Morning Time

Poor Anna. I did not realize she had seen that I write notes occasionally for Mia and put them in her lunchbox. Mia has had a hard time being gone for seven hours every day. Anna is only gone for three hours a day and doesn't take a lunch. But she does take a snack. So one day Anna showed me this note that she wrote.  I felt so bad, but it was so cute. And she didn't seem sad. She was tired of waiting for me to write a note so she did it herself!

Just some cute pictures...

I'm always looking for things for Anna and I to do in the mornings when Mia is at school. We went to a yoga class at the library.

It's nice to spend some special time with Anna this year before she goes to school full time next year.

Labor Day Party

On Labor Day there was a party at the country club.  Oli had a blast playing with these plastic cups and straws.

The girls are waiting for the soda float! If you don't know what that is, cans of soda are thrown in the pool and then the kids jump in and try to get them. They didn't get any! :( 

There was a bounce house and lawn games for the kids to play.

It was a beautiful day for a summer party!

Helping Out

I think this is the sweetest picture of Anna.

Becky and Arek went to a wedding and we watched the boys for the weekend.

It was fun taking them to Monkey Bizness!

The boys played with the dog for a lot of the weekend. And when Oli wasn't playing with the dog, he pretended to be the dog!

It is so fun having grandkids nearby and we feel blessed to be able to help out.

School Days

The girls are attending a public K-8 charter school this year.

Anna is attending kindergarten this year. She did kindergarten last year at home but we still put her in there this year for the following reasons: 1) Her birthdate is the day before the cut-off. She would be the absolute youngest in the entire class. 2) She is tiny. She is the same height as both Avery and Maks, who are both four. She is almost six. 3) She is very shy.  4) She has a cleft. It turned out to be a very good decision as the school, which we didn't know, tries to keep all the students one year ahead. So she is doing first grade work so it is all working out!



Mia is in second grade. She was not happy about going to school.

But when I asked her to be goofy she quickly came out of it!

Only time will tell how this year will go!

The Last Few Days of Summer

This year the girls are going to public school. Normally, with homeschooling, we would start in July. But now, school wasn't starting for two more weeks after our road trip. So we made the best of it!

We attended the Face to Face Cleft Picnic for the third summer. This year it was arm painting instead of face painting.

We had a park day where we visited three different parks!

And, after promising the girls for at least three years, we went to Elitch Gardens!

Mia went on almost every ride for which she was tall enough. Anna, not so much.

It was a loooooonnnngggg summer. We finished school early and started later than ever. But it was fun. Let school begin!

Dave's Promotion

It's not often a family member is promoted to general and so we decided to stay and enjoy the celebration. Many of the family members got to pin different insignia on Dave' uniform.

Denise and Dave's blended family is one of those rare 

Oak Glen in the Summer

After the reunion the girls and I went back to La Quinta for a week so that we could attend Dave's promotion to General in the Air Force Reserves. But we got pretty bored quick because it was so hot, over 110 degrees every day. I didn't want to drive anywhere the first few days as everyone was tired out. But on the fourth day we decided to go somewhere a little cooler.  After a little research I found out that Oak Glen is now open for berry picking. Oak Glen is about an hour away and that seemed reasonable! We used to go there in the fall with the older kids to pick apples and I even went there with my parents back in the day.

Oak Glen was about 20 degrees cooler than La Quinta. It was well worth the hour long drive!

We went to Riley's Farm. Of course they always have to stop and pet the animals!

It was just beautiful there. And so uncrowded. I am used to literally thousands of people there during apple season.

There is a restaurant in the old house (maybe it's new made to look old?). But we brought our lunches.

The girls spent a lot of time climbing this tree.

This is a mulberry tree. Best. Berries. Ever. I've never had mulberries. They were delicious!

 Mulberries are a little messy.