Cispus- Oct. 3rd- 6th 2011

The day we have been nervous for  has come.

Our school district sends all their 5th graders to Outdoor school for a week.  Because we moved here in december of Makaylas 5th grade year- she had missed it.  This was our first kiddo to go, and I was not sure I was excited about it.

He he goes, all packed up to get on the bus.

I told his teacher Mrs Shucka to take good care of him.

And his great leader, Jordan Sanko.  Dylan (and I) were thrilled to see Andrew Poppert was in his group.  He ended up having some great kids in his cabin.  Sanko was a great leader for him!

I sent Dylan with a camera but the battery died after the first day.  he came home with a few blurry pictures.  Heres one of their bunk room.  And lots from their hike to the water fall, and one of his counselor, "Colter Snoozy!"

So what is a mom to do when her oldest boys is away?

Give the youngest boy a black eye I guess.

Lance bonked his eye the night dylan left.   He woke up the next morning with a pretty big black eye!

Really, when your kids gone what else do you do but completely clean  and organize their room!

Here's Dylans room before:  (I've already started re-arranging)

Then we picked Dylan up Thursday afternoon.  He had a great time.  He loved it all, and said he ate a lot and stayed dry.  His counselors told us at church Sunday that Dylan is quite the comedian, but was very well behaved.  Way to go Dylan dude.

Then Dylan went up to see his room.  He was pretty excited.

We were glad to have him back- we missed him this week!

Back to school bash- Sept. 1st, 2011

After school today we drove out to battle ground to celebrate in the back to school bash put on by our very own Croft and Draper Orthodontics and our favorite pediatric dentist- Conway Jensen.

They had a dunk the Doc. tank.  The kids loved dunking Dr. Draper!

Then they went around and played some carnival games and won goldfish and ate ice cream.

Stu, Lindsey and their kids were still in town so they came out to play.  And Ariane and Jen brought their kids out to play too.

It was a beautiful day!

First day of school- Aug 31, 2011

The summer has come to an end!  Wednesday, Aug. 31st was the first day of 5th and 7th grades for these two.  Makayla is now starting middle school, and is not excited, so she says 7th grade gets the loser L on the forehead.

We walked her in and found her locker and her friend Anna.  She was nervous, but by the time she got home she loved it!

Then we walked next door to Union Ridge elementary where Dylan was super excited to be back with his friends in 5th grade in Mrs. Shuckas class.  His neighbor Cayden walked in with him.

Then I followed and took pictures of him going into his class.

At Union Ridge, the kinders go every-other day.  Allie has the Tuesday Thursday schedule, so her first day was actually Sept. 1st.  She was so excited and ready to start school.

Her teacher is Mrs Frasier.

As we took pictures out front the school bus went by.  Our neighbor Zack yelled, "save me!" I drive the kids in the mornings and they bus home.

Makayla and Dylan on day 2 with Allie on her day 1.

This time I got a pic with Makayla in front of her school- View Ridge Middle.

Allie has lots of friends at school- she is super smart and ready to be the big helper.  I know Mrs. Frasier is excited to have her in class.

another peek into Dylans class as we go!

Good luck this year kiddos!

Now- it's time for Lance to start the preschool Friends group.  I work with 4 other mommies and we each take one day a week, a month at a time, to teach at our homes.

This month he went to Miss Haleys and Morgans home.  They will be with us in November.

He thinks he's so big- and wanted a first day picture too!

Walking in with his buddy Daniel,

is that one cute little dude or what?!

Aug. 27-28 Hood To Coast

This was my second year to attempt Hood To Coast: a 12-man relay team covering 200 miles over 36 hours.

This time went much better than last year.  Team Draper had van #1 full of the girls, who left Ridgefield at 3:30 am friday morning.

We drove up to the mountain and it was pouring rain!  We just sat in the van for a minute pondering why we were doing this.

Then the rains stopped, and it was time for Lindsey to take off!

But not before we got a few pictures.

Lindsey handed off to me, then Kimberly, Melanie, Jen and Ariane.

Debbie was our driver, and Larry came and met us in portland to help drive too!

From the mountains- to the coastline....

here we come!

Just as I was ready to take off the rains came back- Lindesy and I got a little wet on our first runs.

I loved my first run!  I ran great- ran fast and loved the view.

We made it to our first van exchange, where the Drapers boys were waiting.

Jason took it from us, handed to Quinn, Marcus, Ryan, Mike and Travis.

Trying to get a picture, but Jason was pretty excited getting ready to run...

This ones better:

We had some cool shirts made-

Wow- look at Jason ready to run!

Then we drove to Portland to rest and wait for the boys. 

I tried to rest, but just couldn't do much.  My shoes dried and it was nice and HOT for my next run through the hot roads.

Lindsey handed off to me with these words of encouragement, "It's awful!"

By mow our legs were sore from the long down hill and it was hard to move!

I ran all summer with my phone that tracked my time and distance. I loved having it!

So glad my team stopped and handed me a water bottle on this run- or I may have actually passed out.

Finally towards the end of this 6 mile leg, there was some shade.

So glad to be done with this one!

Theres Quinn getting ready for his next run!  He did so great!  He was so fast- and had some horrible hills on dusty logging roads!

By now we are looking good!

WE stopped at Saras grandparents house, over slept and were late to meet the boys for our last run- but it all worked out.

My last run was one of my favorites.  It was about 4am, and dark with so many stars.  But lots of runners out, and vans passing so I wasn't scared.  I met a boy running with his high school team, and we kept a great pase under 9 minute miles.  Loved it!

It was so great to get into the beach and know I was done!

I was so proud of my sister in laws- they all did better than they thought and we had a fun time together.

My mom brought my kids down to the beach party- it was crazy but they had a fun time!

Travis running the last leg- the one I did last year.  He did amazing with feet covered in blisters!

There is quite the party with racers finishing all day long Saturday.

It was quite the experience.

Thanks to my mom and dad who helped with our kids while we ran.