Camp Awesome.

The first thing Parker said as he yelled over his shoulder, while running down the trail to the campsite is "Raise your hand if you think this is SO COOL!". Evie's hand shot up and Jeremy and I had to agree. We knew that for our last (maybe) camping trip of the season we could probably score a spot at the coveted Boulder Creek campsites. These spots are limited, beautiful and very rustic, with no water and just a patch of dirt and a firepit. We had to hike in our gear and we made it just before dark on Friday after school for a gorgeous 3 days. And with nights dipping into the thirties, there were only four other people that we saw the entire weekend to share this amazing patch of the world.  A pictorial review of the time we all agreed was a solid 10 out of 10...

One of the most delightful activities the kids invented was Fairy Frog House. There were hundreds of adorable frogs down the moss covered ravine and the kids made houses and fern couches for them and carefully placed no less than one hundred of them in a new and spectacular home.

 Parks running about camp. The overwhelming glee of camping that 

makes a child run and laugh for hours on end.

 We spent the nights on the edge of the creek and the flowing water lulled us to sleep every night.

 The creek left a gorgeous array of orange and yellow colors strewn about the banks from the iron deposits.

 Parker filtering water from the creek while Evie awaited her turn. While lack of any water supply may be a deterrent to some families, it is a selling point for my kids.

 We drove up the approach of Mount Baker to hike to Blue Lake. One of the coolest things about this hike is how high the trail entrance is. On Saturday, that meant driving above the low-lying clouds to the awe and amazement of the kids.

 Most hikes include a mid-way sucker stop, right?

 The culmination of our hike and so far we are 0 for 200 with fishing at high altitudes. :)

We scored our favorite campsite that comes complete with a cascading series of pools.

 Hands down, my favorite part of the trip is that Parker and Everly are old enough to tell stories around the campfire. Here is Ev, regaling us with her rendition of the Three Little Bears. Parker's stories seemed to always include an intricate web of secret agents.

 Our view from the banks of the creek.

Welcome.

Fall is my favorite time of the year. We welcome it with open arms. And a lot of decorations. We currently have every mantle, every ledge, every possible display area covered in fall leaves, gourds and pumpkins. And then there's the pennants. Lots and lots of fall pennants in this house. It looks like a permanent fall party. That's what happens when the primary interior designers are three and five.

Fallish.

 

Today was the first day of fall and it felt very...fallish. The leaves were turning, the warm air had a crispness to it and we carved some time out of our afternoon to enjoy it at the park.

Blessed are the Mondays.

 Jeremy texted me a picture early in the morning and said "Penny's out! Can't find Penny!" and attached this:

Penny is our gerbil and knowing where gerbils can hide, an empty ball with the lid off on the floor is a little frightening. I start texting Jeremy back to tell him where she hid last time she made a great escape when I get another message from him saying "Bad to worse! Looking for Penny. E cries. This is happening!"

Oh, for the love. I was laughing (and concerned) so hard. I made smoothies with the kids before I headed out and apparently Evie tipped hers a little too far and this happened. But then, it came full circle because Jeremy turned around to get a towel out of the cabinet for Ev and happened to look over at the play kitchen right next to it and saw this:

"No worries. Found Penny. In the kitchen. Evie's in the bath. All is well again." Oh, but sometimes I look at that little series of texts just to make myself laugh again. And again. And again.

Dad's Day.

The best part about Jeremy and I switching off schedules, is that he gets a lot of time with the kids to just be a dad and have fun with them while I'm at work. That means they do "guy stuff", which usually means he does fun stuff that would make me nervous or otherwise. I do a lot of crafts with them, he takes them out to play soccer and it all balances out. On their last day with dad, they went and dropped off the car at the shop downtown and then rode their bikes around the streets and had a good time. Oh, my stars. When Jer told me what they did I realized I would NEVER do that! I'll do a lot of crazy stuff with the kids, but anything involving streetlights, bikes, and one ways and I'm out. They went to rocket donuts (where it looks like they enjoyed themselves).

And a long bike through the city. And they survived. :)

One week down...

First week of school for both kiddos completed. Two kids still on cloud nine. 

A mere week ago...

