End of Summer Fun

We've been keeping busy!  Isaiah's sleep tends to be incredibly erratic, so every night when we go to bed, we have NO IDEA what to expect.  That's been very frustrating-- I thought after being here a month we would have this under control a little better.  But no-- last night he was awake from 11pm until 4:15am!  Fun!

They had an AWESOME primary activity a few weeks ago-- someone arranged for an owl handler to come and show off the birds that they can't reintroduce back into the wild!  How are owls so cool???

A great horned owl

Okay, this is actually some sort of hawk.  It was hit by a car and its eyes were damaged so it couldn't survive in the wild.  But it's still so regal!

For being a screech owl, this little guy was surprisingly quiet and cute!

Craig caught this impressive shot as the barn owl flapped its wings

Everyone got to take a picture with the owls at the end!  (And yes, we brought Sydney and Beth-- who wouldn't want to come to such a cool activity?)

We also had the swim team awards banquet.  Usually this is a pancake dinner and everyone gets a trophy, but this year it was bring-your-own-food at an outdoor park and the coaches had painted rocks for all the kids?  I have no idea why they didn't just do the trophies-- the rocks were a TON of work and I just can't imagine the trophies are all that expensive, but no one asked me.  Anyway, Bentley and Kendra had to leave for YM/YWs but the other kids picked up their rocks awards for them, so that was nice.

Ryder got "Best Debater"

Colton's was "Most Published Swimmer" (he's still telling everyone about his Christmas book!)

Camille's whole group got the "Knock knock joke" award because that was they loved telling jokes all during practice

This was Kendra's rock-- yay for her!

And Bentley's, because his goggles fell off during a race once, and he just kept swimming and didn't bother trying to put them back on.

Isaiah snuggling with Camille

Camille and Sydney having fun playing Outfoxed together

Of course I blinked here, but this is Craig and I celebrating our 16th anniversary at Maggiano's!  (Much thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for watching the five kids and further thanks to Chris and Julie for watching Isaiah-- we really needed a night off!)

This is what happens when you don't sleep at night, kid!!!

He LOVES the slide!

...and the neighbor's flowers!

Bentley continues to take excellent care of Isaiah

He even introduced him to the trampoline, which was a HUGE success!!!  (Zoom in-- can you SEE Isaiah's enormous smile?)

And Ryder is just plain cool!

Camille is losing teeth faster than the Tooth Fairy can fly!  I'm not even sure how she eats any more...

And I finally got bored with my hair and chopped it off again!  It feels a lot cooler and Isaiah can't pull it as easily, so I'm a big fan!

And last but not least, TWO videos for your viewing pleasure!  First of all, Craig finds something Isaiah LOVES:

And, we learn a trick Colton can do that we hadn't known about:

School starts on Monday.  I'd been looking forward to that day for many many years now, but suddenly I'm dreading it because I have NO IDEA how I'm going to survive without all my wonderful helpers!  What do I do with a 2-year-old all by myself?  😬