Other random things going on

Thomas had to show me what he does at Recess.

Basically the same thing he does at home.

He climbs and hangs upside down.

Well, I found this great place to take a picture of the kids (I was thinking for a Christmas Card) but I think this is the best one out of 50.

I don't know about where you live but in September all the crane flies come out. Lizzy and Henry have collected about 50 of them so far.

Life is great when the boys go to school. Lizzy gets to pick her own TV show, and where she gets to sit while she watches it.

Lizzy and I painted our toes this week. We both picked pink polish.

Lizzy also started Preschool this week. Isn't she cute!!!

The DAM

We were able to go to the DAM celebration this weekend.

It was the last DAM summer and the last DAM September this past year. SO......

The boys wanted to go sing DAM songs with Ranger Jeff.

We were able to get our DAM T-Shirts.

Basically, we had a DAM great time

OR you could say---The Elwha River Restoration-Natural Wonders Never Cease

This past year we have watched the DAM decrease in size to just a little river. We (my cub scout den) also have helped plant vegetation in the Sequim nursery from the Elwha section of Olympic National Park to replant the vegetation in the coming years were the DAM use to be.

They started taking down the DAM this past week.

Aren't they cute with their salmon hats.

Henry's is a Sockeye Salmon and Thomas's is Pink Eye Salmon


Dancing with Ranger Jeff.

More dancing!!!!

The rope

If I would have known a rope would give so many hours of playtime I might have saved it for Thomas's Birthday.

I know you are all wondering how the rope swing and repelling are coming along at our house. Thomas has progress to the top of the railing on the lower deck. He takes the rope and swings from on top of the railing and he is able to swing over the fence. Rosie (the dog next door) is usually right there ready to get him.
Yes, the rope went with us to Hamilton (the boy's school) on Sunday (during our open house). They decided to go to school because their teachers do not let them climb the trees!!!

Up the trees they went.

Thomas was trying to use the rope like you would with rock climbing. (We need to get him some classes with rock climbing)!!!!

Higher and higher they went . . . . .

until I could not see them very good.

Do you see Henry (he is at the top of the tree)?

Henry took my camera with him once to take a picture from the top of the tree.

Do you see me? Yes, the ant-looking figure at the bottom.

Later that day, Thomas found another tree to climb.

Yes, I wish we had a yard full of trees.

The Best

Well, another week has come and gone. It has been a good week. I thought I would tell you the best things I did this week.
1. The best 10 dollars I spent-----Phineas and Ferb 2nd Dimension CD!!!! The songs on there are just as good as their first CD.
2. The best weather we have had all summer----we went to the beach after school on Friday (It has been over 70 degrees all week)
3. The best late night read----Well, I haven't stayed up this late for a long time but I really wanted to finish this book so after stake conference I stayed up til 1:00am and finish The Girl who kicked the Hornet's Nest. It was a great series. It even ended well.
4. The best family scripture we read this week---". . . .for there is nothing good save it comes from the Lord: and that which is evil cometh from the devil." Omni 1:25 I love this scripture because it reminds me how much the Lord does for us. There is so much good in the world.
5. The best Webelo den meeting so far---well actually it was the first. We took Nerf dart guns and put pins in the darts and shoot at balloons. We also started our Athlete activity pin. YES---I bet all the boys in a race around the church.
6. The best service someone did for me (or at least Lizzy). Thomas accidentally smashed Lizzy in a door. She was so sad and cried. The guy at subway give her a cookie to cheer her up. She took the cookie and bit it and felt much better. Every time she bit the cookie she felt better that night. It was wonderful.

Sunday afternoon

Yeah, my children may not survive morning church (not church itself but what they are doing after church).

I found Thomas on top of the ledge.
Isn't he crazy (sorry fuzzy picture)

So, I told Thomas he couldn't play on the ledge so the next thing I see---- Thomas and Henry repelling off the deck. They had tied up the rope on top of the upper deck and the other side of the rope to the tether ball rod. They were not brave enough to start at the top of the rope but they would climb up as far as possible and then they slide down.

It is only 3pm. Who knows what they are going to think of next.

Good luck Jill!!!

First Day of School

Thomas was the first one up (thinking he slept in)!!!!

He was excited to see all of his friends he hadn't during the summer
Henry wasn't far behind Thomas.
Henry was able to pick his favorite breakfast (German Pancakes)

Can you believe I have a 3rd grader and a 4th grader.

Lizzy finally woke up just in time to take the boys to school.

Lizzy smiled all the way home after dropping the boys off at school!!!

We went for a walk (she talked the whole way).

Then we went out to breakfast with a bunch of other Mom's and preschoolers.

Then we went shopping and got these cute shoes. (I tried to get them with the lights blinking but it didn't work. But they are still pink and glitterly.)

After school they came home and sat at the table for two hours doing homework.

We went to soccer practice for the first time (the boys are on the same team this year).

They were very tired after soccer!!!!! It was great. They came home and had a snack and went to bed. I love the first day and the last day of school. We are going to have a great year.

Last Week of Summer

Well, it was the last full week of summer vacation (and it actually felt like summer. I think it hit 75 degrees 3 days in a row). We had a great week playing with neighbor friends, going on a hike and playing at the beach.

We went hiking up at Hurricane Hill (just past Hurricane Ridge). On the way up to the hike we almost ran over a black bear. I haven't seen one this close before and was glad I was in the car. The bear looked back at us after he cross the street and was glad we didn't run him over.

Hurricane Hill is one of my favorite easy hikes because the views are so beautiful. It was a great day because there were no clouds covering the views. (The mosquitoes were awful but the views were great).

Here is a view of the south side of our hike (we could see a lot of the peaks from Mt. Olympus to Fritzhenry).
Here is the view from the east

Here is the view from the North. There is Port Angeles down there with the spit and Victoria a little farther away

Lizzy loved the lake

The boys climb the rocks

Here is the hiking picture of the three kids.

We hung out at East Beach for two days. The first day Thomas and Henry built a dam (I think that spent 4 hours on it). The dam was really cool. When they broke the dam, the creek went a different direction for awhile. I also finally convinced Lizzy to jump off the log. She went out and jumped off and wouldn't go again. She told everyone she was still sick from jumping off the log. It was pretty awesome she went out so far and jumped. Henry also got brave and dived off the log. He said he touched the bottom (which is pretty good since it is so deep there) The second day we played on rafts with our friends. (I will really miss this beach----I love sitting on the beach watching the children play, bald eagles fly, just looking at the mountains and be able to tell you which peak is which and talking to my friends about life).