Adios September

Wrapping up September in hopes of catching up by Christmas. So here are a bunch of photos from the rest of the month.

I got Logan his balance bike at the end of July. It took a long time before he was really ready to give it a shot. He just didn't want to give up his tricycle yet. Then he saw that his friends were riding bikes and not tricycles so he gave it a whirl. He has been in love ever since. By the end of September he was really good at it.

Here he is at a bike riding play date.

I had this fabric forever. Frik, Frak and I finally found time to make my dad a blanket.

Soccer continued. I managed to take pictures of the first game, but realized that I needed to be more involved for rest of the games.

Occasionally we break out the train tracks and build something big.

Here is a project that Logan helped me build.  It is our animal sanctuary. We used to have his animals on a chain hanging from the ceiling, but this new area really has increased his desire to play with his animals.

We had a fabulous gathering of college buddies. Our goal was to peel green chile, but we didn't manage to get much of that done. Instead we celebrated two birthdays, played Frisbee, basketball, video games, board games (Cards Against Humanity, not for everyone and better with a drink) and glow Frisbee.  We had a blast and I hope it happens again soon.

birthday boys

The next generation enjoying Mario Kart

After everyone left I peeled the chile and Kyle chopped it up and prepped it for the freezer. We should be set for a while.

Our ocean theme continued with us building a submarine and a kelp forest.

Soccer games continued, but the play time afterwards continued to be our favorite part.

Those smiles are outlined in cake frosting!

On the night of the eclipse, Grandmas was visiting, Kyle was at a concert in Albuquerque and Branden and one of her boys came over to hang out. We had a fantastic view from the back porch.

Bike riding continued.

We made submarine modifications. 

Here is our port view from inside the submarine.

Halloween is around the corner so why not make a cotton ball ghost.

Another bike riding play date with his best friend, Jonathan.

A big fall gave him a swollen cheek, but he got back up and rode on.

Here is some video that Kyle took of Logan's bike progress.

Finally a mom and her two little ones visited Logan's school.

Autumn Days are here again

We managed to do a few new things this past September.

We joined a field trip to the local waste recycling center. I found it interesting and it was nice to ask questions, but I think it may have been too much for Logan. At least some of his friends were there.

Checking out the recycled glass, used for landscaping.

Waiting for our tour to start.

The kids are getting weighed on the truck scale.

This project seems familiar... Yep, putting up the fort once again. I did this in September two years ago. This time I had to get supplies in Santa Fe. My poor car was packed with sand, gravel and wood chips. I wasn't sure I would make it home. It doesn't look like a lot, but it was super heavy.

I had to level out an area (which I did not do last time), so there was a little more work involved.

However, I had an extra helper for some of the work this time.

There were some parts that we had not painted previously, so I thought we might as well repaint some of it and hit the things we originally missed.

I think it looks nice tucked in the corner of the yard.

He sure is happy to have it back. Seems kind of funny since we have a park right outside our back fence, but I think he is happy to have his private play area again. Sometimes he just needs his own space.

Another new addition to life was soccer. Logan joined a team, Red Blaze, and I was the assistant coach. Logan really was too young for it, but it was a learning experience. We had scheduled games, which were super hard on both the kids (hard to lose at any age) and the coaches (trying to get our kids to focus on the ball). Eventually we decided to do very short games and practice instead. Practice is where we had fun. We played volcano games (dribble around the cones), sleeping bear (I, the bear, would chase them when they got too close to me with their balls), red light green light, and so much more. I hope the kids ended up having fun. I know that I am grateful to coach Jessie for asking me to help out.

Red Blaze: Omar, Benny, Olivia, Hans, Nico, Maren & Logan

Another new event for us was Logan's school's Fall Fiesta. It is pretty much a fundraising carnival with silent auction. I was in charge of organizing the booths for the event. In the end I had some amazing mothers (Branden and Sarah) help me with all things booths. Including volunteer organizing, donation seeking, booth selection and layout. I could not have done it without them. On the day of the event I was running around trying to make sure we had enough volunteers for each booth while Kyle and Logan checked everything out.

Logan found his best friend Jonathan and off they went.

Logan had to check out the Bubble Pit for a while before he would get in...

... and then there was no stopping him. He loved it.

Giving mommy a break one day, Dad took Logan to a different park in town.

Soccer continued every Tuesday and Thursday.

That is it for the first half of September.