Toothless

Fieldin (and Greta) have been losing lots of teeth these days. Always an exciting time around here. 

Fieldin always wants me to take a pic to share. 

7

Fieldin turned 7 on Friday. 

He was very excited, he loves birthday time. We bring treats to school for him, he gets a party with friends and gifts.... it is his favorite day. 

This year we did a Star Wars/ Gym game party. He invited 12 friends to play games at a gym at OSU and lucky for us we had college age helpers that ran the games. whew... 

The kids played tag, dodge ball, capture the flag and hockey. 

 Then pizza, cupcakes and lots of water and juice. They were tired.

 His favorite birthday breakfast. pumpkin pancakes with whipped cream and the birthday train. 

 He made a lego sign that said " I am 7" 

 At OSU before his party.

 Lots of play and running, a perfect birthday for Fieldin. 

We love you buddy, Happy 7th Birthday! 

Around Here

 Around here, Greta gets up early and practices band at the middle school before her elementary school starts. She will be doing this for the rest of the year. She plays drums at home but will now learn so much more from the middle school band teacher and playing with a band and playing in concerts. She is pretty excited about this. It just means earlier mornings and more commuting getting her to the middle school and then to her school but it is well worth it. She is learning playing drums was a good choice, no carrying around big instruments, just her drumsticks. 

 Both kids are busy with sports during the week and weekends. Greta is doing great in volleyball. Very fun to watch and so is Fieldin. He is learning so many positions this years that is can get a bit confusing but she is soaking it in and playing well. So that is life around here..band, school, sports, band, school and sports :) 

Throwback Fall Pics

ages 4 1/2 & 1 years... Happy Fall. 

Worth The Wait

Finally. We hiked Opal Creek. We've been wanting to do this hike back when we still lived in Pullman. Almost six years later after moving here we finally hiked it. I honestly don't know what took us so long, after all it isn't too far from home. The four of us hiked the 7 miles on a lovely Fall day and it was nice to be in nature together with no cell phone reception. Just us and the trees, just like it used to be. 

 lunch and a "ghost" tree below. 

 It was such a beautiful hike and alot of opportunities to play. 

 Finding an old kiln. We are guessing it was used to melt down ore? it was pretty neat. 

 At a pool by some falls... and at the old mining town area 

 and opal creek, named after the miner's wife who set up a mining camp here. 

 snack time

Just amazing. Well worth the hike. So happy we finally did this hike, even with some BIG spiders. Fieldin would put his fingers on my back so I thought they were crawling on me... I will so get you back one day! 

Soccer Saturdays

Soccer is in full swing again. Fieldin is doing really well this year, he plays against other 7 year olds and also with 8 year olds. He got two goals his first game. He is playing on a larger field that is 2 times longer than last year and his games run twice as long now. 

 Throwing in the ball, above. 

trying to steal the ball below. He is in green. Just look for that white hair. 

 on a break away. 

These boys are so fast and a lot more aggressive this year so taking pictures is so hard. Luckily I had my zoom lens so I could get them farther away because they are gone in a second. 

 He mostly plays left mid field so he does alot of running and does defense and offense. In this position he can move all over the field instead of just staying in one area. He doesn't like to stand around. 

 He plays the majority of the game and the heat got to him yesterday. He runs so hard and fast and he played straight for a half hour yesterday before he got to sit out for a bit and it was hot, so lots of gatorade and water. We were talking to a neighbor and when we came inside we found him like this. One tired Fieldin. 

Field Trip

Greta had two field trips this week. Jeff went as a chaperon for one at a salmon watch at a watershed. It mixed two of her favorite things, marine life and chemistry. 

 (Greta's in the purple with the net) 

 (looking for macro invertebrates) 

 She found a crawdad named Luna....

 Water sampling and oxygenation tests and testing the ph of the water