any shoes really but she is starting to favor flip flops. She was wearing flip flops and her panties earlier today. We can't believe she will be two years old in less than 2 months. hmmm...time to have another baby since ours is growing up???

Marine World

Lyssa was in love with all the animals at Marine World today. She got to see her first elephant, 'elies' and was in love from the beginning. We were all looking at the elephants when out of the trees came an elephant with kids on her back. Lyssa became so excited and started asking for a ride, "ride elies me!" How can you say no to that right?. Unfortunately, Rob and I had the joy of watching a documentary (the night before our Marine World trip) on the rage that elephants have and how they kill 500 people a year! Oh, boy, she was sad that she could not ride on the elephant. But no matter how sweet she was in asking we were not going to let her ride on the elephant. Fortunately for us, we walked into a souvenir shop and there was a little stuffed elephant and she ran right over there and asked to ride it. Boy, were we saved!! Another highlight of the day was to see the elephant take a shower. She was talking about that one for awhile! We saw animal after animal and amazingly she was able to repeat each animal by name and most sounds. Oh, and I was correct, we have a little speed demon on our hands! I was going on a little roller coaster with Cailin and her son and I had told Alyssa that she had to wait with Daddy because it would be too much for her little body and I didn't want to scare her. Well, Daddy called out to us while we were waiting in line because she really wanted to go on the roller coaster with us. I thought better of it but I said that she could. Oh my heavens, she is addicted that's for sure! I asked her if she enjoyed the ride at the end and she said "yep, more?" Then she rubbed the back of her head and said "head hurt' Well we were going pretty fast and she hit the back of her head at the end of the ride but that didn't stop her from wanting to ride again. We rode the train after that and I really think she was bored and wishing she was on the speedy roller coaster. It was nice to spend a day there but we sure missed Tyler! We just might have to go again with him in a few months and I am sure Lyssa will be just as excited as she was today.

Great America....again

We spent another day at Great America. We had another friend come and it was soo much fun. Love the way they all interact with one another. I really do think Alyssa will be a roller coaster girl. The look on her face is classic and so full of joy when the rides are in motion. She never gets a look of being scared on her face during the ride and always asks for more when the ride is over. In fact, as soon as she feels the ride starting to slow down she starts using her signs for more please. So cute. She is getting more daring as she runs through the water sprays, I think being around the other kids her age encourages her to be more independent and daring. At least that is what I think anyways. We all left at the same time and we were all getting to the freeway which is about 5 min from the park and we look at one another in each of the cars and we all give each other the sign of our kids being out. Perfect end to a perfect day. Three happy and exhausted toddlers asleep in their carseats. : )

Jungle Fun

We spent the day in the air conditioned Jungle today. It was nice and relaxing! Well, if you consider jumping into a ball pit or going down slides relaxing then it definitely was. When we started taking her at 8 months she would just crawl around but not too far from me. Now she runs at full speed not even caring if I am following her. She is still a little leary going down the big slides as they are over 7 feet long but she is very brave when her brother is by her side. We can't wait till we see him again! Three more days.