August

August was our stay in town and do all of our favorite summer activities month. I tend to just want to stay home and let Grace nap like normal but it's good for us to get out and we made some fun memories.

Gracie turned 9 months old and was crawling all over the house. She especially loved exploring underneath the table and chasing Kiki. (Kiki was not a fan!) Being able to pull up on furniture gave her access to a whole new world and she loved standing by the piano bench while the boys practiced.

Ready for the big bath tub instead of just the baby bath!

Instead of a Father's and Son's campout this year, our ward held a Father's and Son's campfire for several hours one evening. Mason was severely disappointed, but LOVED the go-carting anyway. Alan said he terrified Spencer with his crazy driving skills. :)

 

I found a fun service idea on Instagram that we decided to do for FHE one evening. We turned Alan's truck into a Free Ice Cream Truck with a big speaker, a poster, and a cooler of ice cream bars. Then we drove around to a few houses in our ward to deliver the treats. We discovered that it worked best to text the parents first to explain what we were doing but we gave out a lot of treats and saw a lot of smiles. It was fun!

Klineline Pond with the Holdens was a little trickier with Grace and these are the only pictures I got, but it was still fun for the kids and I had a good time chatting with Allison. 

We only made it to the Oregon coast one time all summer and it turned out to be a pretty chilly day. We went to Neskowin where the beach is usually protected from the wind, but I  still kept my jacket on the whole time and even Mason didn't want to be in the water much. The sand wasn't too bad though. We ended with a trip to Snack Attack for ice cream cones and about froze eating them in the wind outside the store.

Since the coast was a bust for water play, we headed to the Willamette River for paddleboarding the next day. My friend had told me about a new beach (Cedar Oak) that was great for young paddleboarders so we decided to try it out. It was cloudy but much warmer! I think both boys would have had more fun with a friend close to their age though.

Swimming with the Holden's at the Williamson's pool. 

Back yard in the summer:

I tried to make a school clothes shopping trip fun for Spencer and Mason by taking them to lunch at Panera after we finished. Grace wasn't quite big enough to sit in their high chairs though so I had to hold her and lunch turned out to be messy and exasperating. Spencer's face says how he felt about it. Haha!

Silver Falls hike. We started with a super short loop and then decided to extend it to the 4-5 mile loop. We've done that one several times and it's always a challenge for Mason but it wasn't as miserable as the last time we tried it. Alan's back got pretty tired carrying Grace so Spencer took a turn for the last mile or so. She got a good, bouncy nap while we hiked. The falls were as pretty as always.

Bricks and Minifigs: 

Mason really wanted to learn how to sew. I am about the last person in the world who should be teaching him, but we managed a tiny pillow together. Ha!

Back to School Feast 2024: Mason was starting 4th grade and Spencer was going into his junior year. We brainstormed as a family to come up with some family value for our theme this year. This is what we came up with:

Learning to climb the stairs. Mason was a good teacher.

First two teeth! We discovered that Gracie is a terrible teether and does not sleep well at all when theyre coming in. But, they are sure cute!

Supply night at Ridges Elementary. Mason got Miss Rausch this year. We didn't know anything about her but he also had a lot of good friends in his class and was excited about that.

First day of school! Mason had been dreading this day but he still gave me some good smiles. I think Spencer was ready to go back and have more of a social life again. Gracie and I both missed them terribly those first few weeks. 

Mason was so excited to have Krew in his class this year!

The Hero Up 5k was held right in town this year. Spencer and I ran the 5k, Mason did the kid's race, and Alan hung out with Grace. It's always a fun event and a great way to support some friends from our ward and children's cancer research.