Rope Swing

So we have made numerous kid friendly additions to our backyard to help entertain the girls and keep them occupied for a bit outside. The girls favorite outdoor toy by far is the rope swing. I used an old dock line courtesy of Juju, and a round piece of scrap wood for a mini seat or foothold. The swing was a big hit from day 1, and the girls are always innovating, and finding even more dangerous ways to play on the swing.

You should have seen Nick swell with pride when Moira came running in to declare that jumping off the chair on to the swing was the best way yet. Moira is also usually really keen to help Kiah out on the swing, which leads to lots of super cute giggling and playing nicely with each other and who can resist a photo op like that.

Halloween Costumes

So last year I was going to make costumes for both of the girls, but quickly ran out of time and enthusiasm for the project. I got Moira's finished, and decided I would head to the store for Kiah's. When we got to the store Kiah was actually a little sad that I didn't make hers, but quickly decided on a princess dress. I felt like a horrible parent and resolved to make both costumes this year. Of course both girls wanted to be princesses again, so I imposed a princess ban.

Moira decided that she wanted to make up her own super hero costume with a star for her symbol. I cut out a bunch of colored starts and we moved them around until we came up with a final superhero symbol. Here's the finished product.

Kiah was at a bit of a loss for a costume so we flipped through some of the patterns I've amassed thanks to the $1 pattern sales at Joann's. She decided on a parrot costume. It was certainly more involved than Moira's but not particularly difficult. It turned out warm, fuzzy, and adorable. Both girls are primed and ready for their candy haul this year, fingers crossed it's not raining.

Spiders

Came across these two spiders in the backyard

Kiah Knievel

Well miss Kiah finally figured out peddling her tricyle a couple of weeks ago. Apparently she needs another lesson in steering. Poor little Kiah sent her tricycle end over end off of the retaining wall and broke her collar bone.

I of course wanted to wisk her to the ER right away, but Nick pointed out that there wasn't any swelling and she seemed to be able to move all of her parts the right way so we didn't think anything was broken. Assuming she just had a hard fall and would bruise up and be sore for a day or two we put her to bed. After putting her down she continued to wake up crying every few hours. At 3am I decided it was time to head for the er. 2.5 hours later we were headed home with Kian's arm in a sling and a prescription for liquid vicatin.

Thankfully she got a full nights sleep last night and she sems to be figuring out how to move around without aggravating her injury. She must wear the sling for 5-6 weeks, and no running or playing :( We're meeting with her preschool teacher today to see if she will be able to manage Kiah's injury at school.

First Day of Kindergarten

We've really enjoyed the last few weeks of summer and it has all been a big build-up to the much anticipated first day of Kindergarten. Moira has school from 9-11:30 every day of the week. I drop her off in the morning and a bus brings her home after class. Moira's a little nervous about the bus, but the giant laminated notecard pinned to her chest includes all her bus info and my phone number so I'm sure it will all work out fine. Parents have to wait outside for the kiddos and I'm sure I'll be out there more than a few minutes early.

2011 Campout

This August we rallied the gang for our 2nd annual campout. Last years camping spot was less than ideal so waaaaay back in Jan I booked the group campsite at Sequim Bay State Park. It was nicer than we could of imagined, with a massive area all to ourselves with little traffic from the rest of the campground coming through. Just below our campsite was a large dock and cobble beach and it was deserted for much of the time we were there.

The kids enjoyed rambling along with their fellow toddlers and the parents all got a chance to relax a little too. I spent most mornings out with my new camera trying to capture some of the beauty of the place.




The group has already started scouting spots for next year, and I can't wait.

Veggies

Our little raised veggie bed has been highly productive this year. We even had a rogue pumpkin appear from a seed that survived being composted. The girls and I both enjoyed watching it grow and trying to guesss what type of squash it might be. They were delighted to discover that one of their Jack o' lanterns from last year had managed to sprout a seed. So far we have 7 little pumpkins growing out there. Hopefully at least 2 of them will get large enough to carve.

In addition to the pumpkins we planted sugar snap peas, yellow wax beans, carrots, lettuce, cilantro and one tomato plant. The cilantro bolted right away and was a bust, but I let it go to seed in the hopes that we'd have cilantro all over the place next year. We've had numerous salads and bean side dishes this summer, and it has been by far our most productive year. I've stayed on top of the watering and this is the 3rd year in a row we've ammended the soil in spring so it looks like my black thumb with veggies might have a hint of green in it yet.

A little catch up

So I've been a total slacker with the blog. Despite the lousy weather it's been a busy summer full of fun. Between the country fair, frisbee dogs, and various holidays it seems like every weekend is bursting at the seams.

Here's some pictures from Moira's preschool graduation picnic. Kiah will be attending the same school in Sept, and Moira is moving on to kindergarden!! Due to some silly district lines Moira will not get to go the school that is 3 blocks away. She has to go to the one a mile down the road. The silver lining is that this school is much less crowded and instead of a class of 20+ kids ahe will have around 14 kids in her class.

Kiah Turns 3

Kiah had a wonderful birthday. Despite the cool temperatures and looming clouds we managed to put together a fun new play house for her. Her little buddies Conan and Morgan made it down to help her celebrate, and all the kids had fun checking out the new toys. Kiah has been overjoyed with all of the new additions to her wardrobe and ditches her jammies as soon as we shut her bedroom door for the night in favor of something more acceptable to her particular fashion sense. It was lots of fun to celebrate Kiah's big day.

Rykers First Birthday

The girls had a great time hanging out with cousin Ryker at his first birthday party.

Moira Turns 5

We had a full week of celebrations with dinner at Chuck E. Cheese with the Juju and Paul on wed night, followed by a trip to the aquarium and a tasty birthday lunch on thursday. It just so happened that a friend of my mothers was volunteering at the aquarium when we were there so the girls got some special one on one attention at the touch tank. They took several of the animals out and put them in a smaller bowls so the girls could get a good look. Kiah was fearless about touching the animals, Moira was a bit more hesitant, but quickly joined in the fun.

The crowing celebration was Moira's fishy themed party on sat. We had 9 kids over and everyone had fun. We attempted a game of pin the tail on the fish, with partial success. Everyone had fun, the house was destroyed, and we were all exhausted. Just think in one month we can do it all again for Kiah.