1st Day of Kindergarten

5 days after Mason turned 5, he started kindergarten!

He seemed a little nervous after we went and met his teacher. He ended up with Mrs. Taylor. I heard she is the tougher of the 2 kindergarten teachers, but I think that Mason will learn better if he is pushed. 

 

Mason wasn't too thrilled about taking pictures. 

 Morgan didn't start school but she insists on doing everything Mason does and refuses to be left out.

 Once we got to the school, Mason actually started smiling for the pictures. 

I can't believe how grown up he looks! I thought I would cry because every time I thought about him starting school I would tear up, but surprisingly, I didn't cry at all. I think it was because all the kids were so wild that morning before school that I was so excited to have a break from 1 of them, haha.

 Super cute silly face!

Mason did great and had a blast. I quickly learned that I better have a snack ready for him as soon as he gets home or he turns into a monster. He has learned so much already this year. I think the first week was a tough transition for him but ever since then, he has done fantastic!

Mason turns 5!

Holy Cow! I can't believe my baby is 5! Where does the time go?

On Mason's actual birthday, it was Meet your Teacher night at his new school so we kept our celebration short and sweet.

 My family came over for a quick dinner, presents, and cupcakes.

Mason got spoiled with his favorite toy...MORE legos!

 He also got some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

 And a new jacket and pants...he wasn't too excited about it when he opened it, but now it is his favorite jacket and he won't wear any other ones.

 On the Saturday after his actual birthday, Mason got to have a little party for some friends. He was SO excited to have his friends from his primary class come over. Mason really wanted a lego party...surprise! 

The only thing he insisted on was a car pinata...It wasn't Lego but he liked it.

The biggest hit was definitely the pinata. The pinata must have been super strong or the kids were not very strong or something because they each got 4 or 5 turns with 5 hits per turn.

 The kids didn't mind having to hit it over and over again. Plus it was kinda nice that they each got plenty of turns instead of it breaking so quick.

 The kids got some pizza.

 Not a great picture but Mason got a Lego cake.

 We played pin the head on the Lego man and Lego Bingo.

 After all the sugar, we had to just let the kids run it off!

 Maddox was really good with all the kids...He just got mad that we wouldn't open the suckers for him...Can you believe he is 6 months old in the picture??

Overall it was a super fun birthday. I still can't believe Mason is 5. It almost makes me cry when I look at how big he is now. 

At his 5 year check up, Mason had grown about 5 inches from his 4 year appointment. He is super smart and curious. He has a memory like you wouldn't believe and he is always telling us something that someone said or did years ago. Mason loves to be a big brother and he especially loves to snuggle Maddox. We sure love Mason!

Random Pictures

Here are some random pictures of our summer.

Morgan looked super cute one Sunday morning, so I decided to take a couple pictures of the kids.

Me and my little squishy boy!

 Morgan is such a protective big sister. She is also very bossy and insisted that she hold Maddox for a picture.

 Mason...as his usual self...not cooperating for pictures

 One day I left Maddox sleeping on the couch while I got something from another room and when I came back, Morgan had his diaper completely off and she was trying to put a new one on him...She is pretty helpful : )

 We washed the cars one day. Morgan thought it was so much fun to scrub the car. She even forgot about the sponge and just started rubbing the bubbles around with her hands.

 Mason got hit in the head with a rock one night. He thought the best remedy would be to just watch some TV with a bag of frozen peas on his head. 

Mason did a couple sessions of swim lessons.

This picture just kills me. I don't know where Mason found this lock or how he got it in the car without me noticing. One afternoon I was driving and Mason started screaming that he had locked his neck up. So I had to pull over and luckily Mason had the key for it. Needless to say, I think Mason was scared and learned his lesson about trying to "lock his neck"

My hospital had a picnic one afternoon. The kids had a ton of fun on the bounce houses.

 There was even a train ride. Mason rode it at least 8 times. Morgan thought she wanted to but as soon as she sat down she decided she didn't want to and she climbed right back out.

Meadow Lake

One weekend in August, we went camping at Meadow Lake with the Doty's, my family, and Corey and MaryAnn. We drove up on Thursday after Brad got home from work. 

Meadow Lake has become a really popular camping spot over the past couple years so it was crowded! Every campsite was full. We were lucky that Corey's neighbor went up early in the day and saved us a campsite. It had nice campsites and was right next to a little lake. We didn't get there until about 9:00 Thursday night so the kids were already asleep.

Friday morning, the kids woke up bright and early and were ready to go!

Friday morning was actually pretty cold. Maddox didn't seem to care about the cold though. He was just happy to be held!

 Morgan just loves Maicey and Violet and thinks she is such a big girl when she gets to be around them.

 After breakfast we all walked down to the lake and did some fishing. Morgan actually LOVED to fish. She was so patient and she stood there and held her little fishing pole. She caught 2 fish all by herself.

 She wasn't too sure about the fish once it was off the line though.

 Mason didn't want to fish. He had more fun hanging out with Violet and playing with the fish that had been caught.

 Mason still isn't a fan of the camera.

 Super cute little boy! He was an awesome camper for a 4 month old!

 Corey and MaryAnn brought their canoes and Brad, Mason, and Gage went fora little ride.

 The kids had lots of fun digging in the dirt with Grandpa.

 One day we went on a little hike to the Upper Lake. We were told that it was only a 1/4 mile, but I think it was way longer than that. Luckily, Mason was a trooper and only complained a little bit about the walk. At the top, there was a little tiny "lake", more like a pond, that the kid spent some time playing by.

 Mason kept telling me, "Me and Violet climbed the Rocky Mountains all the way to the top!" I think they only made it about 10 feet up, but he sure was excited about it : )

We had a good 3 days camping! I still am not a super huge camping fan but I can handle 1 weekend a year. It was nice to be away from cell reception and electronics and let the kids play and to just be together as a family.