Ethan's School Spirit Week

In October, Centennial had Spirit Week and we had fun celebrating it!

Monday was Silly Sock Day

 Tuesday was Crazy Hair and Pajama Day

 Carter wanted to have crazy hair, too!

 Wednesday was Sports Day

 Thursday was the Pumpkin Fund Run and the kids wore orange.  I guess I missed a picture that day!

Friday was book character day.  Ethan was Bob the Builder.  This was before he put on his vest and hat.  But I thought it was so cute how he wanted his little brothers in the picture with him!

Ethan sure loved his first year of school at Centennial.  And fun events like Spirit Week are a huge part of why he loved it so much!  I'm thankful for all of the teachers who work so hard to make school a good experience for the kids!

Pumpking Patch 2014--Yes, Over a Year Ago!!

So the goal is to catch up on the last year!  A lot is always going on, but I'm not sure we have been taking as many pictures as we usually do, so it might not be as hard as I'm thinking!

So, October 2014 is where we are!  Our kiddos always look forward to our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  We usually try to go on a weekday to avoid the crowds and with Ethan only having half-day Kindergarten we were able to pick a nice, sunny weekday to head out.  But first, a a quick pic of this little guy.  He took a face plant into the pavement the day before.  His poor mouth was so beat up.

 So we headed out to Schilter Family Farm after Ethan got out of school for the day.  We hit up the hay maze first.

 Even Ashton got in on the fun--with a little help from Mom!

 We made a quick stop to play at the giant sandbox where Carter found some fun treasures.

 By far, the highlight of the day for our boys is the hay jump.

 Ashton had a lot of fun playing in the hay.

 We stopped by the petting zoo for a visit with the animals.  Ashton was LOVING it.

 These giant tube slides were new to our boys last year.  They had a lot of fun once they weren't scared of them.

 Ashton loved riding on the mini tractors.

 Cheesin' with the pumpkins!

 Heading out on the tractor ride to pick some pumpkins of our own!  Ashton loved the whole experience.

 Me and my boys

 Selfie with Dad

 Seeing how they measure up this year!

 Bouncing on the giant trampoline

 Posing on the tractor on our way to the car

I feel like we could spend a whole day at the farm and not get bored.  It's right up our boys' alley and the perfect way to start off the Halloween season!

Wrapping Up Birthday Celebrations in Long Beach, WA

My dad has a friend who has an amazing beach house in Long Beach that they rent out.   We went two summers ago over my dad's birthday and this summer he decided he wanted to do it again.  This time we decided to stay two nights, which was nice since it's such a long drive.  It was nice to have a full day of playing to look forward to. This home is perfect for our family.  There is a really fun game room downstairs as well as a bedroom that's perfect for the boys.  So Friday evening we unpacked and spent some time playing downstairs.  Our boys really had fun with the air hockey table this year.

 Tristan and I got in a few games of pool while the boys played air hockey with Papa.

 Saturday morning we headed into town to walk through a few shops and make a trip to play in the arcade.  Grandma and Papa treated the boys to actually playing the video games!

 Carter had fun with this version of "Whack-a-Mole".

 Teaming up!

 By the time we got back, the clouds had burned off and it was looking like it was going to be a beautiful day--which is impressive for the last weekend in September!  The view from the house is wonderful.  You can see the water and it's a short walk to the beach.  Since this area is all residences, the beach has very little traffic, too.

 Ashton had so much fun running around on the beach.  He loved having no limits!

 We found this fish skull.  Yuck.

 The boys all had fun digging and building in the sand.

 It never ceases to amaze me how much Ethan loves getting out in that COLD water.  That's him in the distance with Tristan, diving in!

 Carter decided to stay closer to shore and play with me and Ashton.

 Ashton really wanted to get out there with Ethan and Tristan.  Tristan did end up taking him out later and he would just lay his head on Tristan's shoulder.  Maybe it was nap time, but I think the liked the sound of the water.  :)

 Papa pulled out some kites and we did some flying while we had a little picnic on the beach.

 Ethan spent some time digging in this little trench he found.

 Ashton decided to eat some sand.  Yuck.

 The boys trying out our kite

 That afternoon we went back for some playing and my dad's birthday dinner.

 Tristan decided to take the riding lawnmower for a spin and mow their lawn for them.  Carter was a great helper.

 I simplified this year and just got some carrot cake cupcakes from Costco for my dad's birthday cake.

 And a special cupcake for Ashton.  Since it was only a week after his birthday, I decided to just wait to do cake for Ashton when Tristan was home.

 We had a beautiful sunset that night.

 Time to make a wish!  Papa cheated with some helpers!

 Here we go!

 Hmmm....what is this?

 Oh!  This is good!

 This is really, REALLY good!

 I want to gobble it all up--even the plate--because it's so good!

 Birthdays are AWESOME!!!

It was so fun to watch Ashton's excitement grow and he got more and more into his cake.  The next morning we got up and went to church.  We came back and did a brunch and packed up to head home. We really have come to love staying in Long Beach and my dad would really like to do it every summer.  I'm so grateful for time spent with family celebrating!