We've been taking it easy lately as we headed into the throes of the school year. Honestly, I'm quite please with how we toned it down. But the honey crisp apples are ready, and when the apples are ready it's time to rev it back up.
Grammy is in town to take care of Meemaw after her knee replacement so we dragged her along with us! It was all going great, the kids played, they ran, they jumped. Most importantly, they picked.
Thatch showing that birdseed activity table who's boss.
Grammy and her fellas on the apple train.
Thatch taking a bite of an apple, forgetting that he had a loose tooth. Key word, HAD.
Coopster, nibbling like a little mouse.
He was seriously bothered by his tooth at this point. It fell out at lunch, about an hour later.
These are cool blocks, I'm thinking adults would make it like Jenga. Kids, however, build awesomely unstable structures.
A bee ended up stinging Harpie in the mouth while she was eating an apple. It was okay, for a while...
Auntie Lorny and Meemaw came to the farm too! Here's a very rare picture of Grammy and Lorny together :)
And then we went to lunch, which was fun. Until we looked at Harpie and then it was like "OH CRAP". Her lip had swelled to this heinous state, very quickly. I called the nurse line, grabbed some benadryl (which I will be keeping a bottle in my car now) and headed over to urgent care. Traffic was a nightmare because the only way to the hospital was through the Costco area. On a Saturday. It was an effing nightmare.
When we finally got there they whisked us back and checked her blood oxygen levels to make sure she wasn't having an allergic reaction. She ended up being okay and we kept an close eye on her to make sure the swelling didn't move to her tongue or airway. After a few hours it calmed down and my nerves were put to rest. If you are keeping track of bee stings this year the current stats are:
Thatch: 1
Cooper: 3
Harper: 1
Coopster wins...or loses, depending on your view.
Here's my sweet little Harpie, doped up on Benadryl and with some crazy sugar lips. Poor little Heathen.
I have a feeling this is one of the last beautiful summer days as the official start of Fall is just around the corner. Harpie's lip made it memorable...as did our 30 lbs of honey crisp apples! :)
As usual, I've been keeping these little people busy. Thank God that school starts tomorrow because I am EXHAUSTED. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I had fun also but I'm totally ready for a schedule. And quiet. Three days of three glorious hours of only girl noise. Not so much for the alarm clock though.
Here's what we've been up to, as presented by visual evidence:
We went to the library's Frozen extravaganza. Thatch was too cool to be in the picture but H totally "Let It Go."
Then we went to the BP picnic, which was AWESOME. There was a zipline, a mechanical bull, unlimited free ice cream trucks, trains, and bouncy houses...but no booze for the exhausted parents/employees. Oh, and J had to work so I made Grandma Jonesie and Papa come with us.
There were pony rides too. This is the "unicorn" Coopie wanted to ride :)
And then he found a Papa to ride :)
Here's Thatch freaking out about going on the zipline and Grandma Jonesie restraining encouraging him :)
This is just cute. I don't know why, in general I'd not be happy about this rough housing but they're boys and it was 3 weeks ago so I'm over it.
Here's a cute video of Coopie pre-zipline. Turns out he weighed enough but his little waist was too small for the harness so he couldn't go. Sadness ensued.
Coopie was able ride the mechanical bull. He wasn't impressed at all.
But Thatch rode the bull and let me just say, that kid rocked it's face off. Actually, it didn't have a face, but he did awesome! You can see on his face where he goes from "Oh, this is fun" to "Oh.My.Gosh.".
Okay, so this is just a picture of kids in blankets but here's the back story: I saw a "thing" about a free drive in movie that a neighborhood puts on drive-in movie so I loaded us all up and headed out. When I pulled up though it looked oddly like a grocery store and not like a drive in...word on the street is I'm not really great at keeping up with dates during the Summer. The drive in was the night before! So we came home and rented Back to the Future on Amazon.
I, feeling badly about the mix up, let them have soda, popcorn, and (GASP) even candy! I'm giving guilty pleasures a new meaning I suppose.
So...then I got a text from my favorite teacher from High School. Good Lord, I must have been an uber Goodie Two Shoes, or was I this cool even that far back? Anyhoo, Mrs. Holmberg was visiting her sister, who lives in Bellingham, and I was able to see her for a bit and she was able to meet the Heathens. Fair warning: I'm in a swimsuit. I apologize in advance.
This vessel is referred to as "the booger". It was seriously fun though :)
Harper has no fear of the water. Life vest it is then.
And then she got tired. Like, really tired.
But Thatch was having so much fun paddle boarding so we toughed it out!
And then the crabs showed up. We played with them, smelled them and then left them to fulfill their purpose in life, dinner. Mrs. Holmberg provided us with an awesomely exhausting day :)
And then we took them to the Fair. And it was dark. And warm. We were confused, that's not how we are used to experiencing the Fair :)
This picture is kind of cool. The trains though, left something to be desired.
Coopie thought they were just fine the way they are though!
Actually, Coopie was into it all. He's not terribly discerning when it comes to a good time. This worries me.
