September Catch-Up | Part One

On the first day of September, we headed downtown for Harbor Days. It was a last-minute decision. I'd hoped to make it to Harbor Days on Saturday, but we had some stuff come up. So Sunday, after nap time, we raced down for the last hour or so of the festival. We went straight for the free tour of a giant old tug boat called the Comanche. The kids LOVED exploring the boat and going into every room, nook and cranny! Being four stories, it was not your average tug! I got several comments like, "Wow, you are a brave lady to take three kids on here by yourself!" as I was climbing ladders with Jake on my hip while spotting the two bigger kids above me. It always makes me laugh to myself when I hear comments like that, because just a few years ago, when Abby was a baby, I never went anywhere by myself with her because I couldn't handle it. :) But now taking these three kiddos places by myself doesn't seem like that big of a deal. Plus, I've got many friends with five or six kids, so what's so hard about three? ;o) And, in this specific situation, my kids have an advantage over many other kids in that they are quite comfortable and confident climbing all over a boat. :)

But that said, my hands were indeed full making sure my kiddos stayed safe on the boat, so I was glad I had chosen not to lug my big camera around too and instead snapped the next two pictures with my camera phone.

It was such a GORGEOUS evening!

We then walked along the boardwalk, checking out the booths as they were closing and then played at the park for awhile. As we sat eating the snacks I'd packed along for dinner (remember, it was a last minute decision to go!), the kids begged to go over to the play fountain nearby. I wasn't terribly excited about the idea since we hadn't even had a real dinner and the last several times we'd gone to the fountain, Abby was the only one to even sort of play in it because the boys were too scared.

But since we happened to have our bag of swimsuits and towels in the van, I decided to be spontaneous and just go for it (something I am learning to do more and more now that I have children!). And, boy, was I glad I did, because I had so much fun watching Ben enjoy and really play in the fountain for the first time! (and this time I grabbed my regular camera from the van!)

Jake stayed close by my side most of the time, but these two had some really crazy fun times. I wasn't sure whether or not to include this next picture where Abby and Ben were sticking their bottoms toward the spraying water - crazy, silly kids! :)

 

Throughout the summer, Jake and Ben spent many hours playing in the dirt in the backyard. One afternoon this little guy sneaked out the back door without his shoes on and started playing in the dirt that was wet from a recent rain. :)

It was nearly lunch time, so I had the kids eat on the back porch since the boys were definitely too dirty to come inside. Bath time came shortly afterward which was just about a daily occurrence (or more sometimes!) for Jake and Ben during the summertime!

We enjoyed having some friends from church over for a fun, long afternoon. Unfortunately it rained, so it got pretty chaotic at times with seven kids running around,. but we broke up the afternoon with a trip to the library which was nice. The littlest in each family enjoyed a snack on the floor together. So cute!

A few days after that we had another family over from church for dinner (if you can tell, I'm actively working on being more hospitable!). The kids ended up getting front-row seats to a show that included two firetrucks, two police cars and an ambulance right outside our front window - so exciting!

As is our annual tradition, we went to the Puyallup Fair with Kevin's mom (neither Kevin's dad nor Kevin were able to come this year, unfortunately). We had a blast, as always!

Watching the cows get milked!

Although Grandma offered to buy the kids rides, Kevin and I had decided to decline as we want to teach our kids that fairs are more than just 2-minute, money-wasting carnival rides (although they are lots of fun!) and we don't want them to become accustomed to getting to go on the rides every time they go to a fair. But as you can tell, the kids had PLENTY of really fun FREE things to do! :) We also met up with my good friend Shauna and her son Atticus for awhile - so fun to see them! (that's Atticus sitting in the John Deere tractor loader bucket with Abby)

(click on picture to view larger)

One morning we visited the elderly at the assisted living residence that our church holds services at bi-monthly. We came to their pet parade (really just a handful of dogs owned by some of the caretakers that were dressed up). I think my kids were just about as much loved by the residents as the dogs were!

After the parade, we took our special friend Mrs. Bird out to the patio to visit in the warm sunshine and enjoy a few snacks I'd brought along. If you recall my post from Valentine's Day, this is the lady, Joyce, who had been so depressed and not feeling well that she was still lying in bed when we came into her room. Since then, we have been visiting her about 1-2 times a month ever since and it has been a blessing to us and to her. She has become a very special friend to us.

Throughout September Kevin was often gone fishing, but early fall storms would bring him in for a few days here and there. In the picture below, Kevin had recently arrived home and was reading the kids a story before bed, "Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site," an obvious favorite one for the boys that they received from their "Ocean-Beach" Grandma. :)

One late afternoon we had to drive down to Chehalis to pick up a sign for the Seafood Store, so we called up my good friend, Kara, from church to see if she was available. She was and so after we ran our errand, we met Kara for dinner at Wendy's, and then she showed us a very fun park in Chehalis.

I love these huge, wooden structured playgrounds - makes me want to be a kid again! :)

And that is an overview of the first half of September!