August 31

Allen and Carter spent the evening working on his first monthly project for school. Carter had to choose a constellation to research and present to his class. He chose to research Ursa Major and he and Allen planned out his poster and practiced his presentation several times tonight. I'm so happy to see him challenged in school this year for the first time ever!

August 30

I am finally starting to come out of the 1st trimester of pregnancy fog. We have been eating out way too much all summer so I am turning over a new leaf and meal planning again for the fall. It feels so good to be getting some of my energy back to complete some of my long neglected tasks.

August 29

We finally got our copy of Mockingjay today - I will never pre order from Amazon again. We are both chomping at the bit to get going on the book but Allen is being nice enough to let me read it first! Can't wait to see how the series ends!

August 28

Tonight we finally used the free Isotopes game tickets the kids earned while doing the summer reading program. We had such a fun time and definitely plan to hit up a few more games next year. The weather was perfect and it was such an enjoyable evening.

August 27

Carter is loving the BYU football shirt we got for him in Provo. In fact, he wants to wear it EVERY day. Sometimes I think I need to hide it from him just to get him into something different! Hopefully they have a good season this year!

August 26

I love seeing the kiddos all snuggled up together in the mornings. Sleepy eyes and bedhead. It's so nice when they like each other and play well together.

August 25

Oh my. We are getting ready to potty train and have put the potty seat in one of the bathrooms in preparation. Addie came out of the bathroom like this today and we all about died laughing. Yes, it's gross, but it is also REALLY funny.

August 24

Carter loves to give Addie "rides" on our rocking chair in the morning. She thinks it's the most fun thing ever, even though it kind of scares me to see him rocking the chair so hard.

August 23

Addie is obsessed with Play Doh. She begs to play with it every day. I've been trying to do a fun crafty project with her every day after the big kids head off to school. She's definitely thriving with the one-on-one time with me. It's such a treat to get so much time with her before the baby comes!

August 22

Today Carter was waiting for his friend Noah to come over for a playdate. He was VERY anxious for him to arrive and spent a good 20 minutes parked on top of the bookcase looking out the window, waiting for his arrival. Hilarious.

August 21

This morning we headed to Krispy Kreme for a little Saturday morning breakfast. It is crazy to me that we are at a point where we can easily pound down a dozen donuts with just our little family. Yum!

August 20

Ugh. I finally pulled out my bins of maternity clothes today and started to go through them. I honestly just want to burn them all but I'm obviously NOT buying all new maternity clothes for my final pregnancy. The small pile is the stuff I just can't wear again due to style and the big pile is the stuff I'm forcing myself to wear yet again.

August 19

Addie was running around in her dress up shoes and diaper after her bath tonight. She is turning into quite the girly girl just like her sister and would wear dress up shoes everywhere if we would let her!

August 18

The kids begged us to set up our tent and let them sleep in it for a few nights. We gave in and set it up tonight and threatened them that we would make them go into their beds if they didn't go right to sleep. About five minutes after tucking them in, I went to check on them and found them completely crashed out!

August 17

Coming home from vacation is about as much work as leaving on it. This is the mail pile that I picked up today. It's insane dealing with 2 weeks worth of mail!

August 16

We made it back just in time for the second week of school. The kids missed the first week due to the family reunion but they were ready to start this morning. Despite having a late night, they were troopers and were super excited to start at their new school. They had a great first day and we are all excited to get back into a routine after the summer.

August 15

Allen's only necessity when we are traveling is a gigantic caffeinated beverage. He filled up our giant 52 oz. mug every time we stopped on the way up and back. I am always amazed at how much he can drink! He also loves having books on his iPod to listen to while he drives.

August 14

Today we started the LONG drive home to NM. We drove all the way from Portland to Provo - about 14 hours in the car. It was brutal but the kids were total troopers. Thank goodness for our in car DVD player and huge stash of snacks!

August 13

One of our favorite things about the beach house is the hot tub that is right off the beach. The kids love to sit in the hot tub and then run down and jump in the freezing ocean water before running back to the hot tub. They did it over and over again the entire time we were staying at the beach.

August 12

This morning we went to the tide pools during low tide. It was so great to see all of the sea creatures up close. The kids loved finding star fish, sea urchins and anemone's all throughout the rocks. We even saw a sea lion on the beach!

August 11

Today on the way to the coast we stopped in downtown Portland at Voodoo donuts. The donuts are famous and we stood in line for an hour before we even got into the store to purchase them. They were DELICIOUS though. Our favorite was the maple bacon donut - a maple bismark with a slice of bacon on top. It was a fun stop and we all tried different donuts!

August 10

Morgan, Brooklyn and Bailey were so awesome about planning craft projects for all the kids to do. Morgan picked out all of these ceramic figurines for the kids to paint and they had a fun time working on them this afternoon.

August 9

Today we drove to Mount St. Helen's for the day. The drive was absolutely breathtaking - so lush and green. We went through the visitors center tour and it was fascinating to hear the story of the eruption in 1980. Unfortunately, it was totally cloudy and we were unable to see any of the mountain. Welcome to PNW, right!

August 8

The big girls were so nice and willing to play with the little girls during this reunion. I often heard them directing the kids in pretend school - complete with homemade worksheets - and in Little House on the Prairie. I loved seeing them interact together and have fun with each other.

August 7

Today the girls were filling up balloons for a water fight and I came outside to see them stuffed down their swimsuits. It was hilarious. The funniest part is that Makenna didn't really understand why it was funny and just kept stuffing more balloons in. Too cute!

August 6

We've had so many late nights already this past week, especially because we've let the kids have slumber parties in the bonus room every night. They've been going to sleep at 10 or 11 every night so far. Tonight we let the kids watch a movie and Kenna crashed out on the couch. She didn't look very comfortable but she slept like this for a long time.

August 5

Today we took advantage of the gorgeous warm weather and headed down to the Hood River beach for the day. It was a perfect day and the kids enjoyed playing in the water, having sand/mud wars and exploring in the trees. After a few hours we reluctantly packed up to head home and hope for another beach day before we go home.

August 4

Today we took the kids to Top Burger for lunch and their YUMMY ice cream cones. Afterwards we walked over to a local park and let the kids play for a long time together. It was a nice, relaxing afternoon.

August 3

The kids have had the best time playing in the pool together. Regardless that it was pretty chilly when they got in this morning (about 70 degrees), it didn't stop them from playing games and having all sorts of fun together. It's also so nice that the older kids are willing and happy to play with the younger kids.

August 2

We were SO happy to get to Vancouver last night, just in time to help celebrate Maddie's 5th birthday. Unfortunately, Maddie wasn't feeling well after having an allergic reaction to something but we still had fun celebrating with her. We wish we could celebrate more birthdays with ALL of our cousins!

August 1

I don't need much to keep me happy on our long road trips. Easy access to my iPhone, gum and chapstick and I'm pretty much set. Depending on the trip, I can get a lot of reading in too but sometimes reading in the car makes me feel sick.