September Part 1

Labor Day fell for us in the midst of school starting (O started the week before, C the week after), opening weekend for WSU football (and the 1st of 5 home games in a row), and was one of the smokiest days that we had. In honor of all those things, and having a totally free day with no schedule, we headed to Couer d'Alene for the first time. We read online about this hike through town following a story that was written about Mudgy (a moose) and Millie (a mouse) who played hide and seek all over town. This seemed like a fun family activity for an hour or two, so we headed up.

Any drive over an hour without a movie takes a little bit of planning, but our kids have always risen up to our expectation of travelling easily and well, so we gave them each a few books and loaded them in the car.

The book leads you on a path through town, which is marked with these beautiful statues and signs leading you to the next stop. The first was at the base of a hill overlooking Lake CdA, which we will come up to hike on a different day. I'm sure the view is a lot different on a less smoky day, but we were anxious to start exploring town.

The next stop was the library, but we found an amazing park on the way. It was fun to just explore at the kids' pace, and this park was fun for the kids and grownups alike. I tried to take a big panorama shot, but it's easier to see in the individual shots, so here is the 360 view old-fashioned :).

We decided the splash pad was one thing that we hadn't planned for and would be hard to negotiate (especially since we planned on playing in the lake later, so we skipped that part.

We need some practice with our kid OSU. I'm afraid our kids have cheered for so many Pac-12 teams during the course of their life that they have a hard time remembering their roots ;).

I forgot to pull out the camera at the library but after that Mudgy led us through downtown. The kids had so much fun looking at the map and figuring out which direction we needed to go. It was pretty hot and the smoke made the air a little tough to deal with, but the kids were major troopers.

In downtown, we made a pit stop at Tito's Italian Grill for lunch, and the kids got to make their own pizzas! It was a major hit :).

Right next door was a fun toy store called Figpickel's. We went there to pick up a copy of Mudgy and Millie's book, and the store was TOTALLY crazy packed full of people. It was a wonderful little store with an adorable reading area, fun new toys, and a little carousel in the back. It was just big enough for three people, and our kids could have ridden it for hours.

Hunter was the best, he just giggled and wiggled the entire time. Olivia definitely had her work cut out for her keeping him on there, but she did a wonderful job.

After another stop at a candy store, we followed the path down to the floating boardwalk. It's the longest floating boardwalk in the US, and goes around the entire dock area. The kids loved walking on the water all the way around and I was a wreck trying to keep them from walking on the edge and going for an unexpected swim :). Alex took that opportunity to move the car to the other side of the hike, so he wasn't with us. It was all good until I realized that if all the boats were inside the boardwalk, there had to be a place where the boardwalk went up high enough for boats to pass under. 2 spiral staircases with crying babies and water everywhere later, we made it back to dry land and I vowed never to go anywhere without Alex again ;).

Mudgy's path led us around the lake to another beautiful park. This one was made completely of wood, and reminded me so much of Wildcat Park in Corvallis, which was a staple of my childhood.

Makenzie totally fell in love with the story and this new friend. She kept asking where her 'moosey' would be next, and she spent a few minutes chatting with him while the kids went into the playground. There was also a community band playing a 'Songs from Musicals' concert nearby, so the whole experience was amazing.

After Mudgy led us back the water, he finally found Millie, which was the final stop on the tour of Couer d'Alene. We had been exploring for somewhere close to 5 hours, and all the kids were exhausted. It was a perfect family day, and we were all ready for some snow cones and a drive back home.

We are already making plans to go up for a weekend in the spring to explore CdA a little more. The kids had a blast, and would go again in a heartbeat.

We had only a few days before leaving for yet another summer trip (this time a quick 48 hour trip to Oregon for a wedding) so baking and doing crafts were pretty low on my list, but Makenzie was pretty glued to me for the first couple weeks of school, so she helped me make some double chocolate zucchini bread :)

This is her showing me how Mickey and Minnie can kiss :)

The kids had a little bit of a hard time getting used to the routine of school. It's a long day, the mornings are rushed, and they spent the whole summer together as a family, so when I was running around getting stuff together for our trip they found ways to play after school. This might be my favorite way that they played :) Olivia loves to read, and she always loves to be the center of attention, so reading to her siblings is the perfect activity. I am always impressed at how long Hunter will sit for her; he never sits through a book when I'm reading.

