Bubble Girl

Happy Birthday Little B

Eleven!

Boo!

Here's the project CJ and Grandma put together over the weekend while Mama and Daddy went for a run.

Funny Faces

CJ and her cousin hamming it up for the camera.

Clown CJ

CJ had a fun afternoon playing with her female cousins. Lots of clowning around, book reading and even spaghetti (her new favorite food) for dinner.

Autumn Equinox

CJ pointed out the harvest moon and talked about the equinox that they had learned about at school. This picture is from our front porch and the moon is framed by the power lines across the street.

Oh No, Not That!

Today we were talking about Mama scheduling an appointment to get her hair done. CJ mentioned that she thought Mama should "get it blonde" and Mama replied that she'd probably need to get it trimmed as well. Then CJ said "Yeah, you should get it cut. You don't want to look like a Stay At Home Mom!"

To Tell The Truth

Mama dropped CJ off at school this morning and stayed for a few minutes to help out with a project. The kids gathered for their morning meeting and Mama saw CJ waving her hand to get a chance to tell her weekend story. The little tidbit she wanted to share? That she stayed up until 10 pm on Saturday night. Nice. We are waiting for our parenting award.

Better Late Then Never

The Luna Hibiscus finally bloomed! Usually this happens closer to Daddy's birthday.

CJ was especially excited to find the flowers.

Coming Together

Here's the deck progress Daddy made over the weekend. Coming together.

Wet and Wild

Daddy was busy with deck planning in the backyard and it was wet and misty out so CJ and Mama took out the hose to clean off the porch and sidewalks, plus a bit of accumulated moss. Once she got a hold of the hose, CJ was hooked and wouldn't let Mama have a turn. It kept her busy.

Ice Cream Social

Families were invited to CJ's school this afternoon for an ice cream social.

CJ enjoyed a cone (plus half of Mama's)

Showed us her bucket that can be used as a seat with storage:

(she sewed the purple cushion on a visit this summer and also made the face in her likeness)

And decorated a tree with pipe cleaner flowers and animals:

Do We Need an Alarm Clock?

Getting off to school wasn't too bad last week. CJ was pretty excited about it and drug Mama out of bed every morning. But today was a different story. CJ woke up late and wanted to crawl into bed with Mama. Maybe we need to set an alarm?

Ballet Begins

Since CJ did performance ballet classes last year for Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, we figured we'd finish off the trifecta with a Nutcracker performance class this fall. Her teacher was so excited to see her again after the long summer. Mama will remember her camera one of these days.

Sunday, Errand Day

Since Daddy was busy with tasks around the house and yard today, Mama and CJ headed out for a few errands. CJ rode her bike to the local farmers market, where they had a booth set up for kids to do a craft to create their own lunch boxes out of a cardboard box and a quinoa salad snack. They also had a scavenger hunt where we asked the farmers questions, completed a form and won a free popsicle! Yum. We were able to find some yummy strawberries and raspberries and picked up some beets, corn and broccoli for the week.

On the way back home, we picked up our books on hold at the library and then made a quick trip to the market for a few other items. When we got back into the neighborhood, we stopped at a lemonade stand to quench our thirst. We also lucked out and got the last of the 50 state quarters that we needed for our collection, plus a Guam one as a bonus.

The First Week

Today CJ stayed a bit later at school and went home with all the other kids. Mama was one of the first parents there to pick up, but we were almost the last to leave. It took 45 minutes for her to show me around and get ready to leave. I think she likes this place!

Snacks

Yesterday we picked up some dates from Trader Joes & today we put together some larabars:

and some vegan brownies:

Yum!

I Love School

So says CJ as she returned home from Kindergarten. And "School is Fun!"

The day began with breakfast and her telling Mama to take a picture in case I missed her while she was gone. She was met at school by her preschool friend, who had a whole tea party set up for them to enjoy.

The drawing was her prop for her summer story. She said the picture was of her wearing her favorite swimsuit at the beach and a sparkly crown and flippers while she collected seashells. Of course there was a butterfly and a flower as well. She created the masterpiece yesterday while Mama made dinner.

We finished the afternoon with her first class of gymnastics, where she also had a wonderful time.

The Note

Here's the note CJ left for Mommy, in an effort to make it to Kindergarten on time tomorrow:

Is Summer Over?

This is how CJ dressed for our weekly trip to the vet. And that was before we had record rain for the day.

PS - Big B's eye isn't healing quite as well as we hoped so we are back on the first cream with another vet visit scheduled for next week. Good thing he loves going to the vet.

Labor Day Fun

CJ enjoyed the sunny morning at the cabin swinging and sliding on the play structure. Later we took the pups down to the water for some exercise. Little B tried to keep up with the young goldens, but spent a lot of time watching.

When we got home, we unpacked and headed up the road for a neighborhood potluck. Not a bad weekend.

Eeek - A Bear

Look who CJ found outside after dinner:

The Family

Ok, well Big B was napping in the car and Little B isn't totally visible, but you get the picture...

Streamwatch Trail

It's been a while since we went for a hike. Today we found a nice one for kids with a paved trail, fish to ride on, a great rock skipping beach, an underwater viewing window, and carved benches that CJ loved. She even found a heart shaped rock.

Aren't We Lucky?

Aren't we lucky that we have friends nice enough to invite us to their cabin at the mountain for the long weekend? CJ and her friend disappeared for most of the afternoon, but they resurfaced for some fun on the swing set and a campfire complete with hot dogs and s'mores. Yum.

Stumptown, Literally

Here's all that's left of the tree out front:

You can see the house from the street:
And when we look down, it looks much different than before:

The Seal Swims

Here's CJ showing off her crawl stroke:

Getting ready to jump in the deep end with her life jacket:

Snuggling with Daddy:

And enjoying a snow cone for the first time all summer. The stand is usually closed before her class gets out:

Bye, Bye Maple

As CJ and I headed out to the amusement park for the morning, the man came to remove one of the maples in our parking strip (as recommended by the city). It didn't take long to make a difference.