First Day of School (A little late)

Well, to finally catch up on all my blogging, here's my very, very LATE post on the first day of school for my girls. They started school on september 8th. Paige started on Sept. 11th. Maggie is in 4th grade, Lydia is in 1st grade and Paige is on her last year of preschool. They were all very excited for school to start, especially Maggie.

Maggie has Mrs. Dow, who she really loves. Maggie is so excited to be in school; she asks for extra math homework almost every night. She has also started reading the Harry Potter series. She finished the first, second and third books in about a week and is now 3/4 of the way through the 4th. She is loving them! That is all she talks about--she is constantly asking questions about the books and telling us her favorite parts. She and I watched the first Harry Potter movie last Friday night and are planning on watching the 2nd one this Friday night.

Lydia has Mrs. Bayley for her teacher again. She had her in kindergarten, but she moved up to 1st grade this year. We really love her--she is a great teacher. Lydia is getting better and better on her reading and keeps busy everyday with lots of homework.

Paige has Linda and Chris for teachers again and she goes 3 times a week this year. She has a lot of fun and comes home singing new songs all the time.

End of Summer Fun

I was so glad that we still had 3 weeks of summer left after we got home from our vacations. Last year, after we got back from England, we had one or two days until the girls went back to school. This summer was much nicer. We were able to get school supplies and school clothes BEFORE school started--that was nice! We had a fun time, but unfortuneatly, Garrett was gone for 10 of those days on a business trip in China and Hong Kong. We missed him a lot, but still went out and had some fun!

Here's some pictures from a few of our activities:

1) Building a Fort

The girls made a fort up in the playroom and kept it up for a few days. It was fabulous--they played in there non-stop and used their imagination in all sorts of ways. It was a hotel and a restaurant and a store...such fun. It reminded me of when my brother and sisters used to play in the summer. Our favorite things to play were school and office. Half the fun was setting everything up just right. We also used to build forts all the time. I love it when they play like this!

The Fort

4 cuties hanging out in the fort Pretending to be asleep Reading books

2) Oregon International Air Show

We were able to go to the Air show this year (minus Garrett). We missed it last year and we really love going. In the past, we usually went to Intel's Jones Farm campus and sat on the hill to watch the airshow. Then Intel decided they didn't like people on their property, I guess. Then we moved over to Griffen Oaks Park to watch it. So, that's where we headed this year. We packed a picnic lunch, brought a blanket, and our radio to hear the commentary. On the way over, it POURED rain! That was a bummer because now we had no where to sit, since we didn't bring any chairs. Luckily we found some benches available, and ate our lunch and watched a few planes. By the time we finished lunch, it started raining again. We brought rain jackets and an umbrella, so we watched it in the rain for awhile, but Paige and Bella didn't like that. So we loaded up in the car. I was really waiting for the Thunderbirds, because they are my favorite! So, while we were waiting...I thought we'd drive over to Costco because I had some pictures to pick up. So on the way over (we had to pass the Hillsboro airport--where the air show was) an F-18 (I think), flew over our heads--scared us to death because it was SO LOUD! It was so awesome, though. So we parked in the Costco parking lot and got out and watched. It was the perfect place to watch (even though you're not supposed to park there just to watch the show). I felt since I did some shopping there, that it would be okay! :) We hung out there and watched until the Thunderbirds were done. So fun! I left Bella and Paige in the car, since it was so loud--they both didn't like the noise, but Lyd and Maggie got out and watched with me.

Our picnic lunch

US AirForce Thunderbirds

Maggie and Lydia enjoying the Air Show

3) Seaside

I decided to take the girls to the beach, because the weather was supposed to be really nice and pretty hot here, so I figured it would be nice at the beach. I kept checking the weather and they said that it was supposed to be about 70 degrees and sunny. So we went for it. By the time we got there--about 3ish, I think, the temperature was only 63 degrees. We stayed for a couple of hours and the first hour wasn't too cold, but the second hour--Paige and I were a little cold. Maggie and Lydia didn't care what the weather was like. They had a blast playing in the cold water and playing in the sand. It was a fun to be there though.

Sand angels

Maggie--straight from the 70's :) Cute!

4) Oregon State Fair

We've never actually been to the State Fair before, we usually go to the Washington County Fair. But, we missed it this year. So, we went to the State Fair down in Salem. It was fun. The girls love seeing the animals, but their their favorites are the rides. It's so RIDICULOUS how much it costs to ride these rides--OUTRAGEOUS even. Yet, we always pay an arm and a leg so that our kids can have some fun at the fair. They really do have a great time--I guess that's what counts.

Paige milking a cow

Lydia saddling a pony
The girls petting the animals
Bella loving the babies
Admiring the cows
They loved the miniature horses

I thought this was a cute picture of all my "wanna-be" cowgirls watching the real rodeo cowgirls
Lydia and I on the Ferris Wheel

At the rodeo (although it didn't compare to the rodeo in Ogden, it was still fun)

Garrett and Lydia on a "spinning ride". Lydia loves these!

Me and Maggie on a ride like the Conquistador at Six Flags Arlington. It was her first time on a ride like this--she really liked it.

