School Days...

I sent the three older children off to school this morning.  Last year, as soon as they were all settled at school, I cried.  It felt lonely to have so many of my kids out of the house. 

This year, as soon as they were all settled at school, I clicked my heels with joy.  The quiet in the house with just Adell and Colter is wonderful!!! 

No one is fighting over the TV.  No one is building forts with all the couch cushions.  No one is asking me where a lost toy is.  No one is complaining. 

Right now, Colter is sleeping, Adell is watching a show and I am enjoying a late breakfast with no interruptions.

I love public school.

Hello my little fishies...

One of my goals for the summer was to help my kids improve their swimming skills.  I looked into putting my kids into swim team but turns out they did not know how to "swim". 

They didn't know a single actual stroke. 

Lorien and Wyatt were pretty good at flailing their arms and legs to get around the pool.  But there isn't a swim stroke called "flail".  Clare wouldn't even put her shoulders under water and cried if she was splashed in the face. 

No, swim team was out.  

So I hired a local life guard to come to our pool every morning and teach the kids to swim. 

Katrina was a life-long swim teamer and had been a life guard at a community pool for a couple of years.  She was kind and fun.  The kids loved her.

Lorien and Wyatt learned how to free style swim, Clare learned how do to the "arrow" and Adell learned how to "glub".  All of the kids gained some valuable confidence. 

It was just what they needed.  Maybe they will be able to do swim team next summer.

Maybe...

Lorien

Wyatt

Clare

If you were wondering, "glubbing" is what Adell calls going all the way under the water.

We had swim lessons first thing in the morning before anyone else showed up at the pool.  Some mornings were pretty cold.  Poor Katrina had to stay in the pool for an hour while my kids rotated through their lessons.  One day Clare and Adell were done with lessons but didn't want to go up to the house.  So they stayed on the side of the pool, wearing their coats and shivering.  Adell wrapped her arm around Clare and said "Don't worry Clare, I'll warm you up."  It was so sweet.

 

 

Colter and I sat on the pool chairs, kept time for each lesson and cheered our swimmers on. 

 



Can a Fairy file for Chapter 11?

The Anderson kids have been losing teeth like crazy this summer.  Lorien is losing molars, Clare is losing her first teeth and Wyatt had to have three teeth pulled by the dentist.

I think the Tooth Fairy swings by our house every other night...  I think she is regretting the price she set with the very first tooth lost at our house. 

Big Sky...

Well, it is actually the first weekend in October but I am post-dating this sucker for August.  And now, when I think back on this trip I am so amazed we actually pulled it off.

We hadn't been to Montana since Clare was the new baby around here--so six full years ago. 

I had just given birth to another baby 11 short weeks earlier.

We had five kids to manage this time around.

Those are not small hurdles.

But Will and I both agree, we are so glad we did it.  The kids had so much fun, the lake was beyond beautiful and seeing extended family was awesome.

The first, and looking back now: the most amazing thing about our trip was how we all go from Northern California to Montana.  I couldn't stomach the idea of driving for 20+ hours with a new born baby.  So Will drove our van with three of our kids, two of our nephews and his sister, Emily.  Lorien, Colter and I flew out a few days behind the driving crew.  I am still so impressed with this driving feat.  Will did the driving and Emily did the tending (a role I usually take and was so glad to pass on to some one else).  They only stopped a few times (excepting fuel and potty breaks) to see Craters of the Moon National Park and the Snake River.  Emily made up a travel bag for each of the kids full of stickers, coloring pages and little activities for trip.  Will printed off maps and had the kids track their progress across the western states.  They searched for licence plates and made it to the lake safe and sound. 


Lorien and I enjoyed a girls weekend (plus a baby boy) before getting on a plane for Montana on Monday morning.  Our flight was uneventful--Colter was so well behaved and I did not throw up.

This is the sweet face that kept us company to the airport at 5:00 in the morning. 

                                             

We spent the next five days swimming, boating, eating, visiting with family, digging in the dirt, roasting marshmallows, reading, fishing and having an all around fantastic time. 

This is my Huba-Huba-Husband getting some time on the wake board.

This is my Mother-in-law, Judy.  Is she awesome or what?   

All of the kids lived in their swimsuits and life jackets.  I don't know why I even bothered to pack clothes...  Wyatt and Lorien tried their hand (or legs) at water skiing.  Wyatt turned out to be a great skier. 

All of the kids loved being pulled by the boat on the inner tube (it is called something much classier than 'inner tube' but I cannot remember what that is...). 

Will organized all of his minions and cleared a portion of the lake front property of overgrown brush.

After five Montana-filled-days, Lorien and I boarded another airplane (with Colter) to head back home.  Leaving Will to gather our family supplies and drive the other kids back home. 

We had such a great time!  After being away for so many years it had started to feel impossible to get up to the lake.  Now that we've done it again we are excited to go back.

 

 

You can see the bandage on the right side of Adell's chin here.  Now she has a lovely little scar...look for it in future posts. 

Ahh, I forgot.  There was one bit of bad news while we were up at the lake: Adell slipped off a ladder and cracked her chin open. 

It was ugly. 

I freaked out. 

Adell, Colter, Will and I were hanging out in the cabin.  Adell climbed up the ladder to the loft where her favorite blankets were.  On her way down she slipped on the silky blanket and fell--smashing her chin on one of the rungs of the ladder.  I hopped up and down, wringing my hands and crying "She's bleeding, she's bleeding, she's bleeding!" while Will assessed the damage.  Thankfully, Will's cousin (Melody) is a nurse and had "liquid stitches" in her first-aid kit.  She was so nice to Adell while she closed up the gash and said the most reassuring things to me. 

Thank you a million times over Melody for your level head and lovely bed-side manner. 

Thanks Judy for letting me sob on your shoulder after it was all over.