Can you dig it?

Gunnar invited several friends to come over for a construction-themed birthday party. We got to liberally use his favorite color, orange, and I enjoyed designing lots of road-sign & DIY-themed decorations.

 

All of the party-goers were given a hard hat and work apron and then got to select a small construction vehicle. 

Here's the birthday boy ready to go in the "party zone." I didn't get a picture of it, but on the table in front of Gunnar I placed some 9x13 pans full of corn meal and rice for the children to dig and drive around in with their construction vehicles. This is a favorite playtime activity of Gunnar's.

By far the biggest hit (literally) at the party, though, was this hammering station. Here the kids used play hammers to pound golf tee "nails" into styrofoam blocks that we covered in paper that looked like wood.

If I'd known how much they would like doing this I would have had more hammers and more blocks. Still, they managed to take turns and no one got their fingers smashed. (They were using plastic hammers after all.)

All the construction workers took a turn "driving" our dump truck.

 

Adah really wanted to look like she was sitting in the driver's seat.

 

Maggie really got into the festive construction spirit. Her shirt says, "Caution Big Sister," and she made a hair bow out of caution tape. This girl knows how to accessorize.

I loved making Gunnar's birthday cake. It's what I consider a "traditional" birthday cake--3 layers of chocolate cake with my mom's killer chocolate frosting--with a backhoe and bulldozer digging into it. It was easy to make and tasted delicious.

And it made for a happy birthday boy and mom.

 

 

Now We Are Six

Gunnar-man turned 6 on October 3rd!  This little guy is growing up so much and we're so happy he's in our family. His boy-ness adds a definite twist to all the femininity in the air at our house.

Although there was a birthday party scheduled after school, Gunnar got to open family presents in the morning.

Nana and Gumpin (my parents) sent him two National Geographic Kids books about animals. Gunnar LOVES them. This kid just soaks up any and every animal fact he hears, so he just loves the photos and facts in these books.

We gave him some Legos.

We also gave him a skateboard and gave him one-time special permission to try it out in the hallway. Not bad for a first try.

 

Gunnar is having a great start to kindergarten. He's a model student--sitting still, keeping his hands to himself, raising his hand to talk, following directions quickly, completing his work, and just generally following the rules. He's progressing in his reading and improving his handwriting. I've always known Gunnar was a good boy, but he can be a bit wild and crazy at times, so seeing him adapt to the rules and routines of a classroom has been a source of great pride for me.

When we moved to California last year, Gunnar could have enrolled in kindergarten because the birthday deadline was different from what it is in Washington. However, I didn't feel that he was ready. This issue became a point of disagreement between the school district in Milpitas and us, and was one of the main reasons that we moved to a new city and school district this summer. Seeing Gunnar be so successful in school so far has just reinforced to me that we made the right decision in not sending him to kindergarten last year. He knew his ABCs, numbers, and tons of animal facts last year, but I don't think he was quite so ready to keep his spot on the rug and wait for recess to run and jump. Now that he's six, school is super!

Gunnar continues to be enthralled with tigers, dinosaurs, and prehistoric animals. He's a great bike-rider and has also been learning to roller blade. He's making friends at school and is a fun friend to his sisters at home. We sure love him.

Final Fall Camping Trip: The Next Day

Here are some cute kids after their night in the tent. Everyone slept pretty well, aided by our comfy pillows, which we didn't have room for on the last camp-out (after which I made a note to always make room for my pillow in the future).

 

 On the last trip I also made note of my cold ears and this time packed hats for everyone.

We got us up another great fire in the morning & had some pancakes for breakfast.

Then we broke camp, packed up the car, and re-parked the car near the visitors center so we could go hiking without worrying about getting back in time for check-out.

These morning rays of sun coming through the trees were just begging to be caught on camera. My family obligingly hammed it up in their poses.

Chosen One

Angelic Prayer

Shying Away

And here are just some cute poses of Maggie by a green pool:

 

We all crossed over this meager bridge. Here's proof that I was on the camping trip.

We saw several banana slugs. Here's Gunnar's foot for scale:

And the same slug by Holly's foot:

We finally settled down at a rocky shore by the creek. I claimed a spot in the sun while Damon and the kids did some more exploring.

