No Coats!

Sunny and in the 60's. What else is there to say?!

Love!

I love-love-LOVE that we are able to bike to school in February! And today wasn't an isolated incident...in fact, we may have even rode a day or two in January! 

Blue skies and sunshine: don't go away!

QOTD

"I think his brain works like a squirrel's...he just sees a car and runs straight towards it!" - Preston, referring to Archer's bike riding (I got a flat tire on the Yuba on the way home from kindergarten today, so the boys all had to ride their own bikes this afternoon. SO thankful for the Yuba after that experience!)

Fall is Here

I'm still picking tomatoes and spaghetti squash (how I will eat all the squash by myself, I do not know! We discovered this year that John's pumpkin allergy does extend to spaghetti squash as well.), but Fall has arrived. Our morning ride to school is chilly, and the evenings are cold. It's been raining (mostly at night, thankfully!), and the sunny days are less and less. 

I'm not a "sweater weather" person, but I did enjoy my bike ride home from school with a pumpkin in the basket! We only ended up with 2 pumpkins in our garden, so thankfully a friend had extras and gave us one. No fights over pumpkins in our house!

In other news, Bryton started Cub Scouts! He's so adorable in his way-too-big-but-hopefully-will-last-a-few-more-years uniform. 

And then, there's this:

We got another freezer because we have 1/4 of a cow and 1/2 a pig waiting for us. And John is still hopeful that he will bag an elk this year. Archer has been asking (and asking...and asking...) for a playhouse, so he snagged the freezer box and decorated it for his playhouse. He told me the drawing means "Mom's Allowed!" Unfortunately, his playhouse wasn't looking so great after the Cub Scout meeting at our house, so I made him a little teepee out of fabric and PVC pipes. It isn't perfect, but it seems to be holding up okay for the time being. 

The first day

All 3 are in school. I can't believe it. Where have the last 8 years gone? We have had a successful 3 days, and I'm so thankful. I wasn't sure how Archer would take the transition, but he's done amazingly well. The boys all love their teachers, and they are excited to be back with their friends. It's been strange to ride my bike home empty, but I've been getting a lot accomplished in those 3 hours of quiet (well, 2.5 by the time it's all said and done).

3rd grade

1st grade

Kindergarten

My handsome boys!

The little guy all settled into his classroom

My empty yuba, riding home

Backyard camping

Last summer we decided we didn't want to go anywhere for the 4th of July weekend, so we had some friends over for a BBQ and backyard camp. It was a total hit, and we had requests for a repeat this year. I wasn't sure if we would be able to fit one in, given the craziness of the summer, but we made it happen! Year #2 was a hit as well, so there will most likely be a year #3 too! 

The weather was iffy. Thunderstorms off and on all day. It wasn't very warm. I was sad. And a bit panicked. We had quite a few people coming, and while our house COULD accommodate them, it would be pretty tight quarters. Thankfully it cleared up just as the party was getting started! We BBQed, the kids played, and the adults socialized. When it got dark, we put on a movie outside (we borrowed a friend's projector, and now it's on the "want" list!). It was FUN. (Sadly I didn't have time to take any pictures! The only 2 I have are from John's phone!)

The fun finally died down around 1:00 am (I'm getting way too old for that!), but it started again at about 7:00 am with pancakes and bacon (and bacon pancakes), plus lots of coffee for the adults. 

John's pride and joy: bacon pancakes!

John, the boys, and I managed to get the house cleaned up pretty quickly, so we headed out for a bike ride to downtown Coeur d'Alene. We are at one of our favorite downtown spots and played at the park.

Needless to say, the boys were EXHAUSTED this evening and as of 7:00, all 3 were in bed, and I'm hanging out with John and Ender in the backyard. It's a beautiful evening!

So much to do...

...so little time to blog about it!

We have been camping, going to the beach, bike riding, golfing, gardening, playing in the sprinklers, enjoying the outdoors, going to the park, going to Silverwood...and so much more. Summer has been crazy busy! I've been snapping pictures when I get a chance (how did I ever take pictures before iPhones??), but not as often as I wish I would!

