Quick Camping Trip

At the end of our last camping trip we threw away our tent as it had ripped and torn in too many places to be worth trying to fix.  As soon as I saw 10 person, instant up tents at Costco this year, I bought one.  So, with the new tent sitting in the garage, I've been itching to go camping. 

I googled a bit to find something that's not too far away and that wouldn't be too cold at night and found Casini Family Ranch on the Russian River.  It turned out to be a great find.  The drive up there turned out to be longer than expected, due to some navigational problems, but we made it without any kid meltdowns!!! 

We had such a great time.  Our campsite was right on the river, and everyone loved running around down there (especially Banjo)!  The campground had a playground, a duck pond, and a darling general store.  One of the highlights of the trip was the sluice box.  The store sells bags of sand mixed with fossils and gemstones and has a sluice box where you can pan for gems!  The kids had a blast and we loved watching them find their gems.  The best part was that after they were done panning we were back at our campsite and I sat in the sun and read my book while Carey and Kacie napped and the big kids examined their treasures!  We also loved having uncle Noah and aunt Kellie come visit us for dinner the second night.

Overall the trip was a blast and we can't wait to go back!

Camping dinner:)

Early morning at the river

This kid was SO happy to be camping!

Feeding the ducks (and hissing at the geese)

Learning how to use the sluice box

panning for gems

Identifying the treasures!

Kacie loved hanging out by the river

Haley, Abby and Seth loved playing on this "island"

Hanging out with aunt Kellie and uncle Noah

This girl LOVED camping!

Happy campers

7 and 8 Months

I figured I had better write about Kacie being 7 and 8 months before she hits the 9 month mark!!  By the way, I just want to clarify that it's home schooling and not having a fourth child that is the reason for the lack of blogging.  Everyone says that the first year of home schooling is the hardest, and while I have dabbled in it a little, with one kid for a half of a year and then another kid for another half a year, this is our first full time, two kid year!  I am clinging to the hope that everyone is right; that it's going to be easier after this year!  Right now, in the evenings, when I might blog, I'm online searching for lesson ideas and looking at standards and printing out worksheets.  It's been a really hard year for me, mostly because of the constant fear that we're not doing enough.  I'm not teaching enough.  They're not learning what I'm trying to teach.  I don't know what I'm doing.  It's all just scary.  I have to keep coming back to the the truth that I feel like home schooling my sweet daughters was God's idea, and he's not going to give me a bad idea!

Okay, on to miss Kacie Grace.  Miss Grace.  Kacie Lou Lou, Lou Lou Bear, Baby Bear...she's got a lot of nicknames!  She continues to be such a delight!  We all love her more and more all the time, and I can tell the kids are feeling the bittersweetness of her growing up and changing so much so fast.  They'll say that they wish she would stay small, and they miss when she was so tiny, but they love seeing what she can do, now that she's big.

As I type, she's sitting on the floor next to me, happily emptying a basket of toys!  She's got her two bottom teeth (cutest thing ever) and has found her loud voice.  She doesn't really scream, but she will yell if she wants some attention.  Or if I'm not feeding her fast enough!  It's really hard to wait 3 seconds for another bite of peas or sweet potatoes!  She's learning to be gentle when she pets Banjo, and she's so pleased with herself when she does it.  She loves taking a bath, but seems afraid of any other water (at the beach she is constantly clinging to me, looking toward the ocean and then away, kind of fussing about it's existence).  The other day our friends set up their big, bounce house water slide and every time one of the kids went down and splashed into the water, she freaked out!  I thought it was pretty funny.

She LOVES the swings:)

Big girl at the table!

Supporting the Seahawks for Uncle Judah's birthday.

Pig-tails!

6 Months!

Oh my goodness!  My sweet, baby girl is already 6 months old!  The past half a year has flown by, and I'm sure it'll feel like tomorrow that she's turning 1 year old!  She continues to be a joy, freely giving out smiles.  She thinks that Abby, Haley and Seth are hilarious, and is very interested in Banjo (who is not thrilled with her loving to pull on his ears).  She might be a thrill seeker, as she loves to be swung around wildly, tossed in the air, and have the kids be super loud and wild in her face! 

A couple new things for Kacie are that she can sit up now (hooray) and she eats some solid food.  So far she has had sweet potatoes and avocado; both of which she's enjoyed.  Also, she got dedicated at our church, and she moved from our room into Seth's room.

Somehow she got a candy cane when we were building gingerbread houses!  I thought she was sucking on her hand!!

She loves her sweet potatoes:)

The Webber girls!

Getting dedicated to Jesus

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving felt like three really long, full days!  It started on Wednesday, when we got to go visit our dear friends, the Armstrongs.  They live in Portland (remember the trip we took earlier this year) and were visiting Stacey's family at their ranch in Salinas.  The kids had a great time running around playing and we got in some good visiting time.  From there we went to my parents' house to visit Uncle Nate and his girlfriend, Cassandra, and Auntie Melissa and Uncle Judah (we weren't going to be there on Thanksgiving and they were all leaving on Friday morning).  It was a fun day, but we were all tired by the end of it (well, I was tired at the beginning of it)!

For a couple of years the kids and I have been talking about doing a race on Thanksgiving morning, but the only one that's local is kind of expensive and doesn't have a 1K for kids.  So, this year I organized a kids race; The Turkey Racers (Seth named it).  We did it at the beach on Thanksgiving morning and it was a hit!  I had been a little worried that we were all so excited about it (and I had spent a bit of time planning it) and then the kids were going to be disappointed, but it was so much fun.  My kids were superstar runners, and everyone that came had a lot of fun.  I think a highlight for everyone was when the dads did a bear crawl race!  There was definitely some fierce competition in that race! 

The littles, all ready to start their race!

And then it was the big kids' turn!

First place finisher:)

Ready for the bear crawl!

 We came home from the race, baked a couple desserts, then hopped in the car to head up to Grandpa Steve and Grandma Jackie's.  We had a great time chatting and visiting (and eating) with family:)  The best part was that all four kids fell asleep on the way home!

These cuties were so happy to play at home for a little while.

Hundreds, tens, and ones blocks aren't just for math!

Kacie got her first taste of food (it seemed like an appropriate day for the milestone)

Kacie liked hanging out with aunt Sue

 

Abby got a whole turkey leg!

A beautiful sight:)

 Friday morning we went back to Grammie Lori and Poppa Phil's house because my mom wanted a picture of all her kids together with significant others (and children)!  While we were taking the picture, I noticed a larger than normal mosquito hawk dangling off the bottom of a table.  After the pictures were done, the bug was noticed and Uncle Judah walked over, grabbed it, and put it in his mouth!  There was a collective scream and then Abby wailed "that's never gonna leave my brain"!

After a couple hours of much needed down time at home we headed out to meet some of the Webbers for lunch at a restaurant on the wharf.  The food was delicious, the company was wonderful and the wee Webbers were very well-behaved!

5 Months

 Get ready for cuteness overload!  Kacie Grace is seriously adorable.  And big.  And adorable!  Her newest trick is that she spits up a lot!  Not the greatest trick ever.  She especially likes to do a big spit up as soon as she gets dressed and is all clean!  Kind of like how she loves to poop in a freshly changed diaper!  She did roll over a couple times (tummy to back), but then never did it again!  She does great at tummy time, and has been getting a little more regular about her naps.  And she LOVES "the birdy song" (ask us if you don't know it).  She will stop mid-cry if you sing it for her!  Every time!

Kacie went to her first fireworks show (and slept through the fireworks)

Everyone's right...she looks like daddy!

She was a mermaid for her first Halloween:)