camping

It's a little overwhelming starting a HUGE post. I have just over 500 pictures/videos from our latest trip to Austin, so I'll have to break it up into small posts, just to keep my sanity. :) Here are the pictures from our campsite. This time, we stayed at McKinney Falls State Park. We had water and electricity at our site and it was LOVELY. Solace thought the water was especially fun...

There was lots of bug catching and tree climbing and fossil hunting. I seriously LOVE camping with my family. It is SO different from everyday life.

Can you spot Matix in this picture?

While hunting, the kids found this toy turtle. It looked pretty real in the pictures though. :)

Solace practicing fishing...

Hawken looking especially cute, snuggling with "Monk" on his new big boy booster seat. He finally meets the weight/height requirements for a booster, and we got it a few days before we left.

My view in the tent. Lullaby and I shared a bed. Solace was in a pack-and-play. Paul shared with Matix. Hawken was a floater. He always started with Paul, but ended with me.

Even car rides were exciting. Silly Hawkers.

Solace's new favorite thing to do is "drive" the car. When we are stopped for potty breaks, I take him up into the front seat with me and nurse him. Then he DRIVES while we wait for the big kids to come back.

Camping in Texas in August is HOT. I spent lots of time the first two nights, fanning the kids with a blankie so they would sleep. Like HOURS of fanning. So we bought a fan and an extension cord and that was literally the best purchase of my life. SO worth it. :)  I don't want to hear any whining about how that's not REAL camping either. It was a life or death situation. We needed a fan! :)

pool day

Before going on our camping trip, we had a fun pool party day with Laurel's family. They have the best pool and the kids were WAY excited about it.

Then they found the dress up clothes, and it was a par-tay!  Lullaby about died when she saw the Elsa cape. I'm thinking she may just have to be Elsa for Halloween.

We played and played and Solace, being the sweet baby that he is, lay his head down on the cement when he was getting tired.  No crying, could I love this baby any more? Nope.

We left Sakina with them so we could go camping. And she had the BEST time. The boys entertained her and loved on her. She ate all of Rex's food and was totally depressed when we took her back home. Thanks for taking such good care of her Laurel!

play date

We went to Matix's new school playground for an informal get-to-know-you play date with a few other future kindergarteners. There were only a handful of other kids, but it was nice to meet a few. Having a friendly face on the playground in a few weeks when kindergarten actually starts will be a good thing. Lullaby was looking particularly cute in her new favorite hairstyle, "two piggy tails up on top!".

Solace and Daddy enjoying a few snacks.

Matix brought his new lunch box with our snacks, and was so proud to show it off. He met a little boy who also brought his new backpack and had a Lego magazine in it. I'm hoping that boy will be in his class. We shall see.

 No pictures of Hawken or myself, but we were there too. Just busy. I was chasing Matix, in hopes that I could meet the parents of his new friends, and Hawken was running around trying find the most dangerous thing on the playground. Typical.

mud puddles

A few days after a big rain, the yard is SOMETIMES ready to play in. Other days it's still a swamp. On those swampy days, I prefer for the kids to play inside or on the patio, instead of getting super muddy. But that doesn't always happen.  When checking to see what my big boys were up to, I saw a pile of wet clothes near the door... Not a good first peek.

Then I saw them making mud forts for their dinosaurs, and jumping down from the fortress into mud puddles. They were having so much fun.

They are best friends. I think Matix will be missed mostly by me when school starts, but second most by Hawken. They are two peas in a pod.

Afterward, I hosed them off and got them dressed, again.

birth MONTH

Some people know, that I like to celebrate my whole birth MONTH. Paul, probably the most wonderful husband in the world, indulges me with the birth month idea. On the first of the month, he came home with treats and cakes from The Chocolate Bar. Yes please!

birthday girl

Today I am 30. THIRTY! That's pretty big. I think I might be an adult now. I have been married for over 8 years, and I do have 4 kids, perhaps it's time to think of myself as a grown up.  I have been given several wonderful and thoughtful gifts, including a very sweet love letter from Paul, and whispered "I love you"'s and "Happy Birthday Mommy"'s from the kids this morning, and packages mailed to me from family far away. One of the most surprising and exciting gifts was a package that came from someone I didn't know... an Ebay seller in another state. The package had a childhood book of mine, I talked about it here. Well, my dad is a crazy good Ebay hunter and he bought me the book! I was super surprised because it isn't cheap, so I hope he got a better deal than the ones currently listed, just an illustration from the book is going for $200, what?!

Thanks Dad for the super thoughtful gift! Who knew that while turning 30, I would want a children's book of nonsense stories... :) Also, it's in perfect condition, better than the one that we wore out when I was little. Yay! Happy Birthday to me!

The rest of my plans today are not as exciting. Paul has to work until about 7pm tonight, and he left before we woke up. The kids are currently coloring me pictures and humming happy birthday to themselves. They also have plans for me to bake myself a cake.  We'll see. :)

goodbyes

Jolie and Alexandra left early on Sunday morning and so we said our goodbyes the night before. It was a bittersweet celebration. Lots of hugs and pictures and wrestling. Alexandra was here for most of the summer and it was a very fun filled summer. The kids especially miss her, she was just part of the crew.

Having five kids with me all the time wasn't easy for me. In fact, it was quite challenging sometimes, but I like a good challenge and I am so happy that she spent some time with us. Love you Alexandra.