Lighthouse Park

Dwayne's parents came to visit us this weekend, and we wanted to show them the updates we had done at the cabin (and I may have had a few more clearance plants and bulbs to plant in the garden).  On the way back, we decided to have dinner at Ivars on the waterfront. We had a little extra time to walk around the park.

And by walk, I mean wrestle on the ground, of course.  And Dwayne and I played "hot lava" by only walking on drift wood.  

 Look at the beautiful view!  The kids' ain't bad, either.

 

We accidently timed a perfect sunset just as we ordered dinner.  What a lovely time together!

 

Blue Sky

First of all, if I haven't raved about good books recently, it's not for lack of reading them (it's more of a lack of blogging in general).  I have to put in a plug for one of my top 5 authors, Marisa de los Santos.  I fell in love with Love Walked In, and Belong to Me when I first read them, and I'll Be Your Blue Sky rounds out the story and makes me love each of the books even more. 

 

But what me think of this delightful book was a beautiful afternoon with my aunt--this September has not been the summery month it usually is, so Janet and I captured the afternoon sky to prove it to my mom. Blue skies, indeed!

Hopped up

Ah, nothing better than playing outside at the cabin with friends and Kyla finds a frog for her sister.  Probably not easy being green, though.    

Dwayne Love: Cute things that poop

Since he's not one to be embarrassed for himself, I'll be embarrassed for him.  Oh, this man and Cute Things that Poop.  This is Taffy the Hamster.  I blame Elle for dressing Taffy up in a teacup; Dwayne certainly stopped paying attention to me!  

Happy Birthday, Beloved Husband!

So, have I mentioned that my bright, bright oldest is dyslexic?  She decorated Dwayne's gift. 

These kids love their dad so much. He really is the best of men.  

Bless him, he made his own Crème Brûlée for dessert, to be washed down with an Old-Fashioned.  Yep, he's got birthday down.

Piper has her own dessert.  Weirdly, both Piper and Dwayne think this is cute.  It's been months. 

Happy Birthday, my love!

Pre-Birthday: Dwayne is 44.997 years old!

Dwayne wanted a little adventure for his birthday weekend, so we grabbed some friends and did the Snoqualmie Train and Falls. 

I did my best to ruin it for Wesley by reviewing the water cycle. I ruined it for the rest of them by leading a walk. Dwayne fixed it all by taking us out to dinner.

You can see that the weather is changing. Just before we left the restaurant, we saw fireworks...which turned out to be lightening. One minute down the road, the front came in that gave Western Washington it's biggest lightning storm in memory.  It was an exciting ride home!

Another good adventure, Babe. 

First Day of Middle School, Home School, and Kyla's Birthday Party = Phew!

What a day!  Can you just feel how much Wes loves starting school?  I'm not publishing the shot in which he glares at me instead of his work. 

Piper is far more cheerful about her first day of middle school.  It may have had something to do with it just being 6th graders at school for the first day, which is why....

...my 7th grader could have her 13th birthday party with her other 7th grade friends all on the same day. We had lunch, (over-)decorated cupcakes, and went to a local pool. 

Siblings were quite happy with the cupcake outcomes.

But I was not too sad the next day when both girls went to school.  But it will be a long year of home schooling....

My 13 Year Old!

I have such a marvelous teenager!  She is more responsible now than I was at twenty....or thirty.  But she's also a loving person who is a lot of fun to be around.  Kyla loves her tablet (aka, Audible & OverDrive player), reading the old blog posts about when she and her siblings were really little, being outdoors, and learning.  She's almost too good to be true, but I have to remember that each of the kids takes their turn of being "the hardest".  The early elementary years were tough as we got a grip on her dyslexia.  But whatever she's been through, she has the character of a champion!  

 Kyla, you deserve all good things and I hope you feel as loved and as appreciated as you truly are!

Kyla's favorite sleeping buddies---Rosy Grayfoot and Wes.