First Day of School

The Girls are both at school! It took Raleigh about 12 minutes to get ready this morning. When can we go??...when can we go...???

Raleigh got a new bigger backpack this year - it looks huge on her!

Sydney starts Spanish Immersion today. She has the same teachers that Raleigh had. Both of her teachers were excited to see her...and Greyson. Baby Hudson was born the year that Raleigh was in preschool - the teachers did a great job with Raleigh through all of that - they were glad to meet Grey.

I asked Greyson, "What are we going to do without your girls??" He gave me a big smerk - I think we are going to have some great 'Mom & Grey' time!

Our New Hobby - Geocaching!

We rented a cottage up North this past week and James found our family a new hobby...Geocaching. We signed up on-line and then picked some caches to find via GPS coordinates. The kids LOVED it - we found some during our bike rides and some by car. We ended up at so many fun and beautiful places that we NEVER would have gone to or even found. The girls had a great time on dunes, playgrounds, waterfalls, climbing on large rocks, etc.

Greyson was a trooper - he loves being in the backpack and didn't complain much at all - he was always trying to see what the girls were doing and seemed really "into it".

In some of the caches, there are little prizes - the girls got to leave something if they took something - and oh, did the girls get a lot of treasures...I like to call it "geo-trash" (or should it be geo-trache??) We left marbles, littlest pet shoppe, silly bands...

Sydney made a great find in some bushes - this one the cache was attached to a Geo Metro hubcap.

here is the geo-trash. Any jewlery was great - Raleigh got a beautiful CZ necklace and Sydney got a compass ring. We left with glowsticks, necklaces, stickers, penquins, dinosaurs, keychains...the list goes on...

Ummmm...okay...the kids looked a little beaten up after all the tromping around. Greyson has scratches on his forehead (to his credit, he did learn to "duck" when James walked through branches) - this is sydney's leg - James and my legs don't look much better. Raleigh has scratches too. The girls didn't complain though! The kids really were AMAZING - James and I kept commenting at how great they were and how much fun we (and they) were having.

This cache was one of our first ones - this path led us on a nice little walk - the cache was not too far off the trail.

Greyson loved to help too - this is a medium size cache - some looked like this and some were as small as a key box.

We found this one in a hollowed tree trunk. I think the cache was an old Jiffy Jar.

And...as expected...James is ADDICTED! I think we found about 36 caches in the East Jordan, Petoskey area. James even made us stop at a few on the way home. We ended up at a great apple orchard with great food. They had a farm market, petting zoo, rope maze, playground. I cannot remember the name of the place but the coordinates are N 45deg 11.421 W 085deg 45 20.757 if you ever want to go!

Awesome Kids Picture

This is why I have not had a picture of all three kids taken since last year! Maybe I will try again this week...

Summer Picture Dump

Picture Dump - Greyson's first ice cream cone earlier this summer...

Sydney loves to swim - she learned how to swim on her own this summer - she still likes the swimmies but can jump in and swim across the pool by herself...

This is why I don't get a ton of stuff done sometimes! Greyson steals stuff - the silverware basket from the dishwasher is a favorite - a great place for toys...

And fashion shows by the girls - they were "rockstars" for this show...

We had a great day at Lake Michigan - the girls loved the water but Grey was not a huge fan - he loves his daddy which makes it okay for him to go in the water a bit...

Trip to Tennessee...again

James and I took the kids to Tennessee again this summer. The girls have been wanting to stop at Dino World ever since we passed the gigantic dino on the highway last year. We intended to go on our way home last year but with the flat tire and everything...we ran out of time. So...in 100 degree weather, we stopped! The kids loved the dinosaurs - and we got to go with my brother's family which was even better because the boys knew all of the dinosaurs and they could tell Sydney what they were since she asked what absolutely EVERYTHING was called. (I did start making up names at the end so I did not have to read.)

I think Greyson liked having more boys around - he is way too used to girls!

We went to a splash park in Chattanooga- the kids had a great time. I went in with my clothes on since it was so hot. The kids had a great time swimming...and swimming...and swimming at my brother's pool. They are already asking to go back again.

The boys thought this was hillarious. Too funny that my niece joined them!

Well...we did a lot more than Dino World and the splash park but that is about all I took pictures of. It was a fun summer trip - I am sure we will be going back!

Wow!! 7 Years Old!!

HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY RALEIGH!!

We have been so blessed by Raleigh over the past 7 years. She is an answer to a lot of prayers. She is a wonderful sister and friend. She loves to read and write stories. She is such a JOY. We love you Raleigh - we pray you have many, many more years of joy and happiness!

Crazy Grey

Greyson LOVES the sprinkler (or actually, the hole in the hose) - it could keep entertained for a long time - even in his clothes.

He helps himself to licorice whenever he wants - he takes it out of the drawer, bangs the package open and eats a few pieces...leaving the rest on the ground for me to pick up.

Just like his sisters - loves Panera frozen mochas:)

He thinks he is such a big helper - he really tried hard to get both gallons of milk to the kitchen and was mad when he couldn't do it. A few more years and he will be on grocery duty.

And...I found him...and the toilet paper... in the back hall. I think I was on the phone - he was really quiet. I first looked in the bathroom and saw the toiletpaper roll gone and a firetruck on the ground...I had and idea of what was happening!