Palouse Falls

Over Labor Day weekend we squeezed in one more little family outing. We decided to pick somewhere we'd never been and just take a drive there. About an hour and a half from our house is Palouse Falls State Park. Neither Riley or I had visited there or heard about it, so we thought why not? We needed to get the kids out of the house for a bit and some quiet nap time in the car for the kids never hurts. The drive went through some pretty no-man's land stretches and at times was pretty hilly and curvy. We're talking no cell phone service for miles around in any direction. Not much in the scenery department to take in either, but upon arriving at our destination we had a beautiful site to see.

There are some trails you can hike that take you close to the falls, but as they are slightly dangerous we did not attempt them with the kids. We would love to go back and explore more another time. We also found another cool spot to go swimming/camping so we'll have to do that too.

Sometimes spur of the moment plans are the best and you just never know what you might find!

Back to School

It is back to school time and I have to admit I am a bit happy that it is that time of year and back to routines, and kids who are usually tired and going to bed at a regular time at night. Kendle is in 5th grade this year, and it seriously seems like just yesterday that I was taking her to kindergarten. She is growing up in the blink of an eye.



She is excited to be a peer helper this year, and have the opportunity to participate in some other great activities offered to the 5th graders. She really didn't want me walking her to class on the first day or taking pictures of her, but I told her to deal with it since it was her last year at that school I was definitely taking picutres.

I tend to joke with Kendle that she is like the "Pide Piper" for younger kids. Everywhere she goes she has a small fan club of kids that latch on to her and follow her around. On the first day of school as we got out of our car to walk to the playground, another little girl ran up to Kendle, threw her arms around her and gave her a huge hug. It was a little girl that rode her bus last year and was so excited to see her! I had to laugh. Also, she is very good to help our little neighbor friend across the street and walks her to the bus stop in the mornings. I tease her that if she was this nice all the time to her own younger siblings, it would help me out a lot! She is a good egg though and I'm glad she is at least nice to other people's kids. Ha!

This is a busy time of year for us with fall softball, soccer, and everything else so it always seems as if September and October fly by so fast and it is November before we know it, but I do love this time of year with the chillier mornings and sunny afternoons and look forward to the weeks to come.

10

This girl turned the big 1-0 last week and it's been a highly anticipated birthday. No more telling people that she's 9 1/2, or allllllmooost 10. Telling people you are in fact 10, just sounds so much better.

 

(Kendle with her 3 layer Devils Food Cake with Mint Chocolate Chip Icing.)

One thing I've noticed about Kendle, is that she seems to make friends wherever she goes. I hope as she grows older that she can continue to use her personality and people skills to be kind to those that need a friend and have an influence for good.  She's got the fight in her, and as her dad and I often tell her, if she can channel that in constructive ways (whether it's sports, school, life goals, etc...) there isn't anything she can't do.

**Here are some questions I asked her as she sat down with me for a brief birthday interview:**

Favorite Color?  Aqua Marine

Favorite Food? Spaghetti

Favorite Treat?  All treats, I love them all (Kendle does not discriminate)

Favorite Type of Music?  Nicki Minaj, Fun. , Flo Rida

Favorite Book?   Harry Potter Series

Favorite TV Show?  Good Luck Charlie

Favorite Subject in School? Art because she loves to draw

Favorite Place to Go? The mall

Favorite Movie?  Diary of a Wimpy Kid

What do you want to be when you grow up? An athlete/Doctor/President/Artist

What is your favorite thing to do in your spare time?   Play my dsi

Favorite sport?   Soccer (duh)

If you could meet one famous person, who would it be and why?   Wayne Rooney or Hope Solo, because in soccer I either want to be a forward like Wayne Rooney who plays for Manchester United or a keeper like Hope Solo who is an Olympic gold medalist.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?    Hawaii in the winter and Paris in the summer. I love the beach, and I've always wanted to visit the Eiffel Tower.

What is one thing you want to accomplish this year as a 10 year-old?   Scoring at least 10 goals in soccer.

And that is Kendle in a nut shell! We love her so.

Long Beach 2012

This was our third summer vacation in Long Beach. We have treasured the memories that have been made in this lovely coastal town that has become like a home away from home. We stayed in an awesome ocean front house this year that was perfect and had the most gorgeous view in every direction. We brought a huge trailer with us this year so we could pack all of the kids bikes and other fun things. There were lots of bike rides packed in for the kids which they loved and the Discovery Trail ran right in front of our house to ride/walk/ and run on. Instead of making lots of plans and scheduling every day like we usually do, this year we decided to just totally take it easy, slow down, relax and pretty much do whatever the kids wanted to do. There was lots of playing and swimming at the beach, walking to Scoopers for ice cream (of course), swimming at an indoor aquatic center, exploring Astoria and visiting some museums, visiting the Saturday market at the port of Ilwaco, and Riley  took the older kids fishing. My parents came and stayed one night with us and the kids loved having grandma and grandpa there. We had gorgeous weather for the beach that day and it was perfect. And of course we had to do our big bonfire on the beach one of our last nights there and have a major smores session. I love having this tradition with my family and I hope as our lives get busier and busier and our children get older that we can keep it a must do family trip. We always come home with lots of tired smiles, extra sea shells and souvenirs, and of course a car full of sand!