Straw Maze

As I looked at our schedule from now until Christmas, I realized we have only 2 weekends when something isn't planned, or we have an activity or engagement. So to fit in the things we want to do, we decided to go to the straw maze last night. Now, if you look at the weather report, last night was the only rainy night we've had in a month. Luckily, the heaviest downpour came right before we went in and right as we were getting out (well, as Cooper and I were waiting for Amelia and her friend to come out). :-)  Here's a few pictures:

Cooper in one of the slides.

Jumping off the bales of straw.

Ready to get lost!

Cooper, Amelia and her friend Sara. Who's a year younger. But two inches taller. :-)

After I took that picture, we split up into two teams--racing to see who would get out first.

Inside the maze was a bus! We had to walk through it and even though it was still daylight, it was creepy.

This is looking back into the bus.

In a little more than 35 minutes--a new record--Cooper found the exit and we beat the girls out!

The triumphant winners!

 Sadly, twenty minutes later Amelia and Sarah emerged from the maze.....at the entrance.

By then it was starting to pour, so we raced back to the car. After stopping off for donuts and hot chocolate, dropping Sarah at home, we came home to snuggle up and watch a movie. Pretty good ending to a fantastic day!

Huh....lost about two weeks here...

....but such is the school year schedule! With school, homework, lessons (of all sorts), play dates,and everyday stuff! We did go to Jackson last weekend, however, and here are some pictures:

As beautiful as Jackson can be, it gets busier and busier each year---with this year be possibly the worst. I have never been honked at so many times, seen near-accidents, and witnessed so many rude people. Luckily we hit the candy store it didn't matter so much.

That's it...unless you want to hear about my last dentist appointment. Didn't think so.

Eastern Idaho State Fair 2015

For Labor Day weekend we went to Blackfoot to spend time with family and go to the fair. Amelia and Cooper were both excited to go because they entered goods into the baking contest and were going up against each other. We headed out early while everyone was at the parade:

 Obviously we headed to the bakery building first to see how they fared. Amelia won second place with her frosted sugar cookies:

Cooper won FIRST place with his white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies! His first try! You can tell by his smile how happy he was:

 In the quick bread department, Amelia won FIRST place AND BEST IN CLASS with her orange bread:

 Cooper rounded out his victory with a slightly less-enthusiastic third place with his pumpkin chocolate chip bread:

I was so proud of both of them! I'd hoped they'd place with at least one of their entries, but never thought each entry would win. Together, Amelia won $19 in prize money and Cooper won $8.

Riding high on sweet victory, we grabbed something to eat. Cooper found he could spell his name with fries. It made him almost as happy as his first place ribbon:

We also visited the petting zoo and Amelia rode the ponies. 

After exhausting everything available at the fair, we went back to Nana and Bompa's house (after a quick stop at Wal-mart to spend their prize money) to hang out. The rest of the weekend we played with cousins, rode scooters at the church, and begged my favorite aunt Judy to sew Amelia's elastic and ribbons on her pointe shoes. It was a fun weekend!

My classes will begin on Monday, so my posts may space out a bit---but these two semesters are my last! Yay!

Going on Pointe!

Amelia's three-year dream came true this weekend--I got her fitted for pointe shoes! She's wanted to dance on pointe since she began ballet, but she had to wait to be 11 1/2 and have ballet for at least a year. She pasted the year mark about three years ago but managed to just make the 11 1/2 age mark this year. Like, on the last day.

So we drove to Pocatello for her hour and a half fitting. Seems a little long you say? I thought so too, until I saw everything that needed to be checked, figured, tried, and readjusted to make sure she didn't incur any undue damage to her cute little toes and feet.

Here she is in the beginning, ELATED to be there:

She was choosing what oils she wanted, but that's for much later......

The wonderful woman--Sheila--measure Amelia's foot, watched her go up on releve, and inspected her toes with the concentration of brain surgeon.  Then she went back into the storeroom about brought out nine different boxes of ballet shoes. She started trying them on Amelia, having her go up on pointe, walk in them, and have Amelia tell her about any pinching, slipping, or pressure. She made a pile of "no" and "maybe". After all the shoes had been tried on, Sheila went back to the "maybe" pile and had Amelia try each pair on again, this time adding various toe cushions and toe separators (there's more variety of those than you'd think!) with each shoe. Again, she'd have Amelia go on point and take tiny steps while Sheila watched how her feet turned reacted to the shoes.

Finally, with the "maybe" pile down to two pair and the toe separators and cushions decided upon, Amelia went through a last round of walking in each pair until Sheila decided which was the best fit for her. After we found the perfect shoes, Sheila soaked Amelia's feet in warm water with epsom salts and essential oils:

Her feet are in heaven. The funny thing is, when I asked Sheila if I should soak her feet after each class, she said no. Her feet need to toughen up and get used to being on pointe. Sorry Amelia---hope you enjoyed this soak!