On Friday I brought the kids to school, came back home to meet the carpet cleaners ( who were coming to clean the super dirty carpets for the first time since we moved in), then we went back to the school and picked up the kids on the way out of town for a trip to Oregon. Alex couldn't come with, as it was the weekend of the biggest football game. The kids and I, however, were able to head down for Hallie's wedding. We had to change our route a little bit to avoid the fires along I-84, but the kids were great travelers and very patient with the traffic. Here are few pictures I took along our drive of the Multnomah Falls area.

After we made it past the fire, we stopped at a random exit along I-205. Imagine my surprise and excitement when I saw this familiar picture as we exited! Chick-Fil-A is one of our favorite fast foods, and happens to be one that doesn't exist in the Palouse :).

We made it to Keizer just in time to say hi and read some stories with Grandma before bed.

The next morning we played outside and explored the toys in the attic before getting ready for the wedding. The kids were so excited to go to the farm and couldn't wait to see where the animals live, where the vegetables grow, and all the different parts of the Bystrom farm. Hunter especially was in love with all the animals. He kept running back to the chicken coop to just sit and watch them :)

Before the wedding, the girls tried out the dance floor and we caught up with all the family that we hadn't seen in over a year. Right before the one picture we were requested to be in, Carter got stung by a bee. It was his first bee sting, and he took it like a champ. He definitely cried, but was able to smile through the tears for a picture before we got him some ice and baking soda to help with the pain.

The wedding was beautiful. I put my phone away during all the fun stuff, but Hallie and Peter had such a sweet ceremony and the whole wedding was really fun. I stole this one picture from Hallie :).

After the ceremony, we got to go meet the horse for a bit before dinner. The kids were definitely in their happy place.

As it got later, the kids found more animals to play with and Makenzie found her buddy for the day. It's so funny to see her pick someone to attach herself to (when we went to San Diego it was Korissa, in Idaho it's always Dan, and during this trip it was Kelly). She danced with Kelly the entire night, not even stopping for a diaper change until it was too late and Kelly's dress had a nice wet circle ... I still feel bad about that one!

Everyone spent some time climbing fences, here is O with some cousins/friends and then the younger kids had to follow suit.

We stayed until all the girls had blisters on their feet, then headed back to Mary and Gary's for our last night.

The trip was so quick that we didn't even tell our friends and family that we were in town. We spent Sunday morning playing until Grandma Terece could make it up for the drive back home. I was so glad to have reinforcements for the drive home (anything over 2 hours with all of the kids is something I don't especially look forward to, though I'm glad we can still do it). To pass the time, Grandpa developed a new game! To say the kids were excited would be a huge understatement :).

We made it home at a decent time Sunday night, and the kids were ready for school again on Monday morning. After school we ran to piano lessons, then right back to the school for the kids' first soccer practice. I was so glad that this year they could be on the same team!

Soccer is the sport that spans the time from hot hot summer to windy, rainy fall, so this is how we packed up for each practice. I had my big bag, water bottles for everyone, a blanket to sit on, a bag with games/books for the littles, snacks for everyone, my diaper bag, and sweatshirts in case it got cold. It was a lot, and I'm sure we looked ridiculous, but this big bag saved me throughout the fall, because I could bring it to soccer, gymnastics, or any other event and know that I had everything I could possibly need.

On Wednesday the kids were all up and ready to go early enough to walk to school! It was a first for us, and we won't do it often, but it was a lot of fun and when it gets warm again in the spring I hope to spend some more time walking :).

My mom stayed with us all week, and we had a few fun outings with the kids before more family came for the WSU v. OSU game that next weekend. Pictures from that fun weekend are up next!