Ella turns 10!

Ella had a wonderful birthday week!  She had a sleep over with friends at her dads house, along with a family birthday party.  Then Emoji cupcakes and a field trip at school on her birthday! Then she was able to get her ears pierced and she looks beautiful! Then a blue butterfly birthday party at our house. And a second family party at her dads.  She is quite loved!!

Halloween

Halloween!

Ella was a blue butterfly and spent the evening with friends. Ty was a fireman, Cort was a policeman, Tripp was a bulldog, and Riley was a Rufferee

Pumpkin Carving

It was a fun night carving pumpkins!

the boys

Brotherly love!

 Carrot harvest with the hard workers

Tripp was exhausted!

Wet soccer game

Peter went to camp to close and the rest of us survived a very wet long weekend. Including a very wet Saturday soccer game!

 

Fall fun!

We enjoyed some Pumpkinfest fun!

 

And Cort was in the parade!

Birthday

The day after we got back from camping, Peter left for a work conference in Chicago. I was able to find help with the kids (thanks Chelle!) and join Peter. So I spent my birthday enjoying the city!

This is my view for my run in the morning!

Fall Camping

We decided to add one more camping weekend to the calendar. We spent the quick weekend camping with friends and their children. All the kids had a great time. There were pumpkins and trick-or-treating as well!

5 of the 6 boys!

Cort wrote his name in the sand.  The beach and water were stunning that day, but too chilly to swim.

Ella, Tripp, Cort and Ty

 The 2 beautiful girls!

7 of the 8 kids. The little bulldog (Tripp) was a bit slow...

 

September stuff

Some misc September stuff!

 

Cort made a mask

Cort was also special helper at preschool!

We spent an afternoon checking out the AirZoo

Then out for dinner

Peter and I had our annual MLB game. 

Cort was excited about our sunflower that bloomed! 

 Cort with another silly mask

 It is soccer season again.  Both Ty and Ella play this fall.

 Ella

Ty

Another first day of school

Cort had his first day of Preschool!

He was so excited!  He was counting down the sleeps for a week.  Then jumping up and down when we would cross off a sleep on the chalk board.  The morning of school, we dropped off Ella and Ty at their classrooms and Cort was bouncing down the hall all the way to his room!  I wish we could bottle up his excitement! It was adorable!

Labor Day Camping

Another camping trip over Labor Day. 

 

Ella and I played some very unsuccessful rounds of Bingo. These are our empty boards a few numbers into the round.  Ella finally got close on the last round, the grand finale.  She was one chip away from winning!!

This little guy can be a handful sometimes.  I found him brushing his teeth in the shower one day.

But he followed it up with a very peaceful nap. How cute is that!

The rock climbing wall was a big hit! This is Ella on the left and Ty on the right. Cort is about to start too.

Cort reached the top.

Even Tripp could do it, with a few extra foot holds from daddy.

Beautiful morning for a hike up the dunes.

Nap time didn't go quite as smooth on day 2.

Good time for some pool and sun!

Cort was a great big brother and pulled Tripp around in the red wagon. But Cort also parked Tripp and the wagon under our table.  Tripp didn't seem to mind!

Ella roasted the perfect marshmallow and made a very tasty smore.

Movie night!

My little buddy at a cute moment.

Awesome pool, but slightly chilly on Labor Day!