Labor Day weekend

I grew up spending most of my Labor Days at the cabin in Columbine. Actually, I think I was 15 before I missed a 4th of July or Labor Day at the cabin, (unless the mountain was closed due to fire danger) and the only thing that could tear me away was FBLA Nationals at Disney World... Once we started having babies and moved out-of-state, making it to one of the big celebrations/family reunions/fun weekends got a lot more complicated, especially since my kids aren't great sleepers in the best of circumstances. Also, we started rotating holidays with my cousins' families, since there's just too many of us to all sleep comfortably up there together anyway. So I've missed more than I've made over the last 10 years. But the draw is still there, and when the 4th or Labor Day rolls around, I'm always a little discontent if I can't make it up there, at least for the day Saturday.
This last Labor Day was not our turn for the cabin, but a bunch of us were getting together anyway (everyone except Phil and Sophie, which were expecting their 3rd baby within weeks, and Jeremy, who had patients, and who always benefits from a few days of quiet while the rest of us are gone) and decided to go up for the day and make an outing of it. I'm not sure that my dad's ever gone up for the day on such a busy weekend (not his favorite) when we didn't even have the cabin. But we set up "camp" up next to the old church cabin concrete, and had fun, even with a handful of babies and lots of dirt.
The trip up was a little exciting. Shawn is not a good car sleeper, and I had quite the time getting him to go to sleep. I had 3 different kinds of pacifiers with me (none of which he had any interest in), but finally got him to accept one to fall asleep with. The rough road after the pavement ends always helps with that. Reilly had been excited to hike to the tower, and somehow it ended up being me, my dad (who carried Shawn, thank heavens - I'm not in hiking-at-10,000-feet shape), Reilly, Jaina (both of which did great), Justin (Emily's, 4.5 - he did pretty well as long as we kept encouraging him to keep moving), and Katy. Oh, Katy. She will not be making that hike again (with me) until she's at least 6. She did it, but there was much complaining and dramatics involved.
All in all it was a nice day. Fun to see some friends and relatives, enjoy the beautiful weather, and let my kids run around on the same dirt I've spent so much time on. :) It was also nice to be in Pima for a day or two afterwards, and get to visit with my sweet Grandma. All in all, worth the long drive!

(oh, and there may or may not have been an hour of two of driving around on all the back roads of Pima -minus kids or grandparents- setting off some small to medium fireworks and then all jumping in the truck and driving really fast somewhere else any time we saw lights...And no, we don't really all fit in the cab of the truck.)

August stuff

I am going to catch up in here. Even if I have to gloss over some stuff. It has been harder this year, I think, partially because of my phone. I take so many more pictures. (lower quality, but more moments). I really need to develop the talent of picking and choosing and letting the rest go, so I at least get things done!

The first week of school went well. Reilly is in 2nd grade and Jaina is in first. They both have brand new teachers this year, and we didn't know what to expect. Thankfully, they really like their teachers, and are both doing well! It is still a little weird having them both gone for so long during the day! Katy really can't wait to join them next year. I think I'm ready, too, but I'm glad it should just be half-day. We started doing pre-school at home with her (since the only options here are the too-expensive-for-us home preschools or the 4-days-a-week, 4-hours-a-day public one, and I'm not up for that yet). She kind of lost interest after the first two weeks though. We'll get back into it after Christmas...

I don't have a lot of recollection of the rest of the month. Mostly adjusting to the schedule, trying to keep all our ducks in a row, and enjoying Shawn's cuteness. Lame, but there it is! From the pictures, it looks like Abbie visited us for a day or two. Yay! 

Also, Shawn turned 8 months. At 8 months he weighed 21 lbs 14 oz (85th percentile...) and was 27.7 inches long (53rd percentile). His head was also in the 95th percentile. So crazy!  He still loved his jumper, and was enjoying trying new foods. He also started getting up on his hands and knees, and scooting backwards. More than once I had a tiny panic as I wondered where he was, only to find him under a table, or back in a corner somewhere. :)

This is also the point that Shawn was sleeping well enough and consistently enough that we took the bunk beds down in the little bedroom (Jaina wasn't sure about sleeping up there) and made it the girl's room, and moved Reilly into Shawn's room. Finally, a parents' room, a boys' room, and a girls' room! 

We also celebrated Jeremy's 31st birthday. That is always good, especially since I had been 32 for a few weeks already... One of the things we did that was the most fun was eat at Benihana's for lunch with my parents. The older two were in school, so Katy got to kind of be spoiled and join us. It was so much fun, and the food was delicious! I also got him some fancy gluten- and soy-free cupcakes at a local bakery that he enjoyed a lot. :)

And two more pictures of Shawn and with his diapers. :)