After a quick tutorial for me about where to sew on the elastic and ribbons, I paid for everything and we headed home. While the fitting took awhile, I'm happy Sheila took the time and care to make sure to find shoes that will fit Amelia the best and minimize injuries. So, we are set-----until she grows outta this pair.

All weekend she tried them on a few times and practiced so her toes would get used to her new shoes:

Her first recital where she will dance on pointe will be in May. For the Nutcracker this year she is a soldier, so she won't need the shoes then. The ballet in May will be Swan Lake.

Mom and Dad watched Cooper while Amelia and I were in Pocatello, and we managed to see Lynnli and Coltman for a bit on our way through. Nephews are fun to have sometimes:

 I thought Coltman would try to get away or stop me, but he just stood there while I wrapped the bandage around him. When I was finished, he walked over to Joey, climbed up on his lap, and just started playing.....with the bandage still wrapped around him!

 Just think of what I can do NEXT weekend........................

First Day of 6th and 3rd Grade!

What a morning! Cooper was up and ready by 6:45am. Amelia was a little slower, but both children were ready about 20 minutes before we had to leave.

At Cooper's school I got out with him because he'd said he wanted me to walk in with him, but we hadn't even made it to the crosswalk and he was already about half a block ahead of me. I called him back, I gave him a hug and sent him on. He went in without a backwards glance. I guess extra recess trumps mommy anytime. :-) It makes me proud that he can go in on his own, but there is still just a little catch in my heart to see my youngest run in without me.

We drove to Amelia's school, where I asked her if she wanted me to walk her in. I received a firm "No!". I told her we could hold hands, skip, and wave to every student as we went in and I received a "NO!!!" I can't figure out why........?
 
 So I dropped off my sweet, kind, good hearted daughter at her school. She had only taken three steps when one of her friends came running out to meet her. I'm thinking she'll be just fine.

While I was a little sad and missed my children a bit, I quickly got over it and went to McDonald's for a celebratory breakfast with my friend! Then I'm going to run errands by myself, go to the library and walk up and down the stacks as long as I want, then go home, watch some TV, and maybe even take a nap. Oh the possibilities! Happy First Day of School! LOVE YOU TWO!!

Last Days of Summer Celebration!

The time has come! ONE day left until school starts! Since tomorrow will officially be a school night and we have a lot of activities/errands to run during the day, we celebrated the end of summer Saturday and today. Here's a bit of what we did:

Because of the fires in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, we've had a "stay inside away from breathing the unhealthy air" alert for the last three days. On Saturday the kiddos were going crazy, which in turn was driving me crazy. They needed exercise desperately, so after a panicked call to my wise mother, she suggested I take them up to the BYUI campus and let them run on the indoor track there. Genuis.

Running very reverently up the stairs outside the I-center.......four times!

AFTER running up the stairs.

Amelia ran--if it's possible--like a ballerina. Her arm was held out gracefully with her fingers held as though she was doing a plie.

After a run around the track, they were sufficiently pooped, so we went home!

Sunday was a little clearer, so it wasn't as hard to entertain them. Monday morning we ran to Blackfoot for the morning, then stopped in Idaho Falls to hit iJump. For entire hour they jumped, flipped, ran, dodgeball-ed, and slid on the trampolines:

Here's a couple videos:

Cooper takes awhile to gear up for the flip, but eventually he commits.

Finally, we headed back to Rexburg and our "good-bye" summer dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe:

Stay tuned for first day of school pictures, coming on Wednesday!

And the Countdown Begins!

NINE days until school starts again! We are finishing up summer activities while we have the time, because once school starts any "downtime" will be few and far between!

Cooper has almost earned his Wolf badge in scouts. I'm learning that having a son in scouts is fun, interesting,......and lots of work! :-)  Here are pictures of Cooper completing his "make something useful with wood" requirement. Amelia did as well because whatever one of them does, the other must follow!

"Mom! It appears that using a hammer and nails is fun!"

Amelia's bookcase/ends.

Cooper's finished bookcase/ends. As soon as we took this picture, he removed the books, flipped the bookcase over, and it's been a bench for Teddy ever since.

The weather cooled off for a few days last week, and it was perfect talking-a-walk-weather. I can't wait for autumn!

We also visited the Museum of Idaho's Pirate exhibit with Mom and Dad. It was a lot of fun, even if it did change Cooper's view of the pirate world!

Standing in front of the be ship outside.

All the mannequins were very life-like.

Cooper enjoyed seeing all the real pirate artifacts, and he and Amelia even got to touch real pieces-of-eight!

Next up: Party in the Park, school registration, haircuts, and last-minutes summer parties!