Puyallup Fair

I have wanted to go to the Puyallup Fair for years now, and finally took my girls with Heidi and her friend from college Jami. It was another "girls only" day. I asked Connor if he wanted to be pulled out of school to go and he declined. We had a fun filled day of looking at animals, riding lots of rides, and of course fair food!!

All the girls except for Brooke and Eliza sleeping in the stroller.

Rides!!!

Fall Soccer 2011-Sadie

At the very last minute (literally signed up at the first practice), Sadie decided that she would like to try soccer. Sadie has never had ANY interest in sports, but with her friend Lauren playing-she decided to give it a whirl. We were so glad that she did!! It was so great for her confidence. She has been dragged to all of Connor's events since she was born, and for once we were our supporting and cheering her on. She was a really good little runner. She got in and kicked the ball a bit too-don't think she'll go pro, but we were very proud of her. She always followed the coaches' instructions and never once complained,whined, or cried. Way to go Sadie!

Helping Lauren up :)

Grandpa and Grandma made it to a game!

First Day of Preschool/Dance

Another belated post-but I wanted to document Sadie's start of what has been a great year so far. Sadie LOVES preschool so much. I remember that Connor enjoyed preschool, but was just as happy or more to be home with me. It is a whole different story with Sadie. She LOVES school!! The teachers at Good Shepherd are the sweetest, most kind and gentle women in the world. We have switched from afternoon to morning Monday/Wednesday/Friday preschool this year. It has been a nice change for us. Ryan usually drops Connor off at school. I am able to get myself and the girls ready. Then we head to preschool drop off, and Eliza and I head for the gym for an hour or so. Sadie is doing her second year of dance this year as well. She is one lucky girl. I am happy that she is a happy-well adjusted little girl.

Sadie and Lauren before dance!

Circle Time

Best Friends!

Adorable little girls!

Northwest Trek

This post is a few months late because unfortunately our camera was lost. Luckily my sweet friend Heidi has a really nice camera (and is a great photographer)- and sent me lots of pictures of fun things we did together. Thank goodness for good friends! The last week before school started, we loaded up the minivan-6 kids and 2 moms, and headed to Northwest trek. It had been a few years since we had been and we had a really great day! It is fun that the habitats are more natural, and the animals seem "happy" and well cared for. The tram ride is neat to see all of the "free roaming" animals. It was a cooler day-but perfect for what we were doing.

Mason and Connor on the tram. They were busy marking things off on their "check lists."

Lauren and Sadie...

Funny girl

Sleepy girl

Love them...

The babies-getting so big

I can not believe how big these two are!!! (Weren't they JUST in preschool together??)

Eliza loved looking at the grizzly bears.

The whole gang-minus Eliza

Hunter's Pumpkin Patch 2011

We met Heidi, Brooke, and Lauren for a "girls" only day at Hunter's. Poor Connor...:( We had a picnic lunch, enjoyed the slide, hay maze, feeding goats, more slide, a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch, and even more sliding. What a beautiful fall day with great company to share it with. On days like this, I feel like we live in the most beautiful place in the world...and forget about the 9 months of rain. :)

Slide from the barn-definately the favorite thing to do at Hunter's!

Trying for a "sister" pose

Mad about sitting on the hay for a picture!

Lauren and Sadie

Pulling the cup of food up for the goats.

Feeding goats

Shilter's Pumpkin Patch 2011

The first of our 3 visits to our favorite pumpkin patches this fall was to Shilter's. It is a really cute farm complete with a tractor ride, park, animals, pumpkin bowling, duck races, pedal tractors, slides, and more. The girls and I had a great morning with our friends the Springer's. We missed Connor though...full day school is a bummer!

Sisters

Pumpkin bowling

Duck races

Tractor ride

A "Rockin" First Day of School

Who gets to go to a Taylor Swift concert on the very first day of first grade... CONNOR JOHNSON! What a luck guy! Ryan got me Taylor Swift tickets months ago and Connor has a bit of a celebrity crush on her (and knows every word to every song). My brother flew out with my niece Madison to have a father/daughter trip and go to the concert, so I decided to bring Connor as well. After a fantastic first day of school, we headed to Tacoma for

a steak dinner (Madi's request) and then we were off to the concert. I was concerned at first because the opening bands were quite loud and I think the long day started to set in and he was not enjoying himself very much. He wasn't complaining or whining, but he just sat and covered his ears. I don't know what I was thinking

to not bring earplugs. He has ALWAYS been sensitive to loud noises.

When Taylor Swift came on, however, he got a second wind, and perked right up. He took so many photos and illegal videos :) of every song. We both really enjoyed the impressive show Taylor put on. It felt like a mix between a concert/broadway show. The sets, costumes, dancers, band members acrobats, hugescreens, and of course Taylor-were all pretty amazing. We enjoyed every minute-Connor would say the only bad part was ALL the SCREAMING girls!!! They were VERY loud. What a fun and memorable night! (We won't mention I kept him up until midnight and sent him (by choice) to school in the morning.

Connor wore this exact shirt/shorts on the first day of Kindergarten :)

Off the bus-and a little irritated I met him there-he is "in first grade now and can walk home by himself!"

Our fancy dinner-thanks to Madi and Adam

Connor covering his ears=me very worried!

Taylor Swift finally coming on=Connor Happy! (PS. I have a very handsome date :))

Taylor

Sadie would have loved these princesses/ballerinas

Adam, Madi, and Connor

Me with the cute kiddos