Lots of Water Polo...

We've had a busy week, with some of us being a bit under the weather.  James and David are becoming social butterflies.  They have both had birthday party invitations and David had a play date this week with some friends from school.  Both boys just want to hang out with friends on the play ground after school, so we spend most afternoons just hanging out at the play ground.  

Tuesday was our first league water polo game.  It went well and the girls won.  But best of all - it was really well refed and so the kids were able to have fun!  

James had Activity Days on Wednesday - but was in a bit of a grumpy mood for it, but David had a blast.   

Friday, I met up with a bunch of friends for lunch and we had a great time chatting and eating.  It's amazing how fast the week went though.  It felt like it had barely started and it was almost over.  

We had a busy weekend.  Evelyn and Aaron had a youth temple trip on Saturday morning.  Anna was gone Friday and Saturday at the Encore retreat.  She had a great time, but came home tired!  

Dad and the younger boys kept busy - David had fun painting his fingers and my toes and Evie's toes

This weekend was also the big boys tournament at THills.  It was rough since we were down our strongest player and two of our other experienced players were getting over colds, we also struggled with people getting there on time, so we ended up forfeiting two of our games and just playing half games to get some play time, but still not kill the boys.  They did well - but it was a rough weekend.  

I also got to watch a lot of water polo - including some of the best teams in the state, which was a lot of fun.  I had fun chatting with the other coaches and parents and refs and I'm already looking forward to next weekend.  

Aaron and I were able to go to some of church before we had to leave for the game, and I got to direct the ward choir - and they did amazing.  Anna accompanied us and did an amazing job!  She is so talented and brave!  

School and Birthdays

It's been a busy week.  David is loving school and loves to talk about it after too.  We usually stop and play for a bit after school before heading home.  James generally dumps his backpack with me and David thinks it fun to carry it on top of his.  

 Monday evening, we had a water polo game, and it was a rough one - and one that has led me to communicating with the people in charge of water polo refs in the state.  Which has be seriously stressed out, but hopefully we can get it all resolved with no hard feelings and some changes made.  

Tuesday morning, Dan headed out to CA for a conference with Jon and Sandi.  The conference was good and they got home safe and sound Friday evening.  

Wednesday was my birthday.  Dan had got a bunch of things ready for me before he left, so he cooked my birthday cake and had left a card with my gift in it for me to open on my birthday.  Otherwise, I spent the day doing most of the normal things.  Dan and Sandi called to sing happy birthday to me, but Dan dropped out half way through when he decided that Sandi sounded better alone.  lol

Friday we celebrated Evelyn's birthday.  She is officially a teenager now.  She had a few friends over for a sleepover.  They had a blast listening to music and painting nails and watching movies and eating snacks.  

Saturday, I took Anna and went to play water polo - should have brought Aaron too.  We had fun though and then after, we headed home and I showered and Dan and I went to the temple and met up with John and Melissa, then went to dinner with them after.  I love living near family!  

Today, Eileen and David have been feeling a bit under the weather.  I don't know that David will be able to go to school tomorrow, he was coughing a lot today.  :(  Otherwise, it was a great day.  We had a nice day playing games and doing crafts and chatting with family.  

Back to School...kinda

Dan and I packed up Monday morning and walked on the beach to get breakfast at our new favorite bakery, then we checked out and headed out.  We stopped at Rockaway one last time to get Dan a sweatshirt, then we headed towards Tillamook for a bit, we went to the Blue Heron cheese place and walked through some of the cute downtown shops, then we headed back to Beaverton for lunch and a stop at the game store before heading home.  

The kids did great, Grandma said they were good and the older ones were a big help - but they made her do all the dishes....  Grandma headed out early Tuesday morning - even before the kids were getting up for school.  James and Aaron started on Tuesday.  David and I got to get in our walks walking James to school!  

On Tuesday, David and I went down to the school for a meet the families day.  David got to meet the Kinder teachers and see the class rooms and I got to talk to the teachers and tell them about David! 

Evelyn started school on Wednesday.  The high school age kids started Seminary on Wednesday, and if Anna had realized that Band was first period and not second, she would have started her one class at the high school on Wednesday.  

