End of August

 Once school started again, we got back into the routine pretty quickly.  Mackenzie liked being home without the kids and we still found things to do.

Shandi got the girls bags with their names on them.

Paintball youth activity.  Let's just say it was not a success, lots of unhappy kids.  Kyler did not come away wanting to play again.

Damon turned 11!  He didn't want a big cake this year so we celebrated with root beer floats.

Went with Kenney to check on the bees and realized how beautiful this world truly is.

Radley up high when he went with dad to check on the bees.

This video is way better than the few taken minutes before when Mackenzie was screaming in the car.  She is so loud, but when she screams in the car, it's unbearable!

Bentley and Mackenzie playing school.

A common occurrence with all these kids listening to music with headphones on.

Every day at lunch she tries to scare dad.

A very common thing to happen at our house.  Someone jumping, falling or playing on the couch.

Damon was teaching Mackenzie how to do celebration poses

Damon cannot sit still or stay quiet while he plays video games.  He's quite entertaining to watch (for short periods of time before it gets annoying).

Back to School 2022

 We officially have 2 kids in junior high, yikes!  Two are still in elementary, and there's one left at home.  Mackenzie is more than happy to be left at home.  She didn't want to go get the kids at the end of the day.  The second day after dropping them off, she looked up at me and said, "It's just you and me!" with a big smile on her face.  She adjusted quite easily this year.  The kids all had a great first day.  Damon likes the freedom junior high provides.  Kyler tried on a football helmet for the first time.  Bentley is excited for homework; I doubt that will last long.  Radley is ready to read and earn AR points to go bowling and to Wonderland.

Dressed herself, can you tell?

I told her she needed to get dressed to go pick up the kids and this is what she came up with.  I guess since 'summer' is over she's ready for the cooler weather (I think we're all at that point), however, it was still 102 degrees!  So the beanie and boots probably need to wait a bit longer.

Samoa Day

 We finished off our summer adventures with a day in Samoa.  We were hoping our Samoan cousins would be able to join us, but they moved this summer.  We weren't able to get anything together before they left, but Mandi made a box full of activities that were amazing!! I was shocked what she had put together for us.  It was a fun-filled day! The box of treasures had information about the Samoan flag, hawksbill turtles, tapa cloths, lavalavas, leis, conch shells and coconuts.  We ended the night watching Moana, of course, and videos of the haka!

Mandi sent some wooden turtles to color.

She also sent beautiful ocean scene puzzles.

Learning and sorting shells

Listening to the ocean through the shells

The coconut was so much fun and a total new experience!

Tasting coconut water.

Samoan chicken is so so good!!  We need to work on the Samoan chop suey.  

They decorated their places at the table

Mandi asked what each of the kid's favorite colors were and got them leis to match.

Always posing

Mackenzie trying to pose.

Hula dancing

Not quite a hula dance, haha!

Pani popo

None of us had ever tried to crack open a coconut.

They were not sure about coconut!

I like that the kids are so willing to try new things, but it seems like the days we do the country exploring stuff they try even harder.

Singing Moana songs!

Wild & Free On 83 & Kyler's Glasses

 The first weekend in August is a time for the community to gather.  There are vendors, a dog show, a bike parade and more.  The kids like going to see what is happening.  It's great for the community to get together. The boys enjoyed being able to get some freedom and walk around with their friends. 

Waiting for the animal show.  There were birds, dogs, goats, hamsters and more.  We decided after the disaster of having Acey participate last time that we wouldn't be doing that again.

The little train ride was fun for Mackenzie, but the other kids joined too, even Kyler!!

Kyler said he didn't feel like he was seeing as well as he should, so we went and got his eyes checked out.  Turns out, he needed glasses for a slight improvement, but he was really happy with them.

He came home with this pair.

Driving back from the orthodontist with the boys we saw this huge blood moon.  It was hard to get a picture of, but it looked really cool.