Glenn's First Field Trip...Pumpkin Patch

Glenn and Koen working on their coloring sheets while waiting 

for the field trip to begin.  They are so excited!

My Crazy Group of Kids

Glenn, Max,Catanna

 Walking to Mr. Townsend's Pumpkin Patch

 She was so excited to find a leaf so big...almost the size of her face.

My Leaf Collector

Off to search for the best pumpkin!  My favorite conversation was that of Eric with his leader.  He couldn't find a pumpkin he liked.  His leader found this one pumpkin that was good sized and wiped off the dirt for him.  He looked at it, considered it for a second, and then exclaimed that it was still green and needed more time to grow.  So cute and fun!

 Koen and Glenn with their pumpkins

My group all ready to go!

 Me and My Sweet Boy!

What a fun field trip!  I was so glad that I was able to attend and go on this field trip with him.  It's so nice to have time with each of your kids separately.  I also like for them to know that I value them and care about what's going on in their lives.

First Offical Day of Kindergarten

 Excited to be walking to school together!

 The school has free breakfast and lunch this year.  Though Glenn woke up early he had cereal at home and then breakfast again, french toast sticks with syrup, pineapple, and milk.

 Walking to class and getting some instructions from his teacher before entering the classroom.

Found a spot on the carpet next to Koen!

 His whole class all together for the first time

Had a great first day of school!

The Big Kid School at Last

Glenn has been waiting to go to Kindergarten for a long time.  He was really upset last year when he found out he had to go to preschool another year.  Really he would have been ready for Kindergarten then. Kevin had to work on his first day so I got Suzi to watch Addie (since it was her birthday too I thought she would like spending time with Grandma) so I could take Glenn and go to the parents meeting.  Glenn lucked out this year to have Koen in his class and also in his gradual entry group as well.  He was completely fine with me leaving him and this time even said hello to his teacher.  We LOVE Ms. Carvajal.  She's so sweet with the kids and I just love working with her as a parent.

 Kaila was so excited to have Glenn finally going to school with her too and can't wait for him to officially start next Monday and walk to school with her.

He turned for this pose all on his own 

Finally a BIG kid!!! So excited and not nervous at all.

Saying "Good Morning" to his Teacher Assistant

Saying "Good Morning" to Ms. Carvajal

Putting his Backpack away

Koen Hoeppener and Glenn

Glenn with some of the kids in his class and Student Teacher

After a Great FIRST Day!!!

Last Day of Summer

To celebrate the end of Summer we headed to the Oregon State Fair and were able to use the free passes to get in that the kids got from the summer reading program at the library.  Glenn and Addie were still free this year since they were under 6!  That made it nice to only need 3 tickets.  As we were pulling into the field to park and pay the lady in the car in front of us got out and handed us a free parking pass!  We were thrilled and it helped make the day even cheaper for our family.  Kevin had been very worried about the cost of going but I had looked up some websites for how to do the fair for cheap and there seemed to be plenty of fun to do for free.  We told the kids up front that we weren't doing any rides.  We promised we would go to Oaks Park some time instead and enjoy the rides since it would cost $5 per ride per kid and that's a LOT of money for not many rides for the same amount for a bracelet at Oaks Park.  They agreed to that and it made it easier setting boundaries from the beginning.

The kids LOVED seeing all the animals and hearing all the different sounds.  One owner of a cow even let the kids feed him which was so fun.  Addie was tickled at being able to do that.  They also got to pet a variety of animals too.  We enjoyed one treat of ice cream which was actually priced well for being at the fair for only $1.50 for an ice cream cone which was huge too!  Kevin got a shake and I got a berry sundae.  SO YUMMY!!  I shared with all the kids too.

We watched a dog jumping contest which was okay (the kids were entertained which was good since I changed and fed Rowan a little while watching the show).  It was out in the beating sun and it was a really hot day.  Trying to get out of the sun we headed over the super old Horse Arena and watched the horses compete with trying to pull these heavy weighted crates/platforms. I was able to finish feeding Rowan in the there and the kids loved climbing up in the stands to watch with Dad while I stayed with the stroller in the wheelchair section.

We also walked around the forestry station and saw smokey the bear. I realized while there my kids have no idea who Smokey the Bear is.  They use to have the commercials come on all the time as a public service notice.  I heard one of the rangers say they are trying to keep him alive but the stations don't offer them free airtime anymore which makes it so much harder.  It would be a sad chapter in life to have smokey not exist anymore.

Since the Beach Boys were playing that the stadium we decided to check it out and see if there was a chance we would make it in for seats since it was free for general admission.  I thought the kids would like the music and I knew I would LOVE it.  I love the beach boys and sang their songs all the time growing up!  We lucked out as we were leaving the area they opened the doors and there seemed to be a chance to find seats.  I sent Kevin up with the kids as I went to find a place for the stroller.  I didn't like that they didn't have a secure place from them and we had to leave them just sitting out on the open grass outside.  Kevin secured us an awesome spot at the top of the stair with lots of room.  He went back down and got the stroller and we were able to just set it up right above the stairs by us.  I tried creating some shade for the kids with blankets and Rowan's car seat.  We had about 45 minutes to wait before the show started and I was worried with all the prior sun exposure the kids would get burnt.  Thankfully they were all fine!  It was so fun to listen to the sing and now I can add one more band on to my list of who I've hear play live.  We left before they were finished since it was getting late and Kaila had school the next day.

Before leaving the fair grounds we stopped by the family village center and saw some exotic

animals.  We were also able to catch most of the clown act that we saw performing earlier.  They were cute but not as good as the one I've seen at the library with the kids.  The kids enjoyed themselves which was all that mattered and building family relationships while making memories. Over all a very FUN day!

Christmas traditions

Today we had fun at our friend's house, the Richardson's, baking cookies. DD had a blast baking and playing with all the kids that were there (10 little ones). It was tons of fun and even relaxing for me which is a rare thing with both kids awake. Tonight my MIL took the kids and me to the race way in Portland. DD said she needed to pee while we were still on the freeway. I told her to try and hold it and we would go soon. We thankfully were close to our exit. I found a Burger King right there and we made it to the restroom in time! Grandma was impressed DD was able to wait and hold it that long. I was thankful! I was able to feed LM in the car in the parking lot which was a blessing since the line to get into see the lights was VERY LONG!!! They set up TONS of lights. DD loved the big tree, Santa waving bye-bye and the one of him skiing, and I loved all the lit arches to drive through. The 12 days of Christmas was fun too. DD is so fun to look at lights with since she loves them. Grandma was happy to experience that with her so that was nice.