Back to School!

A big day at our house today. The kids started school again. I think we were all ready for school to start again.

This is my attempt to be a fun mom and have a cute treat for the kids when they got home from school.

The kids thought that I should have my picture taken, too, since its kind of back to work for mom--making breakfast. No more sleeping in for me while the kids help themselves to sugar-loaded cold cereal.
Zach is definitely ready for band class to start again. Those trombones are so loud!
Haley all ready to go! Favorite thing about the first day of school: "recess" Worst thing about first day of school: "practicing lining up" Brayden--Favorite thing: "lunch" Worst thing: "I don't think there was really anything bad"
Zach-- Favorite thing: "going from class to class instead of staying in the same class all day" Worst thing: "riding the bus"

It was an overall good day for everyone. I enjoyed the quieter morning and getting a lot more done than I do with all the kids home. Here we go with another school year!

Our Last Hurrah!

We had our "last hurrah" before school starts with the kids this last weekend. We took them to the Riot Zone since that's where they've been begging to go all summer. Usually as school gets close I feel like we didn't get to play as much as we'd like. But, this summer we played and played and we took full advantage of it--it was a great summer! Brett and I had a weekend getaway to Newport, Oregon 3 weeks ago. This was our third consecutive year to go--we love it! Thanks mom for making that possible by watching the kids! Of course, I forgot my camera so no photo highlights of the trip, but it was great! Here are some of the Riot Zone highlights.
Brett, Zach, Brayden and Haley played mini golf. Congratulations to the low scorer--Zach!
Nate and Kacie cracked me up when they put on the jousting head gear. Nate, you are so strong!!
Ok, I will admit, the go-karts were really fun. As you can tell, I am having way more fun than Kacie is!
Brayden was the awesome climber of the day! He made it all the way to the top only to find out that the bell at the top was broken and so no siren to go off telling the world of his achievement.

Nate and Haley are on the go-karts. Nate LOVED the cars and even passed Haley. He was so funny to watch.
Brett took Kacie for a ride, also--yep, I definitely had the most fun!
Nate and Kacie had a fun time jumping and playing on the inflatable toys. It was a fun family day!:)

Five Little Monkeys . . .

The kids were really excited to get their own rooms when we built our house. I think they actually slept in their own rooms for the first month. Then, the boys started moving into Brayden's room. A few nights ago the girls moved in as well. I thought it was really cute and funny--we have A LOT of square feet in this house and they all sleep within 50. Somehow Brayden came out the best with getting to stay in his bed. I wonder how long it will last until Zach starts having back pain from sleeping on the floor! As long as they're happy that's great with me! Sleep tight!

Reunion in Afton

We spent last Saturday in Afton Wyoming at a Robinson reunion. All of grandpa Robinson's sisters, their kids and their kids were there. Of course, a reunion isn't a reunion without:
some soccer. . .

some of that golf ball game--beats me what the name of it is. . .

some horseshoes. . .

and some badminton!

We also had a nice game of bunco with the ladies and I scored a prize for biggest loser. So, even though I was the biggest loser, I won! It was nice to get reacquainted with some family that we haven't seen in at least 5 years! Thanks to Aunt Sheila who hosted a fun day for us!

Swimming Lessons

The continuing saga of our summer. Haley and Nate have had swimming lessons the last couple of weeks. Zach is a good swimmer, Brayden said lessons were boring and Kacie is too young so it was just these two. Nate LOVES the water! Its almost scary because I think he would totally jump in by himself. We really have to watch him. Haley is getting to be a pretty good little swimmer, too.

Haley knows how to strike a pose for the camera! Here she is before her lessons start.

Not sure what the group was doing here. She made a good little friend in the girl to the right of her.

Nate is ready to go with the rest of his group. You have to give these teachers credit for teaching these young kids to swim!

Caught Nate in the middle of doing a log roll. Wish I had a camera that took better action pictures! (then again its probably not the camera!:))

We have already started the next chapter of summer--soccer. The three older kids play and have just started games. Stay tuned for those highlights!! :)

Camping for the 4th!

We had a great fourth of July camping near Kilgore! We went with Brett's mom and dad and his sister Katie and her family were there for a day with us. It was so nice to get away for a few days and enjoy the outdoors!

This is a picture of us watching the fireworks with our ice cream cones. We were really close to the fireworks and had to cover the ice cream so the debris wouldn't fall in it! This is the way to go! No spending money at the firework stands and no clean up afterwards--its great!

Nate and Kacie found "nature's chair" (that's what grandpa called it) with this tree. It was really cool how it split like that--just like a little seat.

Zach and Brayden had fun riding around on their motorbikes. Zach scares me with his no-hands trick! The kids also love to spend the time playing cards with grandma. We also hiked up to Aldous Lake and fished. Zach was the only lucky angler in the group to catch a fish. Poor Nate was so sad he didn't get one.

We love to go up to the mountains and camp. It was a great way to spend the 4th!

Virginia City

We took a day trip to Virginia City, Montana last Saturday. It is just over 2 hours away. Zach got an invitation to go with a friend to their family cabin and didn't even hesitate to take the invitation. Is he getting "too cool" for his family already? Oh boy, here we go with pre-teen attitudes! Anyway, the rest of us had a fun time walking around the old-west town. They have a lot of artifacts from mid 1800's that I thought were really interesting.

This is Brett and the kids on the trolley train that took us from Virginia City to Nevada City. (which is also an old ghost town with some original buildings)

Haley, Brayden and Nate at the entrance of the school house. Haley commented on the desks and how she wishes she had desks like those in her school.

Of course, you can't end a hot day with out ice cream! We got some at a place that makes it homemade. I ordered the small for Kacie and so was surprised when she was handed a double scoop!

I knew there was no way she could handle that! Brayden to the rescue with a bowl and just in the nick of time!

I thought I had stepped into the set of Little House on the Prairie! It brought back some memories of one of my favorite shows as a kid. We all had a nice day together but we sure missed Zach!