On to Oregon

We traveled south from Washington into the state of Oregon in our Discover America State-by-State study.  The girls really like these books from Sleeping Bear Press.  They present the state information in a cute jingle colorful pictures.  They are really fun to read!

"B is for the 'Beaver State,'

Oregon's other name.

Trapped to near extinction,

the beaver still remains."

from B is for Beaver:  An Oregon Alphabet

The beaver is North America's largest rodent and is nicknamed "nature's engineer"!  The girls completed their scrapbook and lapbook throughout the week.

Then we cooked up a blackberry pie for our Oregon cooking class.  Oregon is the nation's top producer of blackberries, pears, and hazelnuts.  Oh, this was piping hot from the oven and delicious served with a dollup of Cool Whip!

Seatle's Best

The girls are continuing our State-by-State study this year.  We are hoping to finish up the remaining 27 states during school this year!  We will see if that is possible!  We started this year in the far west corner of the USA with Washington.

"E is for the Evergreen State,

forests of old growth and rain.

Our nickname comes from

 nature's unbroken chain."

-E is for Evergreen A Washington Alphabet

Lauren is continuing to complete her scrapbook pages each week with the interesting facts about the state we are studying.  Lyndsey is completing a mini lapbook for each state which has all the important facts in it. 

Starbucks is huge around our house!  Dad just loves to treat himself to a coffee from Starbucks!  The kids also love to go by Starbucks for a treat, but it real doesn't happen that often since Mom is not a coffee (or Starbucks) fan!  Since the first Starbucks was in Seattle, Washington, we decided that our cooking for Washington would be simple this week.  A trip to Starbucks was in order! 

Unofficial First Day of School Pictures

I had scheduled to have the girls pictures taken today by a friend.  They were going to be outdoor pictures, and the rain caused us to have to cancel them.  Since the girls were already dressed, we set up a little photo session in our pool house.  It was still raining most of the time, but we managed to get quite a few good shots!

  Corynne-8th grade

  Lauren-5th grade

 Lyndsey-1st grade

Colleen-Preschool 3

And we are done with this Mom...

School Dayz

We started homeschool a  few weeks ago, but the big kids started school this week.  Tyler started on Monday.  I can not believe he is in 10th grade.  A Sophomore at Trinity Presbyterian School.  He is over 6 foot tall and towers above me, but he will always be my little boy!

 No more pictures with the teacher or even with the sign in the front of the school!  I just got to snap a fast one as he walked into the game at the back of the school!

 Corynne started on Wednesday at Eastwood Christian School.  This is her 8th grade year.  Time is flying by and I must remember to savor each moment!

Summer Fun

We flew back into Montgomery on Monday, July 8th from our East Coast Road Trip 2013!  Montgomery was just as we had left it...rainy and wet!  The up side to all the rain is getting to see God's promise daily.  Some days the beauty of the rainbow was absolutely breath-taking!!

We did not skip a beat AT ALL.  I forgot to schedule in a recovery day!  We woke up Tuesday for swim practice, VBS at our church, tennis lessons, orthodontist visits, and school volleyball practice.  Life is back to CRAZY!  On Thursday, Corynne left for Auburn Volleyball Camp with a few school teammates. She had a great weekend of volleyball, and she came back prepared for the new season!

On Friday July 12th, Lauren and Lyndsey had a swim meet at the East YMCA.  We waited around under storm delays.  Started the meet.  Swam 2 events.  Then more storm delays which eventually canceled the meet.  It made for a long evening but allowed us to go to Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A!  The girls were really bummed that we had not made it to CFA for a free meal today, so this was a treat!  I had their costumes in the back just in case we had time to stop by tonight!

On Sunday night, Tyler took Lauren on a Moe's run.  It was the "last meal" she wanted before she left for camp Monday morning.  No one else wanted Moe's!  Corynne and I had eaten Mexican for lunch when I picked her up from vball camp in Auburn.  So Tyler volunteered to take her in the golf cart!  