Thatch dug the Dragon Lady too though, so it's all good.
But then we found the real rides...
...and I was terrified we were going to end up buying a $200K tractor and have to live in it. Luckily, we didn't manage to break anything...well no one chased us as we left so that's what I assume.
Then we saw this. Jonathan and Thatcher insisted that we needed it for our front yard. Maybe finding a house can wait a little longer.
We managed to survive the Fair, even though our bank account didn't fair as well. Nor did our waists.
Then we had MORE visitors! My Mom and my Grandma came to stay with us. So what does Harper do to prepare for them? Pee on the couch, of course. I'm really wondering what I was thinking when we decided to not go with the leather couch.
This is me, in case you forgot what I looked like. This is my "I should be cleaning but I'm going to procrastinate and take pictures of myself" face.
And here they are! I made them pick apples. And then I made a pie, so they weren't mad.
Here's my little Ladybug in a pumpkin patch.
I'm getting kind of decent with a camera. This isn't even edited. :)
I'm maybe not so great with the angles though. Sorry about my double chin. It's clearly not genetic. My Mom looks great though.
And here we have 4 generations.
Thanks to a flipped cement truck in the middle of I-5 we missed my Grandma's flight. It was rescheduled though and then we had time to head over to Pikes for a bit!
Cuteness :)
Cutting of the Cheese at Beacher's. Har. Har.
And there you have it...August. Whew.
Get back to school now little people, Mommy is going to need at least until October to stop twitching.
My loves are back from Grammy and Grandpa's summer camp so we had to kick off their return with a bang. They arrived home on Tuesday and after major hugs and unpacking (ie Grammy emptying boxes in the living room) we went to work on getting the party started!
We had it on Thursday, which is a hard time for people to come after work, so it ended up only being Thatch's friend Porter and his little brother Alister. We didn't let that stop us though :) It was shark theme, because if you know Thatch at all you'd know he's a freak about sharks. His first choice was Sharknado but Pinterest can only provide so many ideas before it says "you're being weird, pick another party theme".
We started out in the pool for an hour, finished up with a water balloon fight, giant bubbles (which I got in Alister's eyes...yikes) and then cake and presents. Here's is the photographic evidence.
Since coming home from summer camp Cooper has become a fish. He LOVES swimming now! Also, he thinks splashing the camera is funny. It's not.
Harps is hard to photograph in a pool, especially with her constantly trying to drown herself. My feel look great though.
Alister about to nail Porter. I adore action shots :D
Action shots again. Loves it.
Look at that butt tan line. Ha.
My pinterest part decorations. Awesome.
Before shot.
Action shot.
After shot. Cupcakes are a big deal in Yarsleyville.
Looks like they are in Porterville too.
And then we showered and loaded up the gang to go to Seattle for the night...because we took them to Seahawks Training Camp for Thatch's birthday!!!
All clean and ready to head to the hotel.
We rented a suite (with JY's BP discount) and stayed in Renton so we wouldn't have to wake up at 5 am and drive down there the morning of. It seemed like a great idea until it was time to wake H up and then try to put her back to sleep. I was this close to calling the front desk and asking them to deal with that child.
Us on the school bus to camp. Literally a school bus. Cooper was thrilled. As we pulled onto the 405 I was terrified.
H in the backpack. She was ready for some football. (You know you just sang that in your head. Well, now you did.)
Our first celebrity spotting. Blitz the Seahawk.
Watching some practice. We're all about that action, Boss.
We dragged Auntie B with us because Russell Wilson is single now, and we love her. She's not such a fan of football though, especially when someone is throwing one at her, Thatcher.
Russell Wilson. My zoom sucks. He doesn't.
After this we went and perused the gift shop and bought a bunch of stuff we didn't "really" need. What ever, we needed football cards, who am I kidding? While we were down there J got a hot tip from a security guard to tell us where to stand when practice is over. Well, it was a REALLY hot tip because this happened...
Thatch and future hall of famer Russell Okung. He signed his ball next. By the way, these two pictures are from the Seahawks webpage because we're kind of a big deal, which even they knew.
Yeah, I made a sign. I'm shameless. Do you see Coops and JY in the picture? I think this is the first photo we've been in together since our wedding.
And the absolutely Grandest Finale that ever could have happened...He got Russell Wilson's autograph as his last signature on his ball. Thatch was the very last signature he gave out that day before running back into the VMAC to quarterback practice. We ALL practically peed ourselves, but T only jumped up and down like a giddy schoolboy.
We had SO much fun at Seahawks camp that I believe we're planning on doing it for ever and ever and ever for every birthday from now on. Thatcher still gazes at his ball and Jonathan is planning on putting it into a glass case (overkill much?). I think there is one particular little Yarsley fellow that will be remembering his 8th birthday forever.
And with that, I bid ado. Also, I'm taking the computer in to the shop because someone (Harper) pushed it off the couch and the screen is hanging on by a thin piece of plastic. Sheesh.
