First Day of School

Wow, time flies. Ellie is starting 5th grade and Jack is starting 3rd. It is so nice to have them at the school where I work. I love that I get to see them both during the day and hear about their day right after school. The added bonus is that I don't feel guilty staying a little later at work, they do homework or go on the computer and I get my work done. I was hoping to take them to school with me however, the principal won't let us do that :( I did bring them the first 3 days though, which was nice.

Jack's morning teacher Mrs. Farnstrom (he has a job share team so we don't have a pic of the afternoon teacher)

Ellie's teacher and my good friend Mrs. Lee

Tried to get them both in front of the sign but the sun was too bright for Jack

Our new school

From August 25th on our life has been consumed with moving into my new classroom. The class happens to be at the brand new school that the kids and I will be at. I am teaching kindergarten, Ellie is starting 5th grade and Jack is starting 3rd grade. It was a whole family project to get this class ready. I couldn't have done it without everyones help. I guess I should have taken some pictures of all the work we did, but we were too busy. It is so nice to know we will all be together during the day, even though most days I probably won't even see the kids. The school is beautiful. This picture was taken at the ribbon cutting ceremony and open house. I know I will cherish these memories of our year at Kalapuya forever!

State Fair

As soon as we got occupancy of our new school, summer was over. It was a family job to get my classroom set up. I am very lucky to have such a hard working family willing to help. We did take a day off to go to the State Fair. We go on kids day every year. The kids get in free and rides are half price. I love the fair and so do the kids. Jack will do a few kiddie rides and he loves the games to win a fabulous stuffed animal. Ellie likes some rides. I have to admit I have never liked fair rides, too much spinning. The kids and I love the ferris wheel(that one scares Doug). We also like the chair lift above the fair. Of course we spend time with the animals, other attractions, and we EAT a lot! It's a great family day!

This was the first year for catch and release fishing, and Jack caught a fish!

Who doesn't love Smokey the Bear?

Oh how they love those silly stuffed animals

The big swing was Ellie's favorite, I think she went on 3 times.

End of summer fun

One of our very last days of summer fun was spent at the Corvallis aquatic center, they have a fabulous pool. Ellie and Jack each had a friend and they had a blast. Then we came home changed clothes and headed to a Volcanoes baseball game. Great summer fun!

Bullwinkles

I go a little crazy at the end of summer trying to cram every fun event in that I can. The kids and I decided on the zoo, but ended up at Bullwinkles. We had a lot of fun. Jack loves mini-golf and arcade games. And Ellie, well she loves everything. I even did the bumper boats with her since Jack didn't want to get wet. As you can see from that picture we got VERY wet, but it was a hot day so it felt nice.

Sunriver

Sunriver has always been one of our very favorite family vacations. We have been going every summer with my mom. This year was even better because our best friends the Fultons came along with Julie's parents Don and Colleen. So we had a three generations family and friend fabulous vacation. We cram so much fun into 5 nights that I just had to post a random collection of pictures. The highlights of our trip : Lots of swimming(including Ellie's favorite the flow rider), football and tennis at the park, bike riding, High Desert museum, bouncy house, bumper cars, mini golf, long walks, ice cream at Goody's, dinners together (with lots of wine for the adults), hot tubs, and lots of laughs. We had a blast and hope to keep this summer tradition going.