Daddy Daughter Adventures

 I feel like Brooke has really grown up a lot this year. She's able to get out and do more things with Blake outdoors, which makes him really happy to share his hobbies with her. She has always been a daddy's girl and they've really developed a special bond going on outings together.

Going mountain biking along a single-track dirt trail:

 They hiked 4 miles along the river together

 And went hunting together this weekend. They camped in the mountains and were on the search for a doe and found one!

Brooke is definitely a lot more outdoorsy than I ever was growing up (I have really had to learn to get outside my comfort zone being married to Blake and feel like I've come a long ways in our 13 years of marriage). I love that she loves her dad and is willing to try new things to spend time with him and is developing her own love of nature. I also love that she comes home and is excited about reading and art and making crafts. She loves to help cook, dance, sing, and loves when we let her "babysit" her younger brothers. It will be fun to see how all her hobbies/interests develop as she gets older.

August In a Nutshell

 August seemed to fly by (why does it feel like I'm always saying that?) and we made the most out of our last few weeks of summer.

 

I love Grant's expression in this picture. Porter and Grant have started playing together more and it's fun to see them have a shared interest in cars and trucks (which sometimes leads to fighting).

 Porter wanted me to take a picture of him one Sunday.

 We went to Blake's annual work picnic and we did all the traditional fun things: the kids got their faces painted, playing on the bounce houses, ate lots of yummy food, and climbed on the equipment.

Porter and Brooke also play really well together (most of the time). I peeked out the window to see them working on some sort of concoction in the bucket.

 A couple days before school started, we had one last hurrah on the lake.

 Brooke loves to knee-board.

 Porter is always a little unsure when it's his turn to waterski, but once he gets up, he's all smiles!

 We tubed as a family for about 2 minutes before we realized we were too off balance and got dumped over.

 We love homemade salsa and eat our stockpile each year, so it's always exciting when we get to make more. The tomatoes, onions, zucchini, and peppers all came from our garden.

 Brooke had successful first day of school!

 Porter decided his tummy was a treasure map.

 Wrestling with daddy

 Wrestling with Dad

 Picking tomatoes from the garden

 Grant helped by eating sticks he found

 Porter broke his clavicle when he was wrestling with Blake one Sunday evening. He cried for a little bit right after it happened, but then seemed fine so we thought he was ok. Then a week later he tried to do a somersault on the floor and started crying again saying his shoulder hurt. So we took him in to get it x-rayed and sure enough his collarbone was broken.

Grant turned 22 months in August. He sure is changing and turning into a big kid! He's talking more and more and wants to do everything the older kids are doing. I can't get him to sit in his highchair anymore, he wants to sit at the table and only feed himself with a spoon (or his hands). We got rid of his binky and after a couple sad nights, he's binky free! I tried to get a picture of his new big boy haircut.

These were taken earlier in August, before we got rid of his binky. He loves to stand and look out the window. He get so excited when he sees a bird or someone walking their dog.