First day of Kindergarten!

Jackson was fully ready to go by 7:20 this morning.  We managed to stall him until 7:45, but he was so  excited that he just didn't want to wait.  So, we arrived at the school at 7:50am--the school doors don't open until 8:25. We took a few more pics there and then hung out in front of the school chatting with people until time, but it was a LONG wait.  Once he got into his classroom, he was happy, and we said goodbye and left with no fuss. I think we were the first Kindy parents to exit the classroom. He says he had a good first day. He remembers learning about letters (but can't be specific about which ones), and he remembers recess, and eating lunch. He says he knows the name of two kids in his class...not a bad first day. 

Mike has the camera with the pics from school, so I'll have to add those later.  Right now, I'm sitting at soccer practice using my phone. 

Larabee State Park

This weekend, we,went on a short camping trip to Larabee State Park, near Bellingham. It's a beautiful area.  We arrived Friday night just in time for sunset...the scenery can't be beat. Saturday morning, we wandered the beach early, then let Jack play for a bit, drove down and had lunch in Fairhaven, and stopped at Taylor Shellfish farms...

We stopped for a bit on the beach to watch this guy...

There were a lot of kids in the camps near us, so Jack had a great time just playing around camp with them.. It was hard to get him to go out exploring much. Since we stopped a shellfish farm, we had an addition to our dinner that was maybe a little unusual for camping.  Mike likes raw on the half shell.  I BBQd mine with garlic, lemon and butter on the campfire...yum.

We came home early today because Jack STARTS KINDERGARTEN TOMORROW, so we had laundr, groceries and the like to get done...he's excited!

Fall Catch up!

Okay, so I might be a little bit behind...we came back from the Tetons/Yellowstone trip, and I immediately went back to work. Then, on top of that, Jack has been in swimming lessons and soccer. Soccer continues, but swimming lessons are over for now. I'll get him in another round when soccer finishes.  He's having fun with his soccer team anyway. The first game was yesterday, but we missed it, opting to get in one last camping trip for the year. But, let's back up a little.

Back at the end of August, we made a quick trip to Nevada/California for Tyler and Joree's wedding. It was great to see everyone, but it was a whirlwind trip...very quick and short. The wedding was lovely. It was an intimate little wedding since it took place on a boat on Lake Tahoe. Somehow or other, all 5 of the siblings actually made it to this one.

Seth and his boys, and grandma

Adam's version of a tie

Jack had a good time even if he had to wear dress clothes.

Even Alice made it.

The groom

Some of the guests

Here comes the bride

The first time grandpa got to meet Alice.

Our cousin, Drew, officiated the ceremony and did a great job.

 Afterward, we took a very quick trip through Virginia City on our way down the hill. Then, Jack and I headed home and Mike headed to New Jersey for work for a week!

The next weekend, we had another busy one. We attended a Mariner's Game to support a Childhood Cancer Research Charity. Jack had a great time there, although we didn't stay until the end.

 He was glad to have his daddy home.

 He was being quite a ham with the photos...

Then, also last weekend, we went to the Evergreen state fair, and while we were there we went to a Demo Derby.   We started with the usual petting zoo, wandering through exhibits, and the hay bale maze. The llama and the cow worked together to get that food cone out of daddy's hand very quickly!

 Jackson decided on two activities for his turn. The first was a roller coaster...he liked it as we went up the first turn, but as soon as it dropped down the other side of that first hill he was scared and done...at the end, he decided he did not like roller coasters. Then, he tried getting in a big ball in a pool of water and rolling around. He thought that was pretty fun...

 After eating way too much junk food, we set out for the demo derby...it was a lot of fun. Apparently I didn't take any pictures of the actual events, but I did take a few selfies...Jack was excited! His favorite event was one where the demo cars tied boat behind their cars and then proceeded to try to crash into each other's boats and destroy them on a figure 8 track. It was pretty wild!

Then, another week of work and soccer practice in the rain!