chris.reese.girls1.2.3.4

Our standard Labor Day weekend in Yakima/Vantage/Ellensburg just like in  years' past...it's busy and a total blast! Thanks to Uncle Karl, Aunt Jana, and Chris' parents for helping us fulfill our fun times at the lake and visiting with family. We had a GREAT time!! Finley soaking up the sun in a borrowed swimsuit from cousin Claire...yay for a suit that fits! The girls each enjoying the beach in their own way. Brynn collected shells and spelled out her name with the help of Aunt Dani. With the help of cousins Emily and Mary, and Uncle Karl, Paige turned into a mermaid! Finley is already taking a liking to soda...go figure... And it finally happened. Chris convinced Paige to go wakeboarding with him.  There was bribery involved, but once she did it, she loved it. You will notice in the video (below) it took them a while to figure out the best way for her to stand and hold on, but this is what they settled on and she said it was super fun! We are so proud of her!! And her...

Brynn was pretty sad when she realized she wouldn't be going to Kindergarten along with Paige. She has a late birthday and will wait one more year for preschool.  But just when I was starting to feel bad for her, I had the idea to start "Potty School." It was a stroke of genius and divinely inspired - the talk and build-up made "Potty School" something she was very much looking forward to. When anyone would ask Paige about starting Kindergarten, Brynn would pipe up and say she was going to Potty School!  We had attempted potty training earlier in the summer when we had a short window between summer trips, but it failed after one day when I came down with mastitis and gave up. There was no way I could handle both.   So in all our back-to-school prep, we talked like BOTH of my older girls were going to school. They both got school clothes, school supplies, and a backpack. And our Back-to-School dinner and father's blessings were for both Paige AND Brynn.  An...

(Hello ginormous backpack filled with $30 of school supplies...yelp!) The glorious day for Paige to start her formal education finally arrived at the end of August. She's been seriously asking to start Kindergarten for the last two years, so it was quite the milestone and she was ecstatic. And despite our car battery dying the morning of her first day, Paige was still optimistic, I managed a cool head, and my faithful friend, Laura, dropped everything to get us to school so Paige could enjoy the day flawlessly. It was seriously a miracle on all fronts. Paige attends afternoon Kindergarten. I love that she and Brynn have the mornings to play, and get a few chores and reading done. I also love that we get one more year of non-hectic mornings and a tad of sleeping in. The schedule flows really well because while Paige is gone, Brynn has her normal downtime for quiet or nap, and Finley naps too, so even though the time is pretty short, I am enjoying the little bit of quiet that I ge...

In early August, Paige finally got the hang of riding her bike without training wheels... We had been practicing really hard during Chris' time being unemployed, but she is so timid and would get frustrated easily. We started taking her to the school parking lot and working at it there. One afternoon we finally did it. I ran about a mile with her and she started to get the hang of it. Chris showed up after work just in time to see her ride. We celebrated at Baskin Robbins (Paige loves that place!). We are proud of her! But it's still not a complete success yet. Lately, she hasn't been too interested. She is "clumsy" on the bike and crashes often, but part of that is her own personality and she just isn't super comfortable yet.  We are still working on it, but the hardest part is done as far as I'm concerned. Yay Paige!!

Our one and only excursion in our tent this summer. I was procrastinating scheduling anything with a new baby, but I'm glad my sister and I pushed forward to pick a weekend in August for our annual Washington siblings camping trip (we missed you Bryce & Beck!). We opted for the close proximity state park (literally 30 minutes from our house), and while Chris joked about going home to sleep in our own bed, we did stay in the tent and the feel of camping was a success. We love camping!  Warning: There are a lot of pirctures of Brynn from this trip. She and Rylan stayed close to camp and were most often the subjects in my photos! As always, we had great food while we camped. Yay for my sister's trailer and all their awesome gear! Best buds...truly and honestly. They love each other. At night when Ry would go to the trailer and Brynn was in the tent, Rylan would yell, "Night, Brynn!" and Brynn would yell goodnight back...over and over. So cute! Carson and Brynn. H...

We had a busy summer full of travels. I'm still in denial Paige has started school and I'm supposed to have a schedule...I 'm not sure if it's the product of baby #3, but I still haven't quite worked that out yet! And while I've documented most of our summer trips and family fun (camping trip still to come...), here in town we had fun too and crossed a few summer "To-Do's" off the list. Here is some of the randomness we enjoyed! Veggies from the garden.  This year has been our most fruitful container garden yet.  Shown here are green beans (a little large...whoops!). We've also enjoyed cucumbers, green and yellow peppers and the tomatoes are ripening each day! A visit to the Fremont Troll . It's a notorious landmark of sorts in Seattle. I prepped the girls with pictures online before we went...because, honestly, he's a little creepy.  ...and a little under construction. There was fine dust EVERYWHERE! Man were we messy! Yes, that is ...