#stuffElliesays

Ellie comes into dinner and looks at her plate.

Ellie: "Dad! I like raw broccoli, not cooked broccoli!"

Dad: "Well, this is what we're having. Do you want salt on it? It'll taste better."

Ellie: "No... actually yes! The salt will dry it out."

.... I think she may have learned that with a slug :/

#stuffAvyandElliesay

I walked into the kitchen while Avy and Ellie are eating breakfast.

Ellie: "Mom, does endemic mean found in an area or country?"

Me: "Uh... I think so. <checks Google Home, who agrees> How do you know that word?"

Ellie and Avy together: "Lemurs are endemic to Madagascar!"

I love Wild Kratts.

#stuffElliesays

Ellie had a rough day yesterday and by midmorning had lost all of her TV and access to her dance and swim classes. I wanted to give her a chance for redemption (for both the day and herself) but first I wanted to make sure she understood why she had lost her privileges.

Me: "Ellie, do you understand why you've lost TV and dance and swim?"

Ellie: "Yes Mom. You're like a rattlesnake."

Me: "I'm.. what?"

Ellie: "You warn me and warn me and warn me and then you BITE."

I mean, she's not wrong...

Also, her day perked up considerably after that conversation. As did mine ;)

Squak Mountain Farm

Our friend and nanny, Autumn, found kid heaven.

Feeding the rabbits:

Hay maze

Bouncy houses

Kittens. I mean, really.

Drive-yourself tractors

Mini horses.

Piglets. This is my heaven too.

Random tidbits

Lily learning to write her name

A giant rainbow!

The big girls got to sleep in a bunk bed for the first time at Whidbey island, and they liked it so much we promptly bought one when we got home. All of the kids congregate on it now to use their laptops and snuggle.

Sleepy sweetie

Yea... I have readers. I now have to hide books that we're reading together otherwise they read the endings before me :/

Theo at his eye exam (20/15!). Cool man here.

Whidbey Island Family Trip

Dave and my trip to Whidbey Island went so well this summer that we decided to take the kids, right at the end of summer. Here we are on the ferry! Whidbey Island's motto is: "So magical, ferries take you there." Cute.

The private board walk from our cabin to the beach. The beach was mostly muck and mud but that didn't dissuade the kids from spending the weekend on it.

Beach combing

Ellie would have spent all day on the beach given the option. Here's Dad leading her home.

A rousing game of Sorry while everyone warms up.

Day 2: adventuring! Ellie was determined to swim, so she's in a swimsuit and fleece.

Think it was windy? :)

Catching up pt4

Parked in the window of a sushi restaurant post family-clean day. Everyone loves sushi.

Ready for our soccer game!

More letters

Theo taking out our neighbor's trash.

Swimming!

Catching up pt3

Building with boxes

Yes, the littles now have school too - learning their letters and how to spell their names

Cutie

We did swim lessons for everyone this summer, and it went so well we continued into the fall. Big girls are legit swimmers now!

Beach at the dog park. We discovered that Dan can't swim - he runs into the water and keeps walking until he realizes he's drowning, then he freaks out and rolls his way out again.

All kids do chores now. It's the best.

Ellie drew me an electron.

Lighting things on fire - a quintessential part of childhood.

Writing in cornmeal to practice letters and numbers.