the end of summer

these past few weeks have flown by like a tornado. it's been fun, but disorienting at the same time. here are some pics from the events.
Salem Days:
the kiddie parade
Fiona was a princesss, Wesley rode his bike, Ian walked and dressed up as a knight. Lydia & I were the hula girls (Lydia even wore the coconut bra, I felt too weird in mine and just went for a tropical flower in the hair instead)
Lydia won 'Biggest Eyes' in the baby contest. What can I say our kids are DARLING!!
the grand parade
I don't have any pics, because I decided to do a booth this year and missed the grand parade. I think I'd rather catch the parade next year. Booths just are my thing.
pageant fun
Austin volunteered when they asked for folically (spelling?) challenged males. He won a cool pillow that actually seemed to help his snoring a little. And we got some great pics. The kids made it all the way to the fireworks, Lydia loved them. the others thought they were just okay. We were really tired the next morning.






After we recovered from Salem Days I had the brilliant idea of making the family hike to Timp Cave. The kids did great, real troopers. Wesley, Ian & Fiona made it all the way up and down on their own. Lydia was not fun in the cave, she screamed because she was sick of being held and had missed her nap. When we got back to the bottom, we all breathed a huge sigh of relief. I would like to do more hiking with the kids, but we'll definitely have to make the hikes more kid friendly.



Wesley, Ian & Fiona had their vaulting showcase on the 7th. It was so much fun to watch, they did a great job. The boys have decided to not continue with the sport (it's a female dominated area), but Fiona is still going strong and loving it. The video wouldn't load, but I'll try again later.

Lastly, here is a pic of my budding artist. Fortunately, most of the mess is contained by strapping her in the high chair.

Just a side note, school started yesterday and I got some darling picks of Wesley on his first day. I'm going to hold off posting them until Ian starts kindergarten next week. Then you'll get a double dose of handsomeness to the extreme.