 I found this butterfly softly resting on some of the rocks nearby.

 

Adah enjoyed getting her feet wet and playing in the water.

Holly looked at rocks. 

Gunnar rolled up his pant legs and got in a bit deeper.

...and reached a bit further....

Until he pretty much fell all the way in. The only dry thing for him to wear was Maggie's pink fleece. He was not loving that, (although I think he's smirking here, so maybe he didn't mind so much).

We eventually had to leave the creek and finish our hike. We were all getting hungry and wanted to get back to the car where our lunch--and dry clothes--awaited. We also had to get back for an afternoon birthday party for Gunnar and Holly and the Relief Society General Broadcast (a worldwide meeting for women) for me. I told you our weekends were busy!

Camping is fun, and even though it's hard work, I'm glad we make the effort. We always have a good time and make good memories with our kids.

Final Fall Camping Trip

We wanted to get one last camping trip in before the weather got too cold. Our Saturdays were looking pretty busy throughout the first months of school, but we finally found a weekend in late September when we could make it work. Damon got off work a bit early and we left as soon as the kids were out of school.  We were headed for Portola Redwoods State Park, a quiet little place not too far away in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Despite being a short distance away, the drive took awhile since it involved a narrow and winding road. Still, we arrived well before dark & got the tent set up before meandering down the road to the visitors center before it closed for the night.

We took an alternate path back from the visitors center along one of the park's hiking trails.

 

These tall trees never fail to impress me.

And there are always some great hiding spots. I love this photo because Maggie has her arm around Gunnar. She is wearing my old Brownie Girl Scout sash and Gunnar is wearing a homemade one, hoping to earn "badges" established by Maggie on the camping trip, like the River Badge. They had a lot of fun together on this camp-out.

The great part about camping with our children now is that they are old enough to help set up! Camping is fun, but can be so much work. Now that the kids have gotten bigger, they can take on responsibilities. While I made dinner, the kids got all the pads and sleeping bags unloaded from the car and rolled out in the tent. Then they set to work preparing for the fire, which is definitely the highlight of camping for my little pyromaniac family.

This was one of our better campfires, if you ask me. For once, we brought wood from home. We had some old fence boards that were nice and dry and burned quite nicely.

We had a great evening around the fire, roasting marshmallows, sitting, warming ourselves,

or just being silly!

 

I love this one of Damon looking at his girls. He's a great dad. He loves his kids.

And they love him!

 

More camping to come in the next post! I couldn't get all the photos to load into a single post.

Our Own Fancy Nancy(s)

In so many ways, Holly and Maggie are really just two peas in a pod. They both love pink. They love twirly skirts and bows, princesses, unicorns, butterflies. You know, all that girly stuff. I think every little girl goes through this stage around age 3 or 4. Adah did, but she grew out of it. Maggie has progressed a bit, but never moved all the way past. And now that she has Holly, she's got a little doll to dress up and cohort to go along with her.

Here's one of the latest fashion creations of Miss Maggie. There are three small bows attached to the headband. She's wearing fluffy pink chiffon hair scrunchies on her ankles. Notice the lanyard (typically used for name badges or work IDs) holding up the skirt.

 

It was attached (or accented?) in back with a large pink bow.

Hmm...it appears that in this picture Holly was a less-than-willing accomplice. I think she was ready to change and I made her pose for one more photo.

I love watching these sisters together.

Picnic Time for Teddy Bears

If you go down in the woods today,
You better go in disguise.
If you go down in the woods today,
You're in for a big surprise.
For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain because
Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic!

Apparently it's a kindergarten tradition in Gunnar's school to have a teddy bear picnic in September. I don't know what the lead-up is, but all the kids got to bring a teddy bear to school that day and then in the afternoon they came out in these adorable hats for a little picnic. They had crackers and carrots and cookies and other goodies.

I'm really not sure if there was any educational value in the whole thing, but it was a fun little event for the kids to look forward to, and it's always a big deal to be able to bring a stuffed animal to school.

And really, how cute are these hats?