Advanced Maternal Age

Well...as of Friday I am officially advanced maternal age. Ugh. Not gonne lie - me no likie. I am telling myself the "advanced" part just means that if we are lucky enough to have a third someday, I will be "advanced" in my knowledge about babies...right?

We spent my birthday doing one of my favorite Fall activities - we went to watch the Swifts at Chapman School. (Before that Henry had his first soccer game -- with Mark as the asst. coach -- so fun!) Joanie came too and gave me a rockin purse...gotta love hip mamas.Saturday we went on a awesome hike on Sauvie's Island...but forgot the camera.

From this day forward......

September 19th Brooke and Josh became Mr and Mrs. Davis. So exciting. The ceremony was in a incredibly serene spot and the ceremony was filled with thoughtfulness, commitment to an eternal partnership and the kind of sincerity that perfectly represents who they are and will they will be in their marriage. Brooke looked stunning. It was just lovely and we felt so honored to be there. The reception was a blast. Henry LOVED the cake and got asked to dance....at which he promptly said yes...after getting his "dog dog" to accompany him -CLASSIC. Francie had wide-open space to run around freely and she LOVED the band.

Wedding Day Fun

The day of the wedding I drove Brooke to Santa Cruz to get her hair and make-up done and Mark played at Costanoa with Auntie KK and our friends who were also at the wedding and their kids. They went for a hike and from the pictures, I think they had a blast. Apparently Henry was doing sweet aerial jumps into the sand while Francie looked like an astranout as they had to pull her socks over her pants to avoid sand getting on her feet.

Non-Rehearsal Dinner

The night before Brookie and Josh's wedding their friends threw a wonderful "non-rehearsal" dinner party and Josh's family had a special ceremony welcoming Brooke to their "clan". It was so much fun to meet all the people I have heard Brookie talk about it, Auntie KK drove up, and the food and wine was super nummy. A great last night of their single lives!

Wedding Prep Galore!

Francie and I flew down to Santa Cruz on Thursday before Brookie's wedding so that we could help her out with wedding planning and spend some quality time with our favorite Bride-to-be. The time was magical. IT was so fun to see the pieces of her wedding come together and to see the places that I have heard about from her childhood and to just get three days such an amazing person at such a pivotal time in her life. We also got to spend a lot of time with her mom, or MOB as I know call her (Mother of the Bride, and then after 9/19 Mother of Brooke). It was also really fun to have Francie all to myself. It is SO easy to have one kid. Francie was really a trooper, from spending two hours in a hair salon to running all of over town. I think she loved having alone time with Aunt Brookie and her MOB too.

Ray L and David Gray

We had a magical night at Edgefield watching an outdoor concert of Ray Lamontagne & David Gray. We went with our friends Sheri and Keith. The beer was nummy, the music lovely, and the double date awesome. I love September in Oregon.

Tryon Creek Trail

We bought a book titled "Hiking with Kids in Oregon" and are now on a mission to hike all of them (or most) before Henry goes to college. We kicked it off with a trail in town at Tryon Creek Park. So fun. Poor Francie, she had a knit dress on and was sweating like her mama by the end...

It's Official -- We have a Kindergartner!!!!

HOLY CRAP - He did it. Henry is in grade school.I have to say, it was hands down one of the proudest moments that Mark and I have had as parents. Our sweet, sensitive fella was so brave. He did great!

In usual Henry style he observed EVERYTHING about the drop off and immediately figured out the rules and process and asked when he didn't understand. You could tell he was nervous..and excited...and he jumped right in.

Francie thought that she too was going to Kindergarten. She wore her backpack, tried to sit down in class, and basically tried to stay.

I waited until I got to the car....and then cried. This immediately freaked Francie out so I had to pull it together. During our "alone time" Francie must have asked me where Henry was about 20 times. A couple of times when I told her "at school", her response was "I don't like it".

At pick up, Henry beemed. He LOVED it. He LOVED his teacher, loved the cafeteria, loved two recesses, loved the reading and writing...etc etc. He also LOVED seeing his sister again. They hugged for two minutes and then he was so kind and caring with her -- sharing his lunch, hugging her, telling her all about it. When I asked if he missed her, he said "I did..my little Franciedoodle". Heart melt.

Wow. Such a big milestone for him...and I guess for me and Mark. Wow.

1st Camping Trip & Swimming in Lake

As many of you know, at the beginning of summer Henry created a list of "to dos" for the summer. As the summer comes to end, we are in a mad panic to cross things off the list.

This week we went on a camping adventure!! Janis loaned us a big tent and we were off! Our campground was amazing and after a wonderful campfire meal, we all decided that we should camp MUCH more often and that we should have planned to stay five more days.......until night came.......and Francie decided she was PETRIFIED of sleeping bags...which is a slight problem when it gets cold at night. Needless to say, it was a rough night. Henry declared in the morning that if I made him stay another night "I will rip my head off". No joke. Thankfully, all was made fine when we got to take a swim in the lake (another item on our checklist).

We definitely will camp again....after we figure out how to keep Francie warm in the night or get her used to the campfire.