Fall, So Far

This is proving to be a busy season for us. Since we are about to roll into a lot of closely packed travel, I figured it was time for a summary of Fall to date...before it all escapes my brain.

Right after the Ironman, Matt packed up all his new camping gear and headed to Zion National Park with Michael for a 5 day camping trip. The girls and I thought it sounded like a horrible trip--eating freeze dried meals and carrying everything on your back--but they had a wonderful time. 

Meanwhile, Adrienne took her very first TaeKwonDo skills test. It is so fun to watch her enjoy this activity so much. She chose it on her own, and she is very proud. More on that in a bit.

 I got to snuggle with Miss Mari on our lunch date while I caught up with her mom (our former babysitter, Eleyna).

We spent a lot of time with Jenni and the kids while the boys were gone. We had mostly great weather so the kids enjoyed playing outside and we had pizza at their house (Rachel was away at Girl Scout Camp). 

 Jenni was incredibly brave and let the kids play 'science experiment' in the boys' bathroom. They used A LOT of baking soda and vinegar and made en enormous mess...but they had a wonderful time and did manage to clean up quite well.

 And of course Jack managed his own shenanigans while we were downstairs supervising bathroom clean up. He reminds me so much of Jillian at that age. Busy busy busy. And smart.

In celebration of our church's 20th anniversary, they put together a time capsule and had all the kids fill out some forms that described themselves at this stage. 

We hit up brunch at Chester's that included copious amounts of whipped cream.

Later that night we introduced the Tauntons to Squash Blossom Farm for pizza night. The kids enjoyed checking out the fairy garden.

Jillian decided to take a 3 week yoga for kids class at the RAC. She loved it. It was so cute to watch her carry her yoga mat in each time.

Back to TKD--Adrienne received her results from her testing the previous week and she did advance by getting her first black stripe on her belt! She also got the "martial arts spirit award" for being a hard worker, consistent, a good role model, and respectful in class. We are so proud of her!

I managed the Back To School PTA picnic sans Matt, as he was doing some work travel in the Cities. This "picnic" is pretty much like a wedding reception without the alcohol...they had a DJ, bounce house, snow cones, hot dogs. Mass chaos and sensory overload. Loved watching Adrienne dance with Elise (her BFF, Charlie's little sister).

With her good friend and classmate, Audra

I accompanied Adrienne's class on their first fieldtrip of the year, to Quarry Hill. This included some slug sleuthing. Kids had a blast as usual.

Adrienne sporting her new patch and belt strip for TKD.

New jammies...both featuring cats! They can have as much cat stuff as they desire, just no real cat!

 Adrienne's bed head is really something else. I mistakenly thought that getting her hair cut shorter would manage this mess. The struggle is real!

 Watching the girls at the bus stop in the morning. I am not allowed to get any closer than this (Jillian's rule).

Adrienne is so silly. Always doing something to provide comic relief.

 The girls showered in separate bathrooms and came back downstairs one evening to discover they were in matching pajamas. This thrilled Adrienne, and annoyed Jillian.

In personally exciting news, I got my braces off on October 11th! I snapped a quick pic in the car before I went in to get them off...

...and here I am without them! Wahoo!

 Went straight to Jimmy John's to crunch on some chips. Sent this pic to Matt.

A little side by side comparison--the day I got them, and after removal 2 days shy of one year later.

My orthodontist really makes the whole removal thing fun. They have a red carpet and you walk down the red carpet (wearing sunglasses) to look in the mirror for the first time sans braces. He puts videos in his Instagram stories, so I took a few screen shots of my video since that disappears after 24 hours.

I brought Flapdoodles and lots of waffle cones for the staff to celebrate and thank them. So happy I went on this braces adventure! And sooooo happy they are off!