wicked!

taking summer and afton out to get their first live taste of the real story of the witches of oz. 

finally!

we're not the last kids to get out of school in the puget sound area, but we're pretty darn close.

here's to the free-wheelin', high-fivin', go-get-'em, adventurous chaos of summer!

last day of first grade.

last day of fifth grade.

last day of fourth grade.

sixth-graders out. 

kindergarteners in.

the end of an era

before we get a little bit ahead of ourselves here, be aware that yes, our kids are still in school. we've got monday and tuesday left, people!

but for all intents and purposes, this beauty wrapped up her elementary school career today at her fifth grade promotion ceremony.

summer solstice. 

receiving the english language arts award for her class.
*not pictured is the art award that she will be receiving on tuesday

(photo cred, jill hegewald)

with one of her favorite elementary school teachers, ms. edwards

summer's professional goal remains to be a doctor. she is a voracious reader (frequently reading three or four books at a time) and a phenomenal writer. 

middle school can be a tough nut to crack, so i'm stocking up on all the chocolate chips and ben & jerry's that i can to get me through. 

summer girl is losing nary a wink of sleep over it, though.

trout lake hike

this year we celebrated father's day in true bryan fashion with a three-mile family hike and picnic up at trout lake:

as an added bonus, dallin's little legs carried him the whole way (a first for our baby son!)

bryan and i made a little wager beforehand on which of our children would be the first to "fall in" the freezing water. dallin never disappoints.

"stick" was fairly recently inducted in the national toy hall of fame, but "rock" should really be up there, too. pictured are three of the boys' favorite rocks that they found at the lake. which, of course, they named. 

bolobo, cinco, and nico. bolobo is the big one. 

emily, wistfully dreaming of goat yoga, is just as surprised as you are that she got her foot up there. #mckaylamaroneyisnotimpressed. (ps, go here to be seriously impressed.)

happy father's day, bryan! here's to all the great fun and adventures and fresh air and ice cold mountain water that you bring to our family. the sticktoitiveness and the exploration and the love for the great outdoors.

breaking news

spotted:

chewbactopus!

preschool grad

my baby son is done with preschool and VERY ready to enter kindergarten in the fall. 

he'll be entering the big K as a full-fledged reader (which is absolutely no thanks to me but a testament to this kid's tenacity) and an all-around smart aleck (which could be a little bit thanks to me). 

dallin has had an amazing experience and such great teachers at cottage lake presbyterian. they have dealt with both his absent inner monologue and his steel alloy will in graceful stride.

graduating pre-k in his new favorite rainbow shirt cause rainbows are his jam. if spider-man shot rainbow webs while stealing the infinity stones from thanos, his little baby brain would just explode.

with his buddies, aka, the spunkiest carpool ever. how i'll miss listening in on your early morning "debates" covering such stimulating topics as which of you is the oldest (spoiler alert: it's mia) and which of you loves dinosaurs the most (shocker: it's evan) and selling each other out for who's who in the unbuckled club. (i did appreciate that last bit of information, though.) 

always keep it "class of 2032", kids!

roots

on friday, may 24, 2019, our family attended the funeral of bryan's maternal grandmother, anita cook, the first of our four grandmothers to pass away, at age eighty-eight. 

after a lovely service celebrating anita's heritage and posterity, we stopped by the cook family homestead in goshen, idaho to show our children some of the ground from which they grew. 

the barn bryan and his siblings painted red many years ago.

from across the field.