We have been crazy busy trying our best to take it easy this first week of school. Busy trying to establish a routine, make sure the kids get enough sleep, have long and excited conversations about what everyone is learning, doing, playing...and most importantly, carve out some time every evening to play "school". I've gotten behind on all of the catch-up in documenting it on the bloggety, and I'm finally getting around to it. :)

A mere week ago or so, we were enjoying our last weekend before school started. We spent our sun-kissed days on the water around La Conner, exploring the cracks of crevices of our favorite islands.

 We headed to Hope where the kids requested to go higher on the rope swing than they ever had before. 

 Parker spent a lot of time perching on rocks and taking in everything around him, which I think was both amazing in rarity as well as such a sweet moment, befitting the solitary time before his next plunge into a new stage in life.

 We basked in sunny days and gorgeous sunsets.

And we got a rare and beautiful glimpse of this gorgeous jelly fish that was TWO FEET in diameter.

First day.

Today we experienced Parker and Everly's first day of school. Well, Jeremy and I experienced, while they celebrated with a level of euphoria usually reserved for mega-millions lottery winners. The excitement started last night making going to sleep a struggle and then Parks jumped out of bed at 6:30am, rearing to go. Healthy conscious, even when a first day of school is right around the corner, they requested carrots and celery for breakfast. Clothes were madly put on, backpacks packed, lunches chilled and the two of them were ready and waiting on the doorstep for Jeremy and I to get our act together about 45 minutes before we actually needed to leave.

Parker is unbelievably excited about Kindergarten. He has always loved learning and upon hearing about all the things he gets to learn, do and experience at school, he's like a kid in a candy store. A lover of learning in Kindergarten. Last night when I was laying in his bed with him and we were sleepily chatting, I accidentally asked him if he was nervous. "No!" he replied, "Are you?". "No!" I said. Well, maybe just a little. This is a big step. The edge of something big where the years go faster and he gets bigger and I can't slow it down. So, yes. I'm a little nervous. But not Parker. His only question this morning was "Will you be able to walk me in? I can't remember if I can get to my classroom or not." Of course. We'd be happy to. And then when we did, he beamed with pride, smiled with excitement and barely had time to hug me before dashing off to get settled.

We have the great pleasure of having two wonderfully independent, outgoing and confident children. This has some benefits and some challenges. On the first day of kindergarten and preschool, the benefit is that our kids could hardly wait to go out and experience the world. The challenge is that while I'm left teary eyed and having a moment and wanting a hug or few, they are running away from me, making new friends and yelling "See you when I see you!". So that's my moment. Everly walking into a classroom like she's been there for years and tossing out "Hi, I'm Everly" to everyone she encounters. Watching these beautiful kids experiencing a new and profound level of freedom with enthusiasm, I have to be confident that this is what we've prepared them for.

fancy.

The other night I was in charge of starting Ever's bath and then I got interrupted and shouted to Jeremy to take over. The switch was lost somewhere, so this girl who has been asking for a deep and "fancy" bath for weeks now finally got her wish, while I was thankful that we averted near disaster.

And after that "fancy bath" I told that sweet girl to run upstairs and put on her jammies and she wandered back down, singing and twirling and wearing this.

And then she slept in it. Because "This is my sleeping outfit! Just like the sleep fairies!".

rope swingin'

This past weekend we spent a lot of time out in the islands, poking around and playing in the water. One of our favorites to visit is Hope Island. It's a secluded little island with a few camping spots and only accessible via boat. There's a rope swing on it that sends the rider swinging thirty feet over the water, the beach, and back up to the roots of a very old tree serving as a pendulum. Parker loves this swing. He's been hanging on tight and wrapping his little legs around the driftwood tied to the bottom since he was one year old. He gets higher and higher with every year. This year, he jumped out of the boat, pulled it up on shore, ran up to the rope swing and hauled himself on all by himself. Then he asked that Jeremy push him higher and higher until he could nearly touch the leaves hanging down.

This was our last weekend before school starts. Before I have a big, huge kindergartener and a preschooler. I was standing there on Hope, watching Everly run around below, cheering Parker on. And Parker soaring higher and higher and telling me he was scared, but he loves the adventure of it and it occurred to me that this very moment was exemplary of this coming year. Hopes and adventure and the thrill of going past our limits. Everyone in this family will be feeling the same thing.