Eight is Great!

Ari's birthday has come and gone, but I'm refusing to let September slip away before I post about it!

Our sweet boy turned 8 (8!) a couple of weeks ago and this year it turned into over a week of celebrating.  His birthday was on a Saturday so I baked some baseball sugar cookies for him to share with his classmates the Friday before.  That night we let him open his gifts from my parents, sister and aunts.

He read every word of every card this year (and got most of the jokes, too!).

 Excited about Kinetic Sand!

Discovering a fossil in the collection my aunt gave him.

Cracking open a geode sent by Grandpa and Bobo

Cool!

The cookies served double-duty as a treat for his teammates at their baseball game Saturday.  Keenan and Keira left from the game for their first Indian Princess camp out (I'll put those pic's at the end).  So, it was just me and my boys left to celebrate for the rest of the day.  Ari chose to come home and rest for a bit before heading to our new favorite taco place for dinner.  Then he picked frozen yogurt for his birthday dessert.

This past weekend, Keenan's parents came for a visit and we had his birthday party at a local skate rink.  Time for round 2!

A new KSU shirt from Auntie Kelsey, Uncle Brent and cousins!

 More card reading fun.

"Ball-joint Legos"  (a.k.a. Hero Factory line of Legos)!  On his list for a long time now.

Sk8r Boy!

Sk8r Girl!

Another Sk8r Boy!

Skating with Daddy 

Me and my boys.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Happy birthday!

Doing the birthday pokey (Hokey Pokey)

Off he goes for another great year!

And here are some pic's from Keenan and Keira's first Indian Princess camp out adventure!

School!

After our Colorado trip, we had 2 weeks to soak up the last of summer vacation before school started again.  We played with friends and went swimming as much as we could.  So fun!

August 25th was our first day of school around here.  Another big year as Keira is now a kindergartner at the same school as Ari!  She loves it!  Now that we're a month in, things are still going really well.  They're both excelling at their work, making new friends and having fun.  Asher and I are still adjusting to it just being the two of us at home, but we're finding ways to keep busy.

Keenan takes them to school most days and he wanted me to capture this sweet time when they both like to hold his hand as they walk down our street.

It still warms my heart to see the two of them walking out of school together.  Keira loves that Ari meets her out front each day then they walk to the back to meet me.  They're always talking and laughing about something.  I'm so proud of Ari for being a patient big brother with her this year and not leaving her in the dust.  They're so big!

End of Summer

Wow!  I went to download pic's for Ari's birthday and didn't realize I'd missed all of August!  It was a full month, too!  As usual, here's some catch-up:

The first week of August we started our annual summer visit to Denver.  This year we stopped in Booker, TX and stayed two nights to enjoy time with our friends and all that small-town living has to offer.  First up was 4-wheeling.  We all had a great time despite the lack of a clear path and the grass/weeds that were as high as our hips.  Loosening the pollen off said grass flared Ari's allergies, so he and I hung back near the cars while the others went for round two.  Asher and Keira found treasures in an antler piece and a cow's thigh bone.

While Ari and I waited for the others to return, we built a stick fort along with the middle boy of our friends.  The kids all thought this was so cool and I even impressed Ari with my structural engineering skills!

 Next we were off to Denver.  We spent the first day at my aunt and uncle's house near a lake.  My younger cousins and Keenan took advantage of the kayaks and took turns taking our kids around.  Apparently it was very relaxing for Keira and Asher.

On another day we had an adventure playing some mini-golf.  The kids liked the last hole that either squirted you with water or shot fire out of the top depending which hole your ball went in.

Mostly, we relaxed with my family and just spent time together.  Grandpas make good napping spots.