busy august

 Month of School Starting!  Pretty nerve wracking, who ever wants to start a new school, especially their 4th or 3rd one.  So off to the DI for Lily, who found SO many cute things, it was crazy.  She is super fun to shop for, and loves quantity so the DI was awesome.

 We began frequenting the downtown splash pad before or after the library, which was nice for the heat even though Jackson has a crazy annoying habit of complaining about anywhere that we are going, no matter how fun it is, he doesn't want to do it and just wants to stay home.  Afterwards he will admit that I was right, but then still complains the next outing.

 The day before school started we took Lily and Jack to the Narrows.  So fun with just the older two!  We were able to talk about school and whatever was on their mind, and everything was just gorgeous and fun.  I look at these pictures and my heart just swells with gratitude for these two beautiful people!  (And yes Jack whined most of the 45 minutes there, but that kid loves exploring the outdoors so eventually came around)

 First day of school!  They insisted on riding their bikes because they were beyond excited to go with their cousins.  I went with Ada and Isaac to go and take pictures, Isaac had to wear his backpack too.  Can't believe how brave they were.  It's always strange to see your kids kind of nervous in a new place.

 Without fail, this is what Lily does at Mimi's.  She finally has some accomplices (sorry Nate and Audrey).

 Jackson turned 7!  I wasn't sure if he would want to miss school to do a lunch out with me and Adam, so I asked instead of surprised him, but he was all ready to go!  Later I saw a paper his teacher had filled out and where it said "I am special because" and he answered "my parents take me on lunch dates."  Very glad we started that tradition.  He has totally blossomed with the freedom of this area.  He loves to bike and swim and will work hard for anything he sets his mind to.  He is the sweetest big brother to Ada and puts forth pretty decent effort dealing with his little brother's peculiarities.  He might whine a bit and get super crazy over screen time occasionally, but overall he is such a wonderful part of our family.

 Isaac's first day of school!!!  After looking and looking for a preschool, getting on two waiting lists (???), and then procrastinating like crazy because I felt like I had waited too long to get him in anywhere, I got a few suggestions from his gymnastics teacher, and then I waited longer because I toyed with the idea of doing Joy School with some other moms, and finally called a woman out in Washington who had a little class for 2 hours 2 days a week in the afternoon for $55, the only place that had afternoon which is what I wanted and about half as much as everywhere else and he goes with a little boy down the street named Jones who we carpool with and basically it ended up being perfect and I still don't quite understand how it happened.  But boy oh boy, was this little guy nervous.  I am not used to any of my kids being as clingy as he is, I couldn't believe it.  He was so anxious to know if I was going to stay (no) and if I was going to come pick him up (yes).  My mind refuses to realize that kindergarten comes after preschool and then it is Ada's turn....

 Jackson only invited family and we were worried that he wasn't making friends at school because he was relying on Zach and Chase, so I challenged him to invited two other boys from the neighborhood/school class.  He invited another boy named Jackson and bam!  It seems like Jack hardly is ever at Liz's anymore.  The first time Jackson R. invited him over we were in the basement, Jack ran upstairs and I followed to drive him there, but by the time I got to the garage he had left on his bike.  I still drove out to find him to show him where the house was, but you could tell he was just bursting to be independent and bike to his friend's!  So awesome.

We got Mom and Dad tickets to Tuacahn as a thank you for Cannon Beach, and Mom loved it so much she had me buy tickets with their discount for me, Lily, Liz Brooklyn, and her and Dad to go to Beauty and the Beast.  It was so fun to go with Lily, she was so excited and I love those kinds of productions, they remind me so much of being in the pit orchestra in high school.  Lots of good memories.