Cousin Convention 2013

James, when he was younger, would have family reunions which they called 'cousin conventions'.  It's been quite a few years since they've had one, but it was decided it was time to start it back up again.  It was for our generation (no parents) and the nursing babies.  The 4 older kids stayed with Aunt Helen, Uncle Dan and Margaret.  They all joined us for the beginning and end of the reunion.


Everyone that made it this year.  All 5 Finlay kids (plus 3 spouses and 2 babies), the 3 Crump girls and 2 of the 3 Ferguson girls (Tat was the only one that couldn't be there...as she was on a multi-month hiking expedition)


We had a great time staying at the Crump's cabin at Lake Tahoe.  There was so much to see an do around the area.


Picnics at the park

Beautiful Views

Dinners on the Deck

Enjoying time together at the cabin

Hiking Together

Kayaking

Cliff Jumping

Cousin Convention Younger Generation

Our generation had a family reunion while the kids stayed with Grandma Finlay, Aunt Helen and Uncle Dan for a Cousin Convention of their own.


They came up to Lake Tahoe to see where their parents would be staying.

After a rough day playing at the beach, it's always nice to relax in a hammock on the deck of the cabin.

The kids then went back to Sacramento to stay at Aunt Helen and Uncle Dan's home.

They had very busy days filled with fun field trips.  Here they are at the train museum.

And at Fairytale Town.

Saturday morning they all ran a kids race together.

They then got to go to the Maidu Museum to learn more about Indians that lived in the area.

And then they came back to the lake to join us for another fun afternoon kayaking.

Which the kids loved.  Brielle said she wished we took the kayaks home with us.  

The kids were NOT excited to go home.  Both Gavin and Ethan were asking for at least 1 more night to sleepover again as we were leaving.  What a fun, fun, trip for everyone.

Sacramento

The kids and I spent a couple of days in Sacramento with Aunt Helen and Uncle Dan. There was a lot to see and not enough time. We tried to get to as much as we could in the couple of days we were there and had a great time!  Here are pictures of a few of the things we did.


 The kids learned about Sacramento being the capitol of California.  We got to picnic on the lawn and go inside to see some of the museum of the State Capitol building.  It is a very pretty building.

We enjoyed exploring some of Old Town, which is a very well-kept 'cowboy' village.

This is the site of the final stopping place for the pony express

We enjoyed going to the fish hatchery

We loved the Jelly Belly Factory learning about how candy is made.

We had a great time exploring Suisun City.  The kids loved touring the wildlife refuge with Auntie and Uncle Dan.

And we stopped by the It's-It's Cookie Factory for a yummy treat to end the day.

Thanks for the great trip showing us around Uncle Dan and Aunt Helen!

School for Ethan

Ethan had 2 'first days' of school this year.


These two are continuing preschool with me at home.  They have so much fun together, and are great to be with.


In addition to home preschool, Ethan is continuing speech classes at our local public school.  He goes twice a week for an hour each time.

 Ethan restarted this paper 3 different times.  He kept getting stuck with writing the lowercase 'g' in legos and got frustrated.  He finally decided he could do capital 'G's instead.  He has preferred writing in all caps this past year, so we are just starting to work on the lowercase letters now.

Back to School

I'm still catching up on our summer, but I'll put this current post up as I go through past photos.


Today was back-to-school day!

The kids had quite the group of family supporters to wave them off.

Brielle is excited to be in the same class as her good friend from last year.

Her teacher this year is Mrs. Milano.  She seems like she will be an excellent fit for Brielle.

No tears or worries this year, just excitement.

Fly on the Wall-a Friday

Our LAST weekday of the summer.  With having a baby, a few vacations and a wedding it has been a fun and busy time.  When we have been home though, most of our days home have been pretty relaxed.  Our mornings especially have been slow starts.  I have been taking advantage of having a treadmill to get exercise during the day whenever baby is napping rather than waking up early to run.  We've all been sleeping in; getting back to school morning routine will be interesting.

Friday, August 23, 2013

2AM-Nursing
6 hour stretch!  Preston went to bed at 8pm last night (his bedtime is still variable, last night was earlier than usual) and slept through until now.  If only I went to bed earlier, I'd get better sleep.

