And after a day at the sand beach and shallow swimming area, we topped it off with almost all the s’mores we can eat. I did make the s’mores, even an extra one or two for my mom, since she more than earned it!
Thanks, Mom and Dad, for letting us tag along with you, like four parasites!
For her 8th birthday, I wanted to give Kyla a clean slate. There is something about her brain that doesn’t stop her from writing on walls, ceilings, furniture. Or cutting window screens or curtains. Or…anything that involves the mildest bit of impulse control.
We both needed a mulligan. Badly.
So on the afternoon of her birthday, Dwayne took the sledge hammer and knocked out her badly-designed closet. Then Jim and I started the next day. It took some drywall, paint, new flooring, and lots and lots of labor. Jim did a custom-built closet for her on the other side of the room, with all the drawers, cabinets, and hanging space any person would every need. I bought and repainted a craigslist desk and he built bookshelves above them. I made it everything she said she wanted and what I thought she would really want, and made it as pretty and clean as possible so she would really want to take care of it.
I bought her a pretty bed with a trundle (so no room to shove stuff under her bed) to replace her bunk bed (no longer able to write on the mattress or ceiling above her). I got her a papasan chair in a reading corner—also impossible to stand on and deface the ceiling. I put up a baseboard with clips across one entire wall for easy display of her art. Almost everything in there is to keep her from doing what she used to do. So far, it’s working!
The bed was one of the final touches. Another craigslist find, I brought it home late one night. We transferred Kyla to her new room while she was sleeping. As we should have known, by morning Wesley had found her and settled in for a snuggle, making himself perfectly at home! Kyla woke up thrilled to be in her new bedroom.
We spent a Saturday at Pacific Science Center exploring the current Ripley’s exhibit. Worth another trip. Thanks, Friends, for making it such a fun day!
Wesley sizes up a model of the tallest man in the world.
The kids pose in a replica of a prehistoric snake’s mouth. I stayed outside.
Kyla gets ready to (virtually) explore the Crystal Cave.
We celebrated Sandi’s 30th (!!) birthday in Oregon and played (and ate) as much as we could. We started with a pumpkin farm adventure.
Pumpkin bowling turned out to be a hit!
As did the rubber ducky races.
Sandi is always a favorite of Kyla, and Piper joined in, too. [Wesley stuck close to Grandpa, who was carrying the kettle corn. I’m sure it was a coincidence.]
How tall this fall? It would be fun to take these pictures every year. Even if the scarecrow’s measuring stick is not calibrated correctly. Kyla’s definitely over 4 feet!
I try to get one good shot a year of all the kids. It’s only October, so fortunately, I’ve got a few more months.
The pictures get a little better with Brian and Sandi, but it now looks like they are the parents, and who wants to wish that on anyone??
