Dear Old Golden Rule Days!

 My boys are off to school!  They started school back on August 8th. 

Here they are just before we headed for the school.

 Here they are in front of Meridian Elementary.  Mabel had to sneak in the pic too!

I later asked Mabel if she was ready for it to be just her and I at home.  She said, "Yes!  So I can finally get some peace and quiet." (I know I put this on FB, but just for posterity's sake)

The first day went great!  Well, we didn't get a call from the school on the first day, so I'll call that great! 

Grayson seems to like it.  He had PE the first day and he was happy about that.  They read "The Kissing Hand" and colored.

 Aiden still insists that school is the worst thing ever!  He does like his teacher (who, it so happens, was his teacher's aide in Kindergarten).  His teacher had them write letters to their parents about their first day of school to be given to us at curriculum night.  I stayed home with the kids and Bret brought this little ray of sunshine home for me.

Can't read it?  Really?  Strange... 

Needless to say, Bret and I are ECSTATIC that Meridian has decided to teach spelling this year.  I don't know why they felt the need to take that out of the curriculum.  Also, Bret said he hopes Aiden learns to mix in a space between his words every now and then.  To Meridian's credit, they've tried.

Anywhooooo, Let me translate the letter for you:

Dear Mom and Dad,

We learned about equations.

We had a division multiplication test.

We played the name game.

We learned about each other.(ECHUTER is how he wrote that.  Yeah, took me a while to figure that one out.)

What I'm excited about.

I'm excited about science. (HE SPELLED IT RIGHT!!  You have no idea how long it has taken me to teach him it's not S-I-E-N-S.)

I'm also excited about our field trips.

I can't wait until summer.

Love,

Aiden

So everything is great right.  Other than the fact that it's the first day of school and he's already jonesing for summer. 

But then we get this happy little post script:

P.S.  School is torture.

Good day to you, Folks!

Airplane Flat 2012

We made our annual trip to Airplane Flat this year the Ericksons and some of the Hollands joined us this year.  Have I ever mentioned this is my favorite place to camp?  If not, it is!

A little dutch oven cookin'...can't go wrong there!

Fires NOT restricted...can't go wrong there!

Fish Hatchery...well...my kids LOVE it!

Rock hopping at the creek...my favorite! 

Hand fishing?  Really?  Who wants to EAT a fish let alone TOUCH one??!!  EWWWW! 

Look who caught one with her bare hands?  It seemed to be a "special" fish...but still. 

Tree swinging time! 

Aaaaaaand backk to the creek.  Because it's my favorite!

I know you're going to ask, what the heck is this next picture? 

If you look closely.  Very.  Close.  You'll see that just outside of the lit area is a black and white critter. 

YUP!  SKUNKS!   Every night we were invaded by skunks.  Did you know a skunk could climb a tree?  I didn't!  We found out when we woke up in the middle of the night to one of the critters SWINGING on our trash bag.  He/she was whipping around on that thing trying to tear into it.  Bret threw a rock and it dropped, flipped it's back end towards us and raised it's fluffy tail.  Does anyone know the spraying distance of a skunk?  It would be good to know for future trips.

Cards!   

I took a bit of a schooling at Casino.  It USED to be my favorite card game.

One last trip to the tree swing before it was scatsville! 

I did it, too.  For some reason, Aiden was taking the pictures though and didn't catch me in mid-swing.  Just the landing.  Really.  I really did it! 

Who's down for next year?!  Dutch oven, creek, fish hatcher, tree swing, cards.  Skunks.  If this didn't entice you, I don't know what will!

Four and counting...

On July 20th, my baby turned four!  Here she is on the morning of her birthday with some gifts from mom and dad.  Bret bought her flowers because she told him daddies should buy their little girls flowers.

subliminal message: Mabel says husbands should buy their wives jewelry and Bahama Bucks.

I can hardly believe she'll be starting school next year. 

We invited four of her friends over for a party that Saturday.  Only two were able to come though (one of the drawbacks of a summer birthday).  And Grandma Biggs was able to come, too!

They colored and made a little strawberry craft.

 They picked strawberry candies out of our front yard.

 We ate hotdogs (per Mabel's request) and had cake and ice cream.

 Then it was time to open gifts!

 Mabel and Morgan

Mabel and Aubry

Mabel and Grandma Biggs

When the party was over, it seemed the fun was just beginning.  The girls wanted to play dress up in Mabel's new dress-up clothes.

 Mabel is already talking about how she wants a Care Bear birthday for her next party.  We'll see if that holds for a year.

Happy 4th, Little Miss!