End of Summer Update

I have been terrible with our summer updates. We have been on several adventures and most of the time I forgot my camera. Our most recent was spending the day at Parker Canyon Lake. It was a ton of fun. Greg helped the kids with fishing, which by the way, all the kids caught 1-2 fish. Adam and Elayna are pros at baiting and were sadly dissapointed they couldn't pull the hooks out of the fish. Zach was the keeper of the worms, even though he refused to touch them. Sariah was the investigater of all things natural. While Greg was fishing with Adam and Elayna, Zach and I along with Sariah took a walk along a nearby trail. We could hear the excited cries of Adam and Elayna as they caught fish but we had an adventure all our own. Sariah would walk a few steps and pick up rocks or flowers, investigate them and walk a few more steps and pick up something new. She even tasted the difference between mud and sand and just in case you were wondering, neither is very good. Zach came across a giant butterfly and was so excited to see it until it tried to land on him. He was totally freaked out about it. He kept yelling shoo shoo!! That butterfly terrorized him for a good 30+ seconds before finally flying away. Zach yelled bye butterfly as it disappeared.
Sariah is 18 months and will be starting nursery. She is all kinds of curious and loves to be right in the middle of all the action. She loves to be outside and like everyone else in the family is obsessed with animals. She giggles uncontrollably when a dog or cricket passes her way and she gets to say hi. She is the comforter of the kids, anytime anyone gets hurt, is mad or crying in any way she is right there to check on them to see if they are ok. She rubs their arm softly and coos at them until they stop. Then she if off on a new mission.

Zach is 8 years old, almost 9. He is a computer fanatic and guru. He is talking even more and asking all kinds of questions, like "what stinks???" when he smells brownies cooking. (he really loves brownies and is still working on his words) He has become a water slide nut! At the beginning of the summer there was no way I could get him to go down. Once he realized he could touch the bottom where the slides dump you there was no keeping him off. He will refuse to go swimming but if you ask him to go slide he will be there non-stop.

Elayna turned 5 over the summer and is anxious to start school She has made some good friends and is into anything Adam is doing. Most of the time she is his partner in crime. She loves to help clean with the exception of her bedroom. She is very smart and also very blonde. She is the reminder of the family to do what is right.

Adam is my big kid, the alpha male-if you will. He is 6 just about to turn 7. He spent most of his summer playing with friends, riding bikes and scooters and walking his dog. He is one of the most trusting kids and friendliest. He has become quite independant, no longer needing mom to watch over him, at least not where any of his friends can see. He is a take charge, be the leader type of guy who loves to snuggle with his mom. He and Greg built several toys over the summer with his erector set and he was quite proud of his work.

And here we are, the last day of summer. The kids, except Zach, are all excited for school to start and have been counting down for 3 weeks. We look forward to our new adventures and the school year.