Five.Eleven Years Old

 5.11 Years Old

• Jessie and Sonora came over for a sleep over. The four of you get along really well. The next day, on our way to Woodburn to swap kids, the orthodontist was putting on a carnival for all the families. I thought that we would stop by for an hour maybe. Well, we were there for all three hours. You all got to ride the ponies, get your face painted, play the games, catch a shirt from the shirt cannon, eat hotdogs, snow cones, and cotton candy. It was really fun. Definitely something you wanted to do again next year. 
• You got to start soccer!!! I am your coach this year. There are four girls and two boys on your team. I am so impressed at how aggressive you are. You have scored at least 1 goal each game. The first game, I had to tell you to start passing because you had scored too many. All the teammates are new to you. Domonic goes to school with you but is in the other class (more on him later). You really like Haley. It has been such a fun team to coach. It helps that you are undefeated also.
• Domonic-I was laughing the other day coming home from school. You told me that Domonic kept staring at you and it was creeping you out. But you couldn't help smiling the whole time that you were telling me and even giggled when you talked about him. I believe this is your first official crush on a boy your own age (though cousin Ben will go down as your first). 
• We sneaked off to the beach the weekend before school. We went with the Prices and Smith's to Cape Kawanda. The day started off cloudy, but they burned off and we had sunshine and no wind. You loved running down the hill, exploring the tidepools, and even jumped into the waves with me. 
• School started!!! You have been counting down this day since you turned five and realized that you had to wait until the next fall. Your teacher is Ms. Carlgren, though you call her Ms. C. You have two preschool friends in your class-Mia and Eloise-and have quickly made new friends like Kaia, Ava, and Charlee. You have made the transition so well. At first, you did not want to try the school lunches. I have been helping you make a lunch at night. Though, I have had to start telling you that you need to try at least two of them each week. 
• We made it to the Sublimity Harvest Festival. We met up with the Scott's and Horner's there. We were so unprepared, but the friends helped us out with ear buds and cash. I asked Sam to take you and Millie to walk around. Ian was with him so he was being a big brother. You were able to play on the jump house. The night was going so long though. At one point, Millie started crying because she were so tired. I took you and Millie home early to sleep, especially since you had your first soccer game early the next morning.
• We got another cat! Dad had a co-worker who knew someone giving away kittens. They had a orange and white one, my favorite. We named him Hobbes. I did not want an indoor cat, but he loved being indoors. I just installed doggy doors which Hobbes figure out very fast. Each of you were so good about going outside to play with him each day. One night, I brought quilts outside so we could do our reading out there with Hobbes. He was so snuggly that night. Sadly, we went to church one Sunday and then quickly to the Prices for dinner and when we came back, he wasn't home. He could have been eaten by a raccoon, but he could be in someone's home as an indoor cat. We were sad to see him gone.
• We snuck in one more trip while the weather is good. We went up to Mt. Rainier and Seattle for the weekend. We left Thursday morning and made our way up to Mt. Rainier. It was overcast when we rolled in, which was a bummer because Mike said seeing the mountain makes it majestic. As soon as we started on the trail, the clouds started to part and we could see it. The mountain was awesome. We hiked up to a ridge. We saw waterfalls and marmots on the way up. The view was beautiful. Out towards the valley, the clouds were think so it looked liked the clouds were floating on top. we were debating to finish the loop or not. None of you kids wanted to, so we just turned around. The moment we do, the fog rolls in and by the time we get to the bottom, we can't see 6 feet ahead of us. We ended the day with hot cocoa from the lodge and we stayed at a place near by. The next day, we look the longer way to Seattle, so we could ride the ferry over. We spent most of our time at Pike's Market, shopping the different stands, putting gum on the gum wall, and eating at Ivar's. We had your try the raw scallops (not your favorite) and sampled all the different flavors of Apple cider (you liked that). We then took the monorail over to the city center where we saw the Space needle, toured the Gates Foundation, and played at the cool park. We headed up north for the hotel because the next day, Dad was competing in the Spartan Beast. While we was racing, we visited the Reptile Zoo, ate lunch at a park, and played in the river. We were able to catch the very end of Dad's race and watched him cross the finish line.