First Day of School!!

First day of 7th grade.  I can hardly believe it.

 First day of 5th grade.  Ethan started 5th grade here when we moved...so crazy!

I'm so proud of these two.  I love them so much.  Here's to another school year!

The Vancouver Aquarium

To end the summer break, we took one last family day trip to The Vancouver Aquarium.  It was a dream come true for Madeline, because the aquarium has a dolphin!  And we even got to watch the dolphin show.  It was actually really fun to watch the dolphin jump and flip and swim.  Madeline was so thrilled.  The whole aquarium was really neat.  We were hoping to explore Stanley Park after, but the weather wasn't cooperating.  We'll go back another time for sure.  We ended with pizza and pastries and it made for a nice day!

Star Park for the Win!

Todd found this fabulous park in Ferndale a while back and we finally went to enjoy it.  It is definitely the best park in the county that we've found.  The kids had a blast and it was just one of those evenings when everything seems nice and happy and easier than life actually is.  I like Star Park.

Cutest Policeman Alert!

My Stove Blew Up

Ok, so it didn't blow up exactly.  But I was cooking my long-awaited pear tart and preheating the oven the other day when it decided to start making zapping noises and sent actual sparks shooting up into the kitchen right out the top!  I thought it was freaky and Oliver agreed.  Luckily the sparking stopped and I was able to get it unplugged.  But alas, my kitchen no longer has a stove/oven.  And after only a few days, I'm already going through baking withdrawals.  

The sad thing is that we sold our extra stove (that had been sitting in our garage for TWO YEARS) just two days prior to this incident.  Of course...

The other sad thing is that we were planning to buy a new range on the Black Friday sale.  Sigh...

But lucky for me, my husband is awfully nice and encouraged me to still get the range I had been hoping for despite it not being Black Friday.  It won't come until Sept. 4th though.  That's a long time to not bake people!  Somehow I'll survive.  :)

Above all, I am so completely beyond grateful that nothing caught fire.  That I didn't get zapped.  That my house didn't burn down...I could keep going but you get the idea.  I'm just really grateful.  And next month baking will be even more fun!!!!

Awesome, Not Awesome, Awesome

I'm proud of this kid for working so hard to earn First Class in Scouts!  He's trying to get his Eagle before the end of next year.  He's working hard and almost daily to get it done.  He's awesome!

 But what is NOT awesome is this horrible smoke filling the skies.  I can't even breathe outside.  Air quality around our house is very unhealthy right now and has been for days.  We've been stuck inside and even so, my head is achy and my throat and lungs burn.  It's a sad way to spend our last week of summer!  We need some good wind or rain before we all die!  The sun looks florescent pink/orange as it's setting the last few days.  Though sometimes the smoke is so thick you can't even see the sun!  This picture doesn't do it justice.

 Cooper was beyond thrilled when he finally had enough money saved up to buy his dream lego set!  He claims he'll never be bored again.  Haha.  He won't even make it until school starts!  But he sure was cute and oh so happy when his package arrived in the mail!

Pears and Blueberries and Things

My pretty unicorn

 lol!!!

 Nectarine Blueberry Upside-down Cake

 Ethan kicks my butt in Yahtzee EVERY single time we play.  He has this little Humpty Dumpty that he claims is good luck.  But he always won almost every time before it joined us.  You would think the games would be more 50/50 but I seriously never win this kid!

 Our first pear tree was ready for harvest!  Cooper and Oliver were good helpers and we had fun picking all the pears.  Now to think of all the best pear recipes!

 I recently discovered that I really enjoy solo blueberry picking!  I went alone to Breckenridge Blueberries and had the most lovely and peaceful time.  I might just have to go by myself at least once each year.

 Canned Pears!  Seven jars of deliciousness.  I also made pear sauce which was super tasty and a pear tart is in my future.  Possibly pear bread too.  YUM!

 Madeline's quite the cute climber!

It's Official...

we've gone a little crazy.  I think we might need school to start...