 

On Thursday, David got to go to school with half of his class for the first day.  They spent their time learning about how things work and getting to know their teacher.  David loved it.  When I came to pick him up, he was sad because he wanted more time to play, so I let him stay and play on the playground for a bit before we met up with James and his friends at the park.    I spent my day cleaning and running some errands with Eileen and Anna 

David's second day of school isn't until Monday - Friday the other half of the class went, but he starts full time every day on Monday.  He loves being in Kindergarten and loves meeting new people and making new friends. 

Saturday morning, Evelyn wanted to go to a little Beaverton Parade.  She had friends from school and church in the parade.  So she and David and I went and had a great time.  Everyone was tossing candy, so David was happy as a clam.  

He was so loaded up with candy that his pants were falling down.  

After, we went home, then I headed out to water polo.  It was great getting to play, I've missed it this week!  When I got home David saw me and ran to me saying "what were you doing?"  I told him I was playing water polo and asked him what he had been doing and he gave me a huge hug and said "loving you!"  It was so cute!  In the evening, we had a ward BBQ that we went to and had fun hanging out with friends and neighbors!  

Church today was wonderful!  I went to Relief Society with Eileen today since it was her first day moving up to Relief Society.  She seemed to enjoy it, though she mostly sat quietly and listened.  It was a great discussion and a great lesson!  After, we had ward choir and they are sounding so good!  Finally, in the evening after dinner, I took Anna to her first Encore rehearsal and the parents meeting before.  It was such a neat experience!  

Eileen and Anna don't start their college classes for awhile yet, but they are all ready for the new school year too! 

Home and Away

It's been a crazy and wonderful week!  It started out with lots of water polo as usual.  Anna and Aaron and I had practice every day and they are amazing.  They work so hard and learn so quickly!  I also had my last week of masters until after the season is over :(  But at least I got a couple good days of play in.  

At home David and I have been having fun together.  The older 3 usually sleep in, so David and I go to my work outs together and play together and have fun together.  He saw on my computer a picture I took of him playing with his Duplo blocks and wanted to get them out and play with them again, so he had fun playing with his blocks and making me take silly pictures of him.   

On Thursday, our family was finally back together!  Eileen, Evelyn and Grandma and Grandpa arrived and I picked them up and drove them home.  It is so good to have everyone back home again and so nice to have Grandma and Grandpa here!  My dad came to the kids water polo practice to watch and help him stay awake since he was still a bit jet lagged.  

On Friday morning, my Dad went home to Texas and my Mom stayed here so Dan and I could have a weekend anniversary trip.  So Friday late morning, Dan and I took off and headed for the coast.  We stopped for lunch, then headed out to go Zip Lining.  We loved it, but when they offered the option to just dip a hand or a food in or get soaked, Dan chose "get soaked" and he did.  So he was very wet and rather cold by the end!  But we had a great time!  After, we headed to our hotel room and got checked in so he could take a hot shower, then we walked down to Rockaway Beach for dinner.  I found some Hawaiian Teriyaki Chicken and he got clam chowder.  

Saturday we started off walking into town for breakfast, then drove to where our adventure for the day was while looking for places to stop and look around.  We ended up walking on the beach before getting back in plenty of time for our horse back riding!  The weather was perfect, though rather foggy at points, it was also warm and not rainy.  We had a great ride though!  

After, we headed back to Rockaway for dinner and some shopping.  We got a couple souvenirs and found an Indian food truck for dinner.  It was really yummy!  

Today, Dan and I walked to church in the morning and then home after.  The weather was beautiful!  After, we played some games and then decided to find a nature trail to go walk around.  We spent the whole afternoon at Cape Meares Scenic Viewpoint.  We checked out every trail we could find and got to see a lighthouse, lots of nesting bird sights, the Octopus tree, a really big tree and a longer hike down to the beach.  It was just beautiful and though the weather was overcast, it wasn't rainy, so we had good weather too!  

After tiring ourselves out, we headed back to our hotel for leftovers and a gorgeous view from our balcony!  We have really loved having this one on one time together!!  It's been a wonderful few days!