August FUN...

I took care of the Pearson kiddoes for a day while their parents headed back to work.  Having SIX kiddoes run around the house should be exhausting but with them all being the best of friends it is usually pretty low maintenance.  They PLAYED and PLAYED and PLAYED the entire day...

The next day we met up with our other favorite peeps, the Loves, at Rosario Beach.  I used to come here a lot as a kid but had yet to bring our kids here...

After a good while at the beach we headed back to their house to play for a little bit.  Emily and Olivia found the hammock pretty cozy...

Olivia has a REAL hamster and the kids can never get enough of it...

They must have been pretty funny because Harper was laughing up a storm...

The next day Emily and I went to my cousin Laura's baby shower at her church...

My TWO Emily's...

Grandma Emily was the ONLY one at our table brave enough to taste the baby food for the baby food game...

This is the only picture I got of Laura (with her family friend from church)...

It is a rare moment to get FOUR generations together and I was so happy I stopped to have us all take this picture...

On Saturday we headed over to the gymnastics place to celebrate Charlie Pearson's 6th birthday...

The kids LOVED coming here but this was the first time Charlie really got into it.  He was a crazy dare devil, climbing EVERYTHING in sight...

The kids all gathered around and sang happy birthday to Charlie...

These two girls kill me with their cuteness!  I am sure glad they have each other with all of the boys around all the time. Everyone needs a "sister" to call their own...

 

Kindergarten Prep...

When I was a little girl my mom always made back to school shopping a very extra special event.  We would get up early, drive all the way to Lynnwood and literally shop ALL day at Nordstrom.  It was the ONE day out of the year when we got to drink a mocha (there were no local Starbucks or coffee stands around yet) and get a little treat from the Nordies Bar. 

When I mentioned to Emily that I would like to go school shopping with her she looked at me with the same expression I remember on my sister's face...non enthusiastic and confused that I would think that was fun.  She replied to me as only Emily would, grown up words and all, that she would prefer shopping online.  I was a little disappointed at first but quickly got over it knowing that I probably would have had to take the boys along with me.  So we spent the day shopping online and then picked up a few needed items at the Outlet Mall.

The next day I decided to give her a special girl's day.  We took Grandma Emily with us for the day to make it even more special not to mention I owed her a manicure for all of the kiddo watching she had done for me throughout the summer.  Our first stop was the salon where I enjoyed a pedicure, Emily enjoyed getting her nails painted and Grandma got a manicure.

When we were all finished we headed over to JC Penny for a FREE back to school hair cut for Emily.  I had been cutting both of our hair for the last two years to save little money.  For the most part I did a good job but the last one was a little rushed and turned out a little uneven...

With a fresh hair cut and  painted nails we all went out for a special lunch before heading back home.  While I still hope to make it to Nordstrom with Emily one day I am pretty happy that we had just as special of a day for a lot less money!