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First our Bend, Oregon trip with Auntie Karol in June.
An amazing beautiful place to be.
It was so warm, the river was a wonderful place to frolic.
Fourth of July at Three Tree Point. Was fun, but we didn't make it to the fireworks this year. The heat played a big part in wearing us all out.
The kids and Grandma Kathie.
Our annual Seaside trip followed a few weeks later. Also with Auntie
Karol, and Uncle Doug was along too. Again, very warm weather, making
the ocean fun to play in. This year the kids were able to jump waves
and stay in the water much longer than before. Ryan really liked the
deeper water and bigger waves.
Ryan's other obsession was the
arcade. He spent hours (and $$) there. He scored enough tickets to
redeem for an UNO deck, with the Planes Fire and Rescue theme. Makes me
laugh, because it was probably a $40 deck of cards in the end.
Where we've stayed for the past 4 years.
Birthday week was then upon us. Ryan - 8 years and Kathryn - 6 years. At our birthday BBQ this year, Kerri, Sam and Sam's son Wyatt were able to make the trip up from Atlanta to join us. Instantly the kids has a bond with Wyatt - a delightful boy. Having Kerri & Sam here made it all the more fun.
Here's this years cake. It had to be completely egg free, as Wyatt has severe allergies to eggs. It was successful and all reports were that it was well liked.
Ryan and Kathryn provided the cake topper.
Cousins and Wyatt
Kennedy kids and Wyatt.
The backpack Ryan received from Kerri, Sam and Wyatt.
There is more to this backpack story later on..... : (
The cake! I am immensely proud of this one.
August was also super HOT. The kids took part in a YMCA camp. I think Kathryn found the full day camp kind of tough, her behavior that week was a tad (tad meaning HUGE) tumultuous. Ryan's camp was baseball theme - which he thoroughly enjoyed. The entire summer was tough on Kathryn. I am not sure if it was the lack of structure or what, but she and I struggled to get through.
Paul and Ryan did "Fish Camp" on Whidbey Island this year. Every odd year, the Pink Salmon make a run through the ocean out there. Paul, his Dad and this year Ryan made a go at getting as many as possible. Most days they did not limit, but in the end - caught 70ish (I think?) fish. They smoke the majority of them.
I get a phone call one morning from Ryan while he is out fishing.
"Mom! Mom! Guess what?! We just saw a pod of whales go through!" A small pod of Orca whales went by, while the boys were out in the boat.
I'm jealous!
What an experience for that young man!
The fishing that day was the pits after the whales swam through. : )
Ryan loves his time up at Grandma and Papa's. Minimal rules, pretty much free reign. They call it Island Time. No set bedtime, plenty of computer/TV time. Junk food galore. He was a happy boy.
While Paul and Ryan were away, Kathryn and I were holding down the fort at home. Sadly, one Thursday when she and I were out in the afternoon; our home was burglarized. It occured between noon and 4 pm, but I didn't realize it until 9pm that evening when I headed to bed. I walk in to my bedroom to find items that are typically high in the closet, down and open on the bed. Soon see the window screen on the floor with a wide open window. I'm to blame for leaving the window open. : (
The drawers on my bureau were open and had been gone through.
In the end, while tremendously violating it could have been much worse than it was. The jerks took about $400 in change. The containers that held the change were sentimental for Paul and I - an All Star game bank in the shape of a large beer bottle is what Paul had his change in. I stored mine in a vintage Snoopy carafe and I had a smaller carafe full of bicentennial quarters that I've saved for 30 years. They left things like Paul's wedding ring and his checkbook that were in the room. At the time we thought that was all that was taken. It was just money, no sensitive paperwork taken, no electronics etc. Then, the night before school was to start, we are prepping supplies and find that the idiots took Ryan's brand new back pack (pictured earlier). Likely to haul all that change out. That was the hardest part (outside of the feeling violated) about this entire scenario. It now impacted Ryan, took a wonderful gift from Kerri and Sam - and it was an AWESOME backpack. When Kerri learned of this, she graciously acted quickly and sent Ryan another UW backpack. It's not what he had before, but it does take the place of what he lost.
We also experienced some mail theft (just this week) prompting us to be a secure mailbox.
Infuriating.
Work hard for what we have, and have it taken by those that have evil in their heart.
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That brings us to the start of the school year, 2015-2016. Kathryn starting 1st grade, Ryan starting 2nd grade. The year started with somber note. The delightful young teacher who was to teach Ryan's class died suddenly in a car accident 2 weeks before school started. Heartbreaking for the whole school. We were all excited to have her teach Ryan, she was young, energetic and had 11 years of experience. A true loss. At this time, 2nd grade has an interim teacher, Mrs. Rossiter who came out of retirement to help the school year get started. The search for a permanent teacher is still on. I asked Ryan yesterday, "What is your favorite part of 2nd grade so far?" His response: "My teacher." I'm so grateful for this teacher who briefly changed her path to be a part of 2nd grade.
Kathryn had a rough few days getting settled in to this school year but
has blossomed with the structure, her teacher and being back with her
friends.
Now, September has been full of activities and changes. The biggest and by far super exciting for me was the replacement of our yucky rugs, with laminate flooring. It's quite a process getting to the end point, but it is complete and I could not be more happy! I finally feel as if I can get my house clean. Those carpets taunted me, they just exuded dirt. Good-bye carpet!
The carpet looks decent here - but good riddance.
Yuck
In process. . . . .
Behold!
This is the master bedroom.
Ryan's finished room.
Kathryn's finished room.
Next on the home improvement agenda: either new windows for those that need to be replaced, or continue to put money aside to replace the oil furnace with a heat pump (to the tune of approx $9000 - ouch). It's good to have the means to save for this - thanks to Paul's better job this year. Paul and I think the van is within a year or two of dying, so there is that. And. . . we found ants in our crawl space after the carpet was ripped out. They don't go anywhere in the house, except where we found them... they have a highway through the spot they carved out. We don't believe they are carpenter ants, probably what's called moisture ants. Still damaging to wood work/framework of the house. That needs to be fixed ASAP.
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Lastly, a few fun pictures to close.
Kathryn was telling her Dad about how the 1st grade class hamster (Harry Kevin Hamster) got out of his cage and was found shimmying between furniture. She say's, "Dad it was like this". He turns to find her, shimmying up our door frame.
Lil' Monkey.
She's become a soccer player this fall. Her first experience with team sports.
And, awwwww....... this years school pictures are done.
My how they grow and change.
