Routines and Fun

I am thankful for Autumn.  I am thankful for public school.  I am thankful for pre-school.  I am thankful for schedules and routines.  I am thankful for "me time".  

Now that we're a few weeks into our new fall-time routine it feels great!  So far, Ava seems to be doing much better than this time last year with her grueling school schedule.  I am sure a lot of that has to do with the fact that she's so much older and so much more mature ;-)  She's sleeping better at night which means that she wakes up in a good mood, despite her initial anguish about having to depart from her warm and comfy bed (who can blame her?!).  We have a good homework routine worked out and she approaches it with enthusiasm.  Dinnertime has been much more enjoyable than ever before.  Sure, sometimes there's a little protest about what is being served but it's nothing compared to years past.  Dinnertime complaining is at an all-time minimum, for both kids!  Here's hoping all this positive momentum continues throughout the rest of the year!          

Lincoln (aka Sweetest Boy Ever) and I went on a lunch date last week.  

When we eat out, Lincoln requests "a couch seat", meaning a booth.  

This time, he asked me to sit next to him.  

He's sweet like that, even if he photo-bombs an otherwise sweet picture of the two of us.

 Getting showered before swim lessons...

 Working on her "20 minutes of reading a day" homework at Linc's swim lesson...

She's just so pretty.  

I'm her Mama so I can get away with saying that whenever I want to.

Right now, in school, Ava is working on her best handwriting and spelling.

Look at how beautiful her homework is looking these days...

 Homework in undies.  It's the best!

 Lincoln got some alone time on the neighbor's trampoline the other day.  

No other kids to dictate jumping styles and tricks.

No competition.  

Just Lincoln and the giant trampoline.

He took advantage and loved every minute of it...

He took a short break to come over and chat with me.  

This is how he stands...

I follow this great blog that, in addition to arts & craft project ideas, posts children's "Book Lists" covering all holidays, events, etc.  I like it because she writes a summary of each book and explains why she likes it.  For a long time, I've been checking those books out from our local library.  She does the work for me!  I love that!  

Most recently, I checked out books on the presidential election and books about strong girls.  Ava can't get enough of them!  

This is a picture from Saturday morning - 

Ava set herself up beside the fireplace and looked through each book.   

There's so much to do in Seattle.  All the time.  

Last weekend we actually had to pick ONE thing to do out of the many to chose from.  

It was tough.  

We decided on the Fisherman's Festival because: 

(1) It's free, 

(2) It's super kid-friendly, 

(3) Our neighbor said it is really fun and 

(4) It is in our neighborhood.

We were pleased to discover that all of the above are true!

Firewoman Ava to the rescue!

 Fireman Lincoln is on the job!

 The kids got to build these beautiful wooden boats with hammers, nails, bottle caps, wine corks, stickers, string, etc.

 They really enjoyed it and they were quite proud of their finished product...

 Lincoln couldn't wait to get home to float his boat in the bathtub!

We boarded a Coast Guard ship and got to walk around and see how they live at sea.

Ava decided that decided that her future will not entail a career in the Coast Guard.

The kids also made some shell art:

Ava checked out the back of an ambulance but Lincoln wasn't interested...