 On Monday, July 15th, I took Lauren and a bus load of friends to Camp Victory in Samson, Alabama. She has been looking forward to CampVictory since she returned home last summer.  She even did her Bible studies during the school year and turned them in to earn $50 off her camp tuition!  Her cabin included 5 girls from Montgomery and 2 poor girls who didn't know them!    

 

While Lauren was crafting and horseback riding at camp, Lyndsey and Colleen were playing with her dolls!

We also had a surprise visit from Grammy and Papa while Lauren was at camp.  The rains had hit Texas enough that they decided it was safe to come to Alabama for a visit!  Papa participated in a few water gun fights by the pool!

Grammy took the girls to the park one morning to play!  She also took them to Chuck E. Cheese!  God bless her...Montgomery is just not for everyone!!!

Colleen tried to fit in a suitcase to go home with Grammy, but they forget to get her when they left in the early morning hours on Sunday!!

Corynne became my little chef this summer.  She was always cooking up treats for us!!!  I let her get a Pinterest account and she found even more yummy things to make!

Cousin Caroline from Bham came over for the day.  We all enjoyed her visit and she cooked up some yummy cookies for an afternoon treat!!!

Corynne was also the ultimate babysitter for the summer!  Colleen loved to play with her big sister.  Dress up is always fun!

For the last week of July, the girls went to an Upward Cheer camp.  They absolutely loved it and can not wait to be on a cheer squad during the school year!

Georgia Mountain Trip

We met Granddad and Noni and all the cousins in the Georgia mountains for a weekend of family fun! Noni even found A house that could sleep all of us!  We are quite a crowd when ever one shows up!!  We were only missing Peyton & Jared for this trip. Not pictured are at least 3 more dogs!

We were all nestled beside a beautiful creek in the Georgia mountains.  There was a swimming pool, basketball goal, and plenty of room for games of all kinds.  We had a friendly competition going all weekend.  We were divided into 4 teams, and we competed in horseshoes, washers, charades, and a few other games.  Uncle Shawn was the leader of the winning team for the weekend.  Lauren was excited that her team won!  Colleen and Granny Jo bonded this weekend.  They got to spend a lot of time together while JM and I went rafting!

Yes, you read correctly.  JM and I went white-water-rafting with the rest of the adult kids and grandkids!  We filled 3 rafts and we had the best time out on the Ocoee River.  

Raft #1 (L-R) John Mark, Tina, Misty, Shan, and Joe Don

 Raft #2 (L-R) Will, Cade, Chase, Tyler.  This raft tried SOOO hard to flip.  They were definitely wanting to fly!!!

 Raft #3 (L-R) Brittany, Ella, Jenson, Corynne, Shawn

 It was a wonderful family weekend!  Granddad and Noni always plan fun get-togethers!!!  Can't wait to do it again!

Pink, Pink, and more Pink

We had planned a beach vacation for this long weekend, but Granddad and Noni changed our plans.  They wanted everyone to come to the mountains for the weekend!  With the new plans, we had an extra day off on Thursday so we decided to spend it in Atlanta on our way to the mountains.
Our first stop in Atlanta was American Girl.  The girls were so exited to get to eat and shop there!  Dad said, "No new dolls."  So the girls took him at the doll services counter!  They each got to pick out a new outfit for their doll also!  I am not sure he saved any money!!!!
Dad is so proud of this picture he took of me and Corynne in Chicago when she got her first American Girl.  Time has sure flown by!  I think she was 4 when we went to Chicago, and now she is 13!

 We had reservations at the Bistro for a late lunch.  The girls loved the doll themed treats!

 Everyone had an appointment at the doll salon also!

 Then Dad had the ultimate surprise for the girls.  We checked into a hotel with special American Girl services.  Each of the girls walked the pink carpet to check in their doll to the hotel.  It was so cute and fun!

 Then, we went up to the rooms to find a room full of PINK!!!!

 The girls had so much fun in the pink paradise!  The day was completed with milk and cookies for the girls and dolls.  Tyler just loved the hotel!!!