Time to Bike

With Fall coming, we decided to take a day up in the higher country, collect some firewood and do a little riding too.  It never ceases to amaze me when these girls just pick up and start something like they have been doing it forever!  We had a great day. 

I find myself so often thankful for their strong and able bodies. 

So much fun! 

 

4th Grade Sports Begin

One of the best things about being in 4th grade is obviously getting to participate in school sports. This means practices after school with your friends, riding the bus to rival schools on Fridays and playing with the big kids.

So with Volleyball it begins!

 Josiah is having so much fun learning a new sport. True, she may not be able to serve the ball over the net, but most can't.  So it is all just fun, friendship and new experiences .... and the team that can return the ball usually wins! 

Still Learning

These girls are so much fun!

 Each year they get more and more skill on the water. I can't think of any kids their age who are as good of sports as they are.  Trying new things takes a lot of courage... and these girls have it (most the time)! 

Adalie starts behind the boat on the surf board on her belly, then climbs to her knees and then stands up on her feet and surfs! It's quite impressive!  Josiah is learning to surf with no rope. The excitement on her face when she catches the wake is priceless!

Keep up the good work girls.

You are fun to watch!

Sailing

We have talked about going to Huntington Lake and sailing its windy waters for years. So this Labor Day, we followed a whim, loaded onto motorcycles and headed to Huntington Lake. It was quite an adventurous day! Learning to steer a boat with a stick, watching the pattern of the wind and the response of the sails, and shifting our weight on cue! We quickly became adept enough to "come about" and catch enough wind to really get a good tip going (enough to scare Mommy a little bit). What a different feel sailing is from boating. The feeling of near capsizing was both exhilarating and frightening. But once we began to trust our boat and its response to the wind, fun took over fear. One of my favorite moments was Josiah on the bow of the boat having the ride of a lifetime! 

This will have to become a new "must do" on our summer list. And hopefully next year we will make it all the way out to the big winds!

Adalie is 7!!

 

We are so grateful to have all the family and Adalie's besties too!  We swam like the fishes, jumped and dove, just like Adalie use to do when she was a tiny little thing.  She has always been a water baby... good thing she was born in the summer!

This year Adalie wanted a dolphin cake.  And with the help of Daddy the engineer, a dolphin cake she got! 

Happy 7th Birthday to our Sweet Adalie!

Celebrating Adalie

This year we finally got to celebrate Adalie all week long.  From cupcake decorating the morning of her birthday, to flower cookies at Miller's night, and swimming with family on the docks!  She was definitely poured into this 7th year!

Early on the 23rd us girls were in the kitchen decorating cupcakes for her class.  They were all different and some down right funny with flowers and googlie eyes!  Later in the afternoon Mrs. Durrell gave her the first of her birthday spanks.  And then all the kids had a cupcake mess!

Friday night we made lovely little flower pops and passed them our to all our friends to celebrate with us at Miller's night!

And last, but not least, was Adalie's family celebration at the docks! 

We love you sweet girl!

Celebrate

Our sweet Adalie is turning 7 and wants all the family to swim with her in celebration!

 

It was her sweet sister, Josiah, though that made sure her actual birthday at school was extra special!  Now that Josiah is a 4th grader and on the big side of campus, she and Adalie no longer share a lunch and recess time.  So our sweet Josiah decided on her very own to stay in the lunch room for her recess and wait for her birthday-girl sister to arrive.  Once she did, Josiah made sure the lunch teachers knew it was Adalie's birthday so they would lead the whole cafeteria in singing

Happy Birthday! 

And so they did!

Thank you sweet Josiah for loving your sister so!