5AM-Nursing
Another almost 3 hour stretch between feedings.  As I finished, I thought, next week this is my get up time, but since school hasn't started yet, I try to go back to bed.

6AM-Changing Preston
Preston never really settled after the 5AM nursing, so I'm bringing him into my bed to see if he'll go back to sleep anymore, he's still seeming tired.

7AM-Morning Routine
James is out running.  Ethan and I are finishing up morning routine (making beds and getting dressed, etc.) before heading down to make breakfast (Friday French Toast).  Preston and Brielle are asleep.

8AM-Cleaning Up Kitchen
James has gone to work.  All 3 kids are awake and in the kitchen with me.  Brielle and Ethan are coloring.

9AM-Puppet Shows
Ethan chose to put on puppet shows for his 'summertime project' of the day.  We chose some stories and figured out which characters they would need.  They decided to make puppets out of paper bags.

10AM-Visiting Teachers are here.
Kids were still doing puppet shows until my visiting teachers knocked on the door and we had to stop. Brielle and Ethan went into the kitchen for a snack (peaches) while I talked.  Preston is sleeping in the Moby on me.

11AM-At Costco
Stocking up on lunch foods for school.  I wear Preston in the Moby, Ethan rides in the cart and Brielle walks.

12PM-Lunch
Left overs for all of us.  Kids chose pasta, broccoli and watermelon, I'm having a sweet potato burrito with avocado and salsa.

1PM-Cleaning Out Fridge
Preston is sleeping, Brielle and Ethan are having quiet time watching a show. I'm cleaning out fridge and freezer.

2PM-Helping Brielle
She is trying to decided which Summer-time project she wants to do.  She keeps pulling out slips of paper and analyzing the pros and cons of doing that project.

3PM-Making Tadpole Food with Ethan
James and Ethan collected some tadpoles when they went hiking for their date this week.  We are chopping and boiling lettuce to freeze (we read that is what the tadpoles will like.)

4PM-Cleaning Up to Go
Kids have been playing with playdough.  They were turning it in to 'baby food' and selling it to me to feed Preston.

5PM-At Royal Oaks
At 'Fall Roundup' over at the elementary schools to see the class lists. Brielle sees her good friend from last year and is happy.

6PM-BBQ at Rim Rd.
Brad and Margaret are hosting a ward party.  We go over to join in.  Kids are swimming.  I'm watching and counting heads of all the kids in the pool.

7PM-BBQ at Rim Rd.
James biked up the hill from work.  We're eating hamburgers and potluck salads, etc.

8PM-Goodnight to Brielle
I got home with the kids about 7:30.  Ethan fell asleep on the way home so I carried him up and woke him enough to brush teeth and go potty before tucking him in.  I then had Brielle get herself to bed while I nursed Preston.  She was concerned she wouldn't get her kisses.  James stayed at the party a bit longer and is biking home because I forgot the bike rack.

9PM-Sorting Laundry
Got Preston down to bed and just got out of the shower.  Getting laundry ready to start and picking up house.

10PM-Talking With James
We are enjoying sitting outside in the backyard and talking while all the kids are asleep.

11PM-Asleep

2 Months Old

Preston has survived the first 2 months of his life.  With the amount of overly-aggressive love he gets from his usually well-meaning older siblings, it is actually impressive that he has lasted so long.  :)

Preston 2 month stats:

Height-24.5 inches

Weight-14lbs 5oz

HC-39.8cm

Preston at 2 months

*Still sleeps throughout the day like a newborn (no organized nap schedule yet) but is starting to be awake and alert more

*Usually nurses about every 3 hours, but at night he will typically do one 4-5 hour stretch from about 10-2 or 3

*is getting to be less fussy (since I cut dairy from my diet)

*loves to be with Mom in the moby wrap

*white noise calms him down

*has pretty strong neck muscles and likes to sit up in the bumbo

*is on the verge of starting to smile...we think we've seen one or two

And, just because I think it is interesting...

Brielle at 2 months 
Height-25 inches
Weight-12lbs 3.5oz
HC-37.75cm

Ethan at 2 months

Height-24.25 inches

Weight-14lbs

HC-40.2cm