1st day of School

Following in the tradition of everyone else, I must post pictures of the girls on their first day of school. They both go to Catheryn Gates Elementary which is great because it's behind our house and we can walk there in 5 minutes. This morning they woke up after a little nudging by Spencer and they ran out of their room soooo excited! They got a father's blessing and then got ready. Oatmeal for breakfast- you know- stick to your ribs. They had their clothes laid out last night and we did permy hair for today.

Ashley is in 1st grade and in Ms. Bess's class. I don't know anything about her. She seemed a little nervous- the teacher, not Ashley. Ooh, I had to pack her a lunch. I'm so stressed about that part! Seriously, what in the world do I pack every single day?!? And I was really sad about her being gone all day. I mean, as much as I looked forward to my kids being in school all day, I felt like our family was missing a piece until 3:00. It was weird and I teared up a bit. But she had a great time.

Ainslee is in Kindergarten and in Ms. Jordan's class. Ms. Jordan is this really stern 6 foot tall fashion model teacher. Really, that's an accurate description, too! She has 3 other little girls in her class from last year's preschool so she was set to go. She was not even worried about school. She was just concerned about if any boys would chase her at recess time. She wanted them to chase her! What a crazy kid. I know, we're in trouble.

All in all, it was a great day and I think we'll do it again tomorrow!

Farm Vacay

Well, we've been back from our farm trip for over a week or two. We had a great time! I'll just highlight a few fun things.

We celebrated Andi's 3rd Birthday. She and her cousin who also had a birthday shared a pinata. Of course, it's a cowboy boot full of yummy goodies!



While we were there, we went boating on the Columbia River twice. No water skiing for me- Next summer, though, I'll be going for it! The kids really enjoyed tubing. They each took a turn riding with daddy and even the 2 big girls went together without daddy. They all really liked just jumping off the back of the boat into the river. Ainslee decided she would do no-handed cartwheels off the back. Here she is in action. I tell you, she is a fish! Ashley and Andi tentatively jumped in- I think they're whimps like me. Icky cold water! But little Spencer boy would stand on the back of the boat and just slowly slide right down in. Without a care in the world! No crying, no fear! We'd just turn around and there he was- in the water!


We took a really fun hay ride into the 'back forty' which is the land that is not farmed. Everyone was in the hay trailer except for Grandpa Rice and Uncle Chad who were driving. We sang farm songs and went exploring, finding old-OLD-farm treasures. There was a car (20's, 30's, 40's?), farm equipment, a bathtub, wood, etc.


When we go every year, we go during the time of the county fair that has a rodea. I mean, like a real one where real bull riders ride! The girls loved it this year, especially the women doing the barrel rides. Here is Cory with his newly acquired cowboy hat. Yes, he grew chops just for the farm. He also bought cowboy boots and cowboy jeans. He looks pretty authentic. Just needs a belt buckle now!


The second night we were there, they had a parade and the kids had a blast gathering candy. Only one marching band, but lots of HUGE farm equipment. This is the smaller of the large tractors!


We did a million other things and we had a wonderfully fun time seeing Cory's family again. It'll be fun when my family gets together for a reunion in 2009. We'll have 2 more members by then- maybe more (Scott? Tiffany?).