Sniff

Well, a new page has been turned in our family's adventure book. Ayden is officially a "school kid". He started Kindergarten this afternoon. Here is a picture of him outside school. Jade, of course, wouldn't leave his side. She says it's not fair that he can go to school but she can't. I told her I would miss her so very much. She decided that she can wait a while to start. Ayden was on cloud nine today. I'm not sure how I feel. I'm very excited for him, but somewhat meloncholy about the whole thing. I know this was an inevitable part of having kids, but it makes it feel so real. They really do grow up fast. I want to stop time and keep them little forever.

Ayden loved picking out his clothes for school and here he is modeling for me. I think one of the things that makes me the saddest is that I have forgotten so many memories of when he was a baby already. I have a hard time recalling exactly how we got to 5 years old, ya know? Time is slipping by and not only am I unable to stop it, I am also forgetting all the small things that got us here.
This last picture is Ayden and one of his best friends in class today. Ayden actually has about 4 kids in his class that he is really good friends with and I'm sure he's already making more friends. He's so big-hearted when it comes to forming relationships with other kids. I love that about him. He includes everyone and has a special knack of finding the kids who need friends the most. It makes me very proud and I know that skill will help him become an amazing young man. Sniff, sniff.

A work in progress

I have many projects planned for my backyard. Grass, trees, flowers, deck, pool table, hot-tub, stereo system, and the list goes on......
But, with the help of a very dear friend, Steve and I finished the first of our many projects- the sandbox!! The kids had a blast playing on the huge pile of sand on the street. It was like a magnet to the neighborhood kids. The minute the dump truck left, the kids were here in full force. On bikes, with shovels and Tonka Trucks. It was so fun. Ayden and Jade had sand on every inch of their bodies. I'm sure my name was a cuss word for a few of the moms in my neighborhood!
Now, we are just saving our pennies for the next project- the deck.

We made it to the lake!!!

Oh baby, this is one of my very most favorite things in the world!!! Boating, or just playing in the water. Our very good friends finally, yes finally, got their boat water-worthy and invited us along to play with them. Such good times! The kids loved it, Jade is just like me- a little mermaid in training. I LOVE THE WATER! Enjoy the pics!

No Such Thing as an Ordinary Day.

The thing that makes this picture so amazing is that he actually took his shirt off to surf down the stairs. Steve, my lovely husband, taught the kids this lovely activity. Surfing, or body boarding down our stairs. They haven't broke any bones yet, but have had some monumental fights over whose turn it is. I can't help but smile, knowing that these memories will stick with them forever.
This is what I found as I exited my bathroom one morning, kids in hats, reading books- my books. Their imaginations are so wonderful, but often get them into loads of trouble. Like the time Jade thought she was a talented hair cutter- resulting in the very short bangs you've been seeing. Or the day when Ayden took a few cans of spray paint to his skateboard- resulting in his lifetime ban to the garage. Good times.

Camping- in a Cabin!!! (does that still count as camping?)

Hooray!!! We achieved our first successful overnight trip to the mountains. And, unlike last year, we did not get rained out! Some fantastic friends of ours invited us up to their cabin at Duck Creek last weekend. Amazingly, we had some free time and were able to go for one night. Camping in a cabin totally rocks!! In comparison to "tent" camping, we fit everything we needed into two duffle bags and a cooler. What a difference that makes! When we got to the cabin it was indeed raining. But, the benefit of a cabin- we were dry and had plenty of space to play cards, put puzzles together, play hide and seek and annoy the crud out of each other!! Dinner that night was a little adventurous. The power was out for about 45 minutes (the exact 45 minutes that we were trying to boil water for the spaghetti). But, kudos to the men who restore power (you know who you are), we were able to enjoy dinner at about 9:00 that night!

The cabin had three rooms on two levels. The top level was one huge room with beds from wall to wall. The main floor had a family/dining/kitchen room and another bedroom. Yes, we had a bathroom-running water!!! So, that night there were 9 of us in the huge upstairs bedroom. Now, Bash men have the curse of snoring. It only took 10 minutes before Steve AND Ayden were tossed down the stairs to the family/dining/kitchen room. The rest of the night was fairly uneventful- minus Jade falling out of bed and Elaine wondering if she was next to be tossed down stairs if she made any noise!

Here are a few more pictures of our trip, like always, I didn't do a fantastic job of getting good pictures, but you'll get the idea- it was a blast!! Oh, the fire ring above was built entirely by the kids!!
Thanks to Adam, Nicole and their amazing families for sharing with us!

This is "Team Bash" trying to capture a squirrel. We actually chased it into that pipe. The, the kids proceeded to bang on the pipe. I'm thinking the poor thing died of a heart attack. The squirrels were everywhere. They would come right up on to the deck and steal food! It was very entertaining for the kids (and parents too!)

Here are all the kids trying to entice the birds to land on their hands. Journey, the oldest, actually had a bird climb on to her finger to eat some seeds!! The rest of the kids were too impatient.

Our treasure hunt resulted in a major discovery!! The kids found an old, and I mean OLD, teeter totter. It was so cool! They had a blast taking turns rocking each other. Callie, the youngest, kept saying "up now down" or "I'm flying!"

In this last picture, the kids were getting overly anxious to eat. You know how kids are, they sense dinner time and their "annoy mom" instict turns on full force. Well, luckily and thankfully, we had a seasoned mom with us who took the responsibility of entertaining the kids while the rest of us got dinner ready. Elaine is, well, she's just about as amazing as they come!! This is her leading the kids in a round of "BINGO". We love her.