back to school

the boys went back to school last week. to celebrate the end of summer, craig and i took them canoeing on lake washington. they loved it.

afterwards they enjoyed (tagg a little too much) molly moons ice cream.

to get tess ready for back to school :) we got her ears pierced. she cried for a minute but says it was worth it because she looks so pretty.

my studly SECOND grader. all of the sudden he looks/acts so grown up.

how is he this big already?

tagg lucked out and got his two best friends in his class again!

SULLY! this is his third and final year at preschool. he was excited to be the oldest in his class but nervous "people will still think i'm four". he also wanted to wear his backpack on one shoulder because thats how people do it on tv.

dang i love him.

sully is FIVE. i cant believe it.

sully turned FIVE on august 15th. we had a movie party to celebrate. the night was pretty perfect. we had a popcorn machine, candy display, cake topped with popcorn and the movie, BOLT projected on the side of our house!

the smell of fresh, movie theater popcorn coming from that machine was unreal.

i took a panoramic shot of the porch to show the kids watching the movie but i cant find it. but trust me. it was a cool set up. and tagg's face in this picture? just stop.

after pizza, watermelon and lemonade (sully's menu selection) we had CAKE.

but not before singing to the birthday boy. i guess we were too loud. :)

and for all of sully's friends we had favors filled with candy, toys and popcorn flavored jelly beans.

the five of us.

sully. i cannot tell you how much i love you. you are the best brother ever. your super deep questions never cease to amaze me (who made jesus? is idaho on a different planet? (yeah, sully. it kinda is). you are so independent (you brush your hair perfectly). everyone lights up when they see your little smile. hdb, big boy!

sandpoint

last week we returned from visiting our friends' house in sandpoint, idaho. as usual it was a fantastic week. this year we had paddle boards. we tool full advantage of that situation.

the drive over to sandpoint. six hours with these lunatics. but worth it.

the first morning there we made breakfast and the boys played a little chess. :)

then out to the lake. those little kid kayaks were amazing. tagg and sully hopped right in and started paddling around like crazy. UW crew, here we come.

that afternoon we rode bikes into town. me and deb rode tandem. fun and scary all at the same time.

we had dinner out on the new deck that evening. the drop down screens were such a beautiful thing.

any remaining bugs that happened to get caught on the wrong side of the screen were quickly zapped with jon's electric tennis racket!

tess was such a good girl at the lake.

sully and his kayak!

craig took the boys wake surfing. it was so cool to see them get up out of the water together.

go sully!

tess' dinner with a view. rough life, girl.

after the kids went to bed we went out to watch the amazing lightning and wind storm.

the next morning, more fun in the sun.

craig, throwing the rope in.

and me! getting up! i have never done any water sport in my entire life. so this was pretty exciting. i was smiling so hard my face hurt.

lunch at joels. of course.

then back for more paddle boarding.

there was a restriction on campfires so that night we just lit up the stove and made smores inside.

the beans were able to join us this year (have i mentioned how generous and fun the rands are?!). tess loved having aidan there to race around in their opposite gender walkers (aidan's is a hand-me-down from his sisters and tess' is the only one i could find at target).

getting ready to jump. we couldnt ever get the countdown right.

boating with wilson is always a plus.

is there anything cuter than a little boy with a dog?

maybe a little boy with an at-home coke machine.

lazy afternoon playing cornhole.

cutest blondes ever.

except for maybe these two. (and yes, i am calling tess a 'blonde'. she will be blonde when she gets some hair, mmk)

dairy depot shakes!

she needed a little too.

the boys found a snake under the patio one afternoon. joey. joey the snake.

they really loved that guy.

my parents were so helpful with tess and the boys. grandparents: dont leave home (especially for a vacation with your kids) without them.

playing in jon's waterfall. cool tagg.

being served dinner while overlooking lake pend oreille. can i be them?

 craig loved zapping those bugs.

the next morning, jon and becky took megan and me out on the little speed boat. the water was unreal.

our last day in sandpoint was also sully's FIFTH birthday. we got him a cake and sang 'happy birthday' to him during the clean up. look at this face. we love him very much.

megan and i took a quick ride on the good old tandem bike.

and tess said goodbye to wilson.

before she got behind the wheel for the long drive home. :)

sandpoint. we love you. a lot.