Back to School and Sports!

Tuesday was the first day back to school and this week has flown by! It is amazing how quiet the house gets when you are down to one kid! But...quiet is not always a good thing. Jalen has discovered hide and seek and he's a very good hider, but he won't answer when you call (he's no dummy!) and there have been a couple times I literally can't find him. Either he's really good or I suck at hide and seek, but every time I get a small panic attack. Even though all the doors are locked and chained I imagine him crawling through a window and running down to the street. This last time he had torn the plastic child proof doorknobs off, gone into the garage and was hiding in my car. Like I said...he's good at this game! So yes quiet, but still very busy! The girls love school, love their teachers and their class and are making new friends as well as reconnecting with the old. They are both playing soccer and Ellie is playing fall softball which was supposed to be low key (no practices and a double header on Sunday's for 6 weeks is what I was told). Somehow that turned into 2 practices a week for 2 hours each. So between the girls and all their practices and games we have one day off...Thursday. It gets a little crazy but better busy than bored! And other than waking up early I am loving being back in a routine. Now it just needs to get darker earlier so we can all get in pj's at 6:00 and feel good about covering up with a blanket on the couch!

Up to the ears in sand!

One last beach getaway...

In attempt to get away for our last weekend before school starts we headed to Pacific City with Papa Jack, Jordan and Jake. It was supposed to rain both days and while it poured here in Portland we got lucky and had some great beach weather! We went to the beach both days and did the usual...climb the hill, build some sand castles and run from the waves. We actually talked Ellie and Lily into letting Jake bury them in the sand which was hilarious as they got sand dumped in their face, ears and hair...but they were such good sports! Jalen decided he liked stomping on the sand castles more than building them, whether they were ours or not which made for some little kids in tears when they found what had happened! We managed to have a couple meals at the Pelican Pub which is always fun cause the kids can play in the sand while we eat. It was great to spend time with Papa and cousins...we don't get to as often as we would like but when we do it is always a special time!

YouTube - Camp Rocks! 8-28-09. Second band.

YouTube - Camp Rocks! 8-28-09. Second band.

Here is the link to actually watch the girls youtube video from their performance at Sound Roots.

Band Camp

All I ever thought of when I heard "band camp" was the old American Pie movie...but the girls have brought a new meaning to band camp for me! This last week they attended a music camp called Sound Roots way out in NE Portland. Caleb did the camp with them so at least Lace and I got to carpool. It was in this cute little house and they all had a blast. They each got to pick whatever instrument they wanted to play (Ellie picked the keyboard, Lily the bongo and Caleb the drums) and all week they rehearsed two songs that they performed for us on Friday. The girls informed me on Monday that they had decided to join the all boys band (I hope this is not a sign of things to come!) and their band name was the Vampire Amps. They wanted to dress up on Friday for the big performance...in vampire attire of course! They raided my closet (not sure why they thought I owned anything along those lines) but they each found one of my tank tops to wear which looked like dresses on them, black leggings of their own and then I had to paint their nails black, put their hair up and spray massive amounts of glitter in it. We went to Mississippi Pizza to watch them perform on a full blown stage. All the grandparents came to watch and we were very impressed as they sang some song about Cheetos?! (Ellie thought I would be mad because in the song they had to sing a line that said crap...something like "not those puffy, crappy ones" I told her as long as they were talking about cheetos I would let it slide...too funny!) and then she was the lead singer for "Slow Ride". They all had stage names, Ellie was Fire Fingers, Lily was Calico and Caleb was Stitch. They did a great job and are already asking to go back again next year! I'm not sure where they get their music ability...it is most definitely NOT me but I'm glad they have an interest in it! I should have a video soon that I will post on the blog so you can see the performance for yourself!

Gozzer Landscapes

For all of you that have not been here to experience the beauty I did my best to capture some of it. I don't think these photos do it justice...mostly because of the feeling that you get when you are there in person. It is one of my favorite places to visit. Jamie prefers Arizona and while I like the heat and desert for the most part there is not a whole lot of exciting things to look at. You may get lucky and see some coyotes or javelina's and while the sunsets can be amazing the days for the most part are pretty blah. Where as here there is a breathtaking sight in every direction you turn. It reminds me a lot of Oregon plus the beauty of the lake.

The cousins

All but one...Caleb wouldn't have anything to do with his picture being taken...big surprise!