Merry-go-round
Look at those smiles!

Braving the Tiger Roller Coaster

Not sure why this one is so blurry

On that ride that goes across the whole park

5) Camping
Since we hadn't done a lot of camping over the summer, we wanted to go for Labor Day Weekend. We went down past Lincoln City a bit at a place called Chinook Bend RV Park. It was nice--somewhere we've never gone before. The forecast was calling for rain and cold weather all weekend long, so we were prepared to not go out a lot, but brought rainboots and rain jackets just in case. It ended up being a pretty nice weekend with not as much rain and definitely not as chilly.

"Shades" on the drive down

Pancake breakfast with fresh peaches
Going on a little hike
Our campground

We had to stop and watch the horses

Garrett's invention to keep Bella from falling out of her bed. This is her first time sleeping in the back bunks with the other girls. We were afraid that she was going to fall over the railing when she woke up in the morning, so Garrett used this old hammock that he made and fashioned a cover over the bed. She didn't like it at first (who would?), but that's where she slept all weekend long.

Checking out the beach in Lincoln City

Bella wasn't happy

Garrett racing his car on the sand

Maggie "lost her balance" and fell in the water. Inevitably my kids ALWAYS end up wet at the beach--even when they are fully dressed! :)

Bella practicing her fishing techniques

Last one

Okay, I'm sure you are all sick of my blogs recently and I apologize for all the vacation stuff. I have one last one and then I'll move on with my life.

August 8
Today was the day that most people were leaving the house besides us and my parents. My sister Tiff and her family weren't flying out till later in the evening, so we all stuck together. After saying goodbye to everyone else, we drove back down the coast towards Portland, stopping in little coastal towns to do a little shopping. We stopped in a fun city called Camden and ate lunch and shopped. It was a cute little town. Then we stopped in a town called Freeport that had a bunch of outlet stores. Then we headed to Portland, ate dinner and went to bed.

Camden, Maine

Eating lunch

My sister Tiffany, her husband Brooks and their 3 kids: Hayden, Grant and Karlie

August 9

We started our drive back down to Boston today. We stopped first at a town on the coast named Gloucester, MA. It's the oldest seaport and is located on Cape Ann about an hour northeast of Boston. We weren't there for very long. We stopped to see a museum/aquarium and it was pretty neat.

Bella watching the lobsters and fish

splashing herself

Paige in the museum

Maggie in the museum
After this, it was kind of getting late in the day and we didn't have a lot of time left because most touristy things close between 5 and 6. So we decided to go into Boston and go tour the USS Constitution.
"The USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy warship of the United States Navy. Named after the Constitution of the United States by President George Washington, she is the oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat in the world. Launched in 1797, Constitution was one of the six original warships authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794. Constitution is most famous for her actions during the War of 1812 against Great Britain, when she captured numerous merchant ships and defeated five British warships. The battle with Guerriere earned her the nickname of "Old Ironsides" because their shot (from Guerriere) seemed to rebound harmlessly off Constitution's hull. A sailor reportedly exclaimed "Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron!"

Picture of "old Ironsides" from the internet

Beds the sailors slept in

Paige climbing the steep ladders
Inside the Constitution

The outside

It was under construction for some reason, but that's why it looks a bit different from the internet picture.

They had a pretty cool museum there that we went through, right before it closed. We wished we had more time there because there were a lot of "hands-on" exhibits for the kids.

Lydia testing out a sailor's hammock

Trying to hang on!

August 10

We drove to Plymouth the night before when we were done with the museum. We wanted to be there in the morning so we could get an early start sightseeing. We went to a place called Plymouth Plantation where they have an Indian village (Wampanoag Tribe) and a 1627 English Village. All the people that work there are dressed as either the Indians or the colonists. The Indians speak English and are not in character, but are very informative and tell about their culture and their houses and way of life. The colonists all speak 17th century English and are role-playing like they actually living in 1627. I really loved this place, it was so fun to listen to them speak and ask them questions about how they lived.

At the entrance of the Plantation, there was this cow--named the "Mooflower"

one of the homes of the Wampanoag people

Wampanoag tribe members
Inside a house of one of the colonists

one of the houses

One of the colonists we talked to

The village

Looking down on the village from the town hall
A statue of a colonist

On our way down to the Mayflower, we stopped to see Plymouth Rock

Plymouth Rock

Also part of this Plimouth Plantation, was the Mayflower II. It's a replica of the original Mayflower that sailed over in 1620. This also has role players in period costumes to talk about the journey over--which one of the colonists said was horrendous. There were 102 passengers on board the Mayflower. One person died and a little baby was born on the voyage. They also had staff in modern day clothing that were there to answer questions as well. It was very interesting and very informative day.

I think this was the Captains's quarters

One of the colonists on board the Mayflower

Listening to a colonist talk about the voyage

Mayflower II

We would've liked to spend more time in Boston but we had to catch a flight home the next day . We wanted to go on a Liberty Walk, where you walk around Boston and learn about all the historical sights, but it was an hour and a half long, and we knew our kiddos weren't going to walk for that long. Someday...I'd like to go back and learn more! It was a fun vacation.