Yummy garden bounty! Our peas are finally ending, the strawberries are just about done, and the blueberries and raspberries are just getting started. We've picked a handful of cherry tomatoes, but not many yet. We enjoyed our first beautiful head of broccoli, and we're anxiously awaiting green beans! I'm going to try a Fall garden this year, so we're getting ready to plant that.

We are fortunate to have a neighbor who gets us free tickets to lots of events at the fairgrounds. We get to go to way more events than we would otherwise...like Monster Trucks!

Selfie by the 4-yr-old

Poor B! He was walking Ender and had a little issue!

We went camping over the 4th. Not my pick of times to camp, but it wasn't too crowded and most of us had a good time. (I was kinda cranky and not feeling like camping.)

After we got back from camping, we did a little fireworks celebration in our backyard.

Ender LOVES the sprinkler. In fact, we've been turning it on just for her, even if the boys don't want to play. She will run through it as long as it's on!

This kid is working his way through a big summer reading list

Silverwood!

Oh, yuba. We LOVE the yuba. It has enabled bike rides that might not be possible otherwise.

And take a look at our weather forecast! I'm envisioning lots of ripe tomatoes in our near future!

High 90's! Thunderstorms! Sunshine! Lows in the 60's! This is why I insist on only taking vacations in the winter/Spring. Who wants to leave this???

LOVE

I have been LOVING our quick ride to and from school. We only live about a mile away from the school, but since I make the trip 3 times per day, it adds up! The kids and I were usually driving 1-2 times per day, and then walking 1-2. It has been so much more enjoyable riding! Arch and I even rode down to costco and ran a few errands the other day while B was in school.

And there is NO COMPARISON to the bike trailer. None. Besides the fact that the little boys don't fit in the bike trailer anymore, the mundo is so much more maneuverable! And I love that Arch could give me spontaneous hugs and chit chat along the way. 

Again, I'm kicking myself for not getting one earlier. 

John has a slight break from work this week as he finishes up the final details on the practice purchase, so he's been riding with us to and from school occasionally. This afternoon, he snapped this picture after B had a mini-meltdown due to a black hornet (wasp? I don't know what it was but it was HUGE!) that I had to forcibly remove from his shorts. It was apparently pretty comfy! Anyway, B hitched a ride home...we are still trying to figure out the best way to use the towing tray with the monkey bars on there, and I didn't have a tow strap along, but B just held on to his handlebars and off we went!

The New Ride

For years, I have been pining after a cargo bike. Literally years. And every day as I'm schlepping the boys to and from school, I think "okay, I really need a cargo bike" but of course, I couldn't take the plunge. John even went so far as to buy me one for Christmas two years ago, but I canceled the order. I'm difficult.

Anyway...I got a cargo bike! A yuba mundo. Woohoo! I am considering it my Christmas-anniversary-Valentine's day-birthday-Mother's day present, and I specifically requested that John not buy me any presents for all of those holidays so that I could assuage my guilt a bit. 

It is amazing. Amazing. The first day after it was built, Arch and I rode for about an hour before picking B up from school, just to get a feel for it. We then picked up B (and said hi to P, who happened to be having PE outside...I know I will miss these days where he is still willing to shout out "HI MOM!" in front of all of his friends, while his mom is riding a gigantic beast of a bike and a dorky bike helmet!), went home for a quick lunch, and, after some begging from the boys, we headed out for another hour or so on the bike.

Arch & me on our first ride!

I totally regret not springing for one earlier. Today we loaded all three boys up and went to the Farmer's Market. John rode the yuba (I'm not sure I'm ready for 3 kids on it!), and I rode my "regular" bike, but when we got back home we were both thinking that maybe we need a yuba boda boda now. We could ride 2 kids on the mundo and 1 on the boda and not be restricted to how far little legs want to pedal. Plus, with John's new employment (self-employment!), he will only have a couple of miles to go to work. 

On the way to the farmer's market. We came home with a couple of tomato plants, some celery plants, and an elderberry bush (one of mine isn't looking so good!).