Today was KAYLA'S first day of 2nd grade.

She was so excited, she came into my room at 7 a.m. to make sure we weren't going to be late. Her bus leaves at 8:30, which is a nice change from Colorado Springs. Last year she left on the bus at 7:30.

Yesterday, being Kayla's last day of summer our schedule seemed full of things to do. We spent the first half of the day at ZOoMbEzI BaY ; a new water park that is connected to the Zoo. Then we went to "meet the teacher" night. Kayla's teacher, Mr. D'Andrea, looks around 30 and seems to be mellow. I think Kayla will really like being in his class. From there we headed to OSU's stadium for the teams open practice. We counted this outing as F.H.E., since it was MONDAY. We didn't stay long since the kids were pretty tired by this point.

Walking around the stadium, listening to the band practice made me get excited for fall. I hate to see summer go but i love fall!!! Especially in OHIO!

Hocking Hills

When I was young I had fond memories going camping in Aspen Grove, Utah.

It was a Magical place, a place I thought, where fairies could live.

Hocking Hills is that place for my kids.

We enjoyed exploring some of the trails and then headed to the campsite where friends were going to camp.

Cute friends!

My Favorite thing, the Fire!

Spencer broke out the dutch-oven and made some yummy APPLE CRISP.

The girls HIGHLIGHT is always the smores.

Here are the ladies of the night.

(minus Stacey Anne who wasn't there yet and Lacy was setting up her tent)

Thank you Kristie (middle) for organizing the event

We didn't get to actually sleep-over since Spencer had a endo golf scramble today, but we sure had fun staying late... and then sleeping in our own beds. Hopefully next summer we will start the camping thing with the our kids.

To Kirtland and Back

We met up with Spencer's oldest sister Lori and her family:

Brad (husband), Stefanie (oldest daughter) & Max (her husband),

Lindsey (daughter), Bryson (son), and Jacob (son), on part of their

two week road trip.

We stayed at a HOTEL WITH them IN Kirtland, Ohio and then

made our way to Columbus, showing them some of our

favorite places. Oh, how my girls LOVE the attention from their

cousins. They were so sweet to my kids,

it was SAD to see them go!

FAMILY TIME... cosi & biking

We made it out to COSI's (center of science and industry) FAMILY FRIDAY NIGHT. The girls got free coupons from the library's summer reading program. I have been excited to take my kids here again. When we lived in Columbus two years ago I had a family pass. I enjoyed many cold winter days entertaining my girls here. They have so many cool things for them to play and learn with. We enjoyed seeing LOST EGYPT exhibit that is there now and seeing THE GRAND CANYON ADVENTURE in the IMAX theater.

Not to far from our house we have a little pond where we can feed ducks and enjoy a nice biking trail that goes through a beautiful wooded area. It has become one of our favorite family activities.

Visit from Grandma & Grandpa McD

My parents came to OHIO for the weekend.

It wasn't a long visit but enough time to accomplish all the things the girls had on there list :

#1. Get cotton candy ice cream with eyeballs and sprinkles with Grandma & Grandpa at Graeters.

#2. Get a toy... Kayla just wanted to "look" at build-a-bear and the next thing I know Kayla & Avery have their animals picked out and stuffed.

And that about sums up their list. We did manage to do a few more fun things as well.

( Mom & Dad we were glad you could come out for a few days. We love you!)

You know how people are always analyzing the difference of raising girls and boys, I have to say even though Evan is only 16 months old there has been a big difference in him than my girls. The thing of late is his obsession with balls. If he sees one anywhere he freaks out and wants to get it. I have learned to always have a few in my car in case we go to a park or a place he might try and take others.

With that said you can imagine his excitement when we went to a park and they were setting up this ball...

With out fail he tries to reach these balls every time we walk past... when will he learn he is not that tall.

FIELDSTONE TRACE & THE FOURTH

Here are a few pic's for the old Fieldstone Trace crew...

I was missing ya all when I passed by our old stomping ground the other day.

The girls had a ball snorkeling at Aluim Creek a few Saturdays ago, as I sat on the beach thinking how nice it would be to have a boat. Maybe someday?

I think most holidays are hard away from family, this year being so far away seemed extra hard. But we ended up having a fantastic day. My highlight of the fourth was this amazing creme brulee (even though it's french) the Christensen family brought to the BBQ we had at the Young's house. I am grateful for the friendships we are making with so many wonderful people here. It has made the transition of moving easy.

We ended up having some rain in the evening but it didn't slow down the kids in the least bit. It cleared just in time for the fireworks.

OUR PROFESSIONAL WATER SLIDER

DON'T YOU JUST LOVE SUMMER!!! LONG SUNNY DAYS, WARM NIGHTS, GREAT BBQ'S AND TONS OF ICE CREAM. LAST WEEK WE SQUEEZED IN GOING TO THE ZOO & KINGS ISLAND BEFORE SPENCER STARTED HIS RESIDENCY. WHICH JUDGING FROM THE FIRST WEEK; HIM COMING HOME BY 2 OR 3 IN THE AFTERNOON, IS NOT GOING TO BE TOO ROUGH... SO DON'T FEEL BAD WE ARE BACK IN SCHOOL.

EVAN COULDN'T GET ENOUGH OF THE WATER SLIDE AT KINGS ISLAND'S WATERPARK. I DECIDED IT WAS WORTH FIGURING OUT HOW TO SHOW VIDEO ON THE BLOG, TAKE A LOOK..