Check one item off the bucket list today.

I made it up Mount Royal.

Now, if you are in decent shape and love grand mountain top views, this is the hike for you.  But.  If you have a fairly legitimate fear of heights, like me, it is a bit intimidating.  I look at this peak every day. Every single day. It is gorgeous!  Now I can say it is beautiful from the top and bottom. I have to admit (mainly because my husband was with me and he reads this blog) I did have to stop a few times, get my bearings and I might even have thought about turning around a few times but after catching my breath and getting better footing, I let go of the tree and kept going.  I am super proud of myself.  The top was amazingly gorgeous.  We are so blessed to live in the shadow of this mountain.

Once we got to the top, I could have stayed all day.  I should have brought my book and lunch.  While I was snapping pictures, I saw a light brown/orangish blur out of the corner of my eye and my heart stopped for a second. Of course, my first thought was mountain lion but luckily it was only a sweet little fox.  A fox that had obviously been fed before because he had no problem coming right up to us.  Scott kept scaring him away and I got some great shots of him. It kinda creeped me out at how close he kept getting.  We had heard that the moose was hanging around near this hike but we didn’t see him.  He was probably hanging out down by Rainbow Lake.

Have a great holiday weekend!  We are going to be busy with work, friends and play!!!

Well, Mason woke up feeling great this morning so off he went to first grade.  We all walked to the bus stop and he happily hopped on with his big sisters.  He sat by Alice and smiled at me out of the bus window.  He really has no fear of anything (except the dark and bugs) which can be good and bad:)  I am sure he is already giving his sweet teacher a run for her money!  So, as promised, here are his first day of school pictures.

 

Have a great day, my sweet little guy!  

Paige.

She is eight.

She loves her babies and stuffed animals.

She is silly.

She is sweet.

She resembles her momma.

She has her daddy’s eyes.

She is beautiful.

She is unique.

She is loved.

Yesterday, Sam went back to school.

Today, Alice, Paige and Mason had their first day back.

Except, Mason didn’t go to school because he is in bed sick.  Really sick.  Vomiting and other things sick.

So, Alice and Paige had their first day pictures taken.  And Mason…well, I think we will wait until he can be upright:)

They were super nervous (riding the bus for the first time) and excited (they both have new teachers).

My beautiful, bright, thoughtful, kind girls.

Alice {5th Grade}

Paige {3rd Grade}

My baby.

The first day of middle school.

It was also his first day riding the bus.

Where, oh where, has the time gone?

I cried. And it was ugly.

He smiled and ran off.

 

At least one of us was happy…

See you tomorrow, when all the rest of the kids get on the bus and head back to school.

Sincerely,

Helicopter Mom

One activity at a time!

Much like last August and the one before that, I haven’t posted much.  It is for many reasons but mainly because there just isn’t enough time in the day and if there was I was too tired:)

On top of it all we found time to enjoy the end of our summer by mountain biking the peninsula, listening to music in the park downtown, getting frozen yogurt and playing with our friends.  It was an awesome summer and I am always sad to see the kids go back to school.

 

My friend, Kathryn, and I competed in the Frisco Duathlon.  I trail ran (15k) and she mountain biked (15k).  It was super fun and we are definitely racing this one again next summer.  As you can see we finished in second.  There may or may not have been only two teams in our division.  Since I have never finished second in a race, I will take it:)

We surprised Paige and celebrated a special day that only she had the opportunity to enjoy; Lefty Day, August 13th.  She was thrilled to have her own day and use the special plate!

 

For the second time, Scott ran the Leadville 100 trail race.  He ran a great race for 80 miles but unfortunately his body wore out and he was not able to finish.  We are so proud of him!  It takes an enormous amount of physical and mental strength to get to 80 miles.  He is an amazing athlete!

Sam started school today and the other kids go back tomorrow.  This momma is not so happy.  Of course, I look forward to getting back into a routine and the opportunity to get some work done around the house and at the shop.  I also can’t wait for some dates with my husband. We love dropping kids off at school and then getting breakfast or climbing a rock or biking around a lake, together.  So, even though I am super sad about having to get up early, make lunches and kiss my babies goodbye for a whole day, I have so much to look forward to.

Here we come alarm clocks, homework, soccer, cross-country, Girls on the Run, reading charts and peanut butter and jellies!

 

 

This past week we spent some time with Scott’s family in Michigan.  We spent most of the week at Houghton Lake just hanging out swimming, tubing and catching up.  It is always a great way to spend a week in Michigan.

We started out the week by attending our 20th year class reunion in Flushing.  Scott and I graduated high school together (shoot, we went to second grade together) so it was super fun to see some of our classmates from waaaayyy back:)

 

Scott and I twenty years ago at our high school graduation.  I don’t think we have aged a bit.  Well, maybe a little…….

 

We took the kids roller skating at the same place that we went when we were their ages.  Crazy time warp:) It looked exactly the same…..

The kids thought it was really funny that this was the same place where I celebrated my 10th birthday.

 

Here are some lake pictures, just a few of the many I took.  The kids enjoyed their time with the Michigan cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents.  Thank you to Uncle Tom for giving us the opportunity to spend a week at the lake. He sacrificed his time and his home for all of us.  Eleven kids and eight adults take over the cabin for a week and he just smiles:)

 

Now we are getting back to reality! The kids are going back to school in two weeks. We have a lot to accomplish in the next few days; backpacks, school supplies, registrations, well-checks, oh my!!!!!!!