September

Back to School.  

  Easton is starting 1st Grade this year.  It will be our first full-day experience.  We are lucky that Easton is such a good student and adapts easily to social surroundings.  I have no doubt he will rock the first grade! 

The other kids in the cul-de-sac headed off for their first day too!

This is how we roll when we go to school.  No more buses in first grade.

The official Balls Bluff Tiger.

He's back! And looks as happy as ever.

Theater seating to watch The Cat and the Hat on the computer.

Easton is getting big too fast.  He comes home and races out the door to play with friends.  

Xander is my best eater!

Cache and Declan experimenting with baking soda and vinegar.

The big boys loving their big boy bikes!

Cache asks for homemade whipped cream almost every day (to eat on his Eggo waffles).

The boys have mastered a new skill at the kitchen table...plate spinning.

Another amazing skill...spoon balancing.

It doesn't take much to entertain the twins.

And when they are not entertained...they find something to entertain themselves :(

Virginia beach trip.  We love our trips to the beach.  We pulled the kids out of school for a few days of fun in the sun.  The weather was great and the crowds were sparse.  

Our friends, the Macphersons, also came to the beach.  

With David's travel this last year, we scored an upgraded 2 room suite.

I'm not sure if this is the official name, but we went to garbage park...a beautiful park built on a landfill.  

Xander decided he needed to roll down the entire hill.

The kids took a trip around the lake on their scooters.

Back to the beach...

Declan thought being buried in the sand was fun...

but only for a minute.

I'm still not sure if Xander was trying to help Easton get out or if he was trying to pull off his head.

I love it when the kids tell me to grab the camera and take their picture.

Declan searching for gum or candy / Xander keeping watch.

I never have a shortage of volunteers when we make brownies.

I love the mind of a 3 year old.

This was Declan.  He locked himself in the bathroom and created this contraption (the snakes were decorations inside the soap container at one point).

August

I don't buy matching outfits for the boys...especially since 99.9% of all our things are either hand-me-downs or garage sale purchases.   However, I find that a lot of their clothes still coordinate with each other quite well.  I thought the boys were especially cute today, so after church I had them do a photo shoot.  Clearly, Cache was not happy about this idea, but as a mother of 4 young boys, I've decided that having them in the picture is good enough (smiles and actually looking at the camera are a bonus!).

Seeing this picture makes me realize why I am always the center of attention at Costco.  Maybe a family of 4 or 5 is a lot.  Seeing these 9 kids on this log (the product of only 2 families) does appear to be a small army!

When kids fall, they hop right back up.  When moms fall, it's a tough decision on whether you should just stay down and take a nap, or fight gravity and return to your feet!  

We live right by the Potomac River...too gross to actually get into the water, but still intriguing for the kids.

funny faces...

The Washington DC Zoo.  Last time we went, I remember disliking the zoo.  The national zoo is not easy to get too and it's built on a mammoth hill.  Maybe going into it with low expectations helped this time.  We had a fantastic time and only lost a child twice (once I honestly thought Xander was abducted).

We caught the seal show (maybe sea lion?) and it was awesome.

Our kids absolutely love animals and all things nature.

On the popular exhibits, it was hard to squish all 5 of them for a quick glimpse!

Easton took over as photographer for the rest of the afternoon.  

A few of his pictures turned out really well...

Easton 'butterfly lover'

Not the manliness of titles, but this kid has been catching butterflies as long as he could walk.

Headed home after a great zoo trip.  

Easton started his second season of flag football this August.  I can't say that he excels at the sport, but he does enjoy it.  Fortunately the other kids found a way to stay entertained too!

Easton is number 5.  

My friend, Katie, and I took a random trip to the beach.  She had to have some car work done, so rather than renting a comparable vehicle, she rented a 12 passenger van.  We loaded our 7 kids (ages 6 and under) and braved the 4 hour drive to the Maryland coast.  It was a windy morning, but the beach wasn't very crowded on a weekday, and everything went very well.  Score 1 for team Katie & Cheryl.