243/365

We had a fun night last night & a good sleep (other than Greyson refusing to sleep in the portacrib). This morning we had breakfast at a local bakery/cafe then to Sawtooth Fish Hatchery--we'd gone there last year when we stayed in the teepee, & it's still impressive. From there, we found the same spot we'd fished last year... clear water & tons of fish! They were small, but easy to catch. Darin hardly had time to do anything but set up the line for one of the kids before they'd get a bite, then he'd release the fish & go again. It was a pretty warm day... after a couple hours, we headed for home. It was the summer fishing/camping trip we hadn't had yet this year, & the kids had a blast. Glad we could squeeze it in!

242/365

 We had just gotten back from dropping Gavin off at the bus stop & I was about to get in the shower, when I spotted Gavin's homework folder on the table. Ooops! He doesn't have daily homework this year... he brings it home on Monday, & it's all due back on Friday (plus 20 minutes of reading every day). We're working on pacing ourselves/not procrastinating. Darin had the Suburban, so we headed out to bring Gavin his folder & ran into Ellie's friend, Leah & her mom on bikes, & they opted to come with us. We delivered the folder, then stopped to play at the playground on the way home.

Darin came home in time for us to load the car & pick Gavin up when school let out, & we headed to the mountains for an over-night "camping" & fishing trip near Stanley, ID. (In quotes because we had a cabin with a queen bed, 2 twin beds, our own bathroom, & we ate dinner at a pizza place.)

241/365

I worked my first ever wet-pack shift at the cannery today, sorting peaches off a speeding conveyor belt for 4 hours straight. It was an experience! I could see that I had probably the least messy job there was. Speaking of messy, one of Gavin's homework assignments this week was to write out his spelling words in whipped cream. We tried our Great Value brand Reddi-wip, but it was too dry-ish. It just stuck to his fingers. So, we improvised with shaving cream. Ironically, his last word was "finished." Then, of course, Ellie & Greyson had to try their hands at it (or IN it, actually.) Fun stuff!

240/365

 A busy day of playing! We took a walk/ride to Fuller Park today & fed the ducks in the pond, then Ellie's friend Leah came back with us to play for a couple hours (the clothespin cousins are a favorite!). Later, we met Gavin at the bus stop ready to swim, then realized we forgot Gavin's swimsuit! No swimsuit, NO problem... Gavin swam in his shorts. Boys are lucky that way! Tonight we watched a little boy named Joseph Bryant--I called him "Bryant" more than once!! Thinking of our cousin, Bryant Joseph Heflin, I suppose!...). Ellie & Greyson showed him the ropes on the slide & trampoline.

239/365

This [potty-trained] girl is quite the bike rider. She pedals Gavin's old bike at top speed & likes to challenge herself by weaving side-to-side as she rides. She knows how to work the brakes & to go to the flat part of the sidewalk when we have to cross a street. When she gets off the bike, she likes to push it over onto its side, just like she sees the big kids do with their bikes, even though her training wheels would keep it standing up. Here she is resting after riding to & from the bus stop (almost a mile round trip). She's tough! Although, she has asked when she'll get her own "girl" bike...

238/365

It's a historic time here... Ellie is potty-trained! I'd begun to wonder if it would EVER happen, but she's a pro at it, & it's only been 3 days! Amazing! We knew she could do it! My dreams have come true!

237/365

I love it when Darin takes pictures. I could've just stopped with this one...

but then you wouldn't have seen these!:

236/365

 Ready, set, GO!

235/365

Darin had an appointment tonight to get his iphone fixed. These 3 feel right at home at the Apple store!

234/365

This photo was taken about one hour after an impressive tantrum (which I have recorded on video) involving a bribe: a chocolate frosted donut in exchange for Ellie just sitting on the toilet. We've been setting the timer for 20 minute intervals today for her to try, & she has been pretty good at sitting on the toilet (until the tantrum), but hasn't gone yet...

233/365

Only picture of the day. We went out looking for shoes to match Ellie's ivory flower girl dress for cousin Corey's wedding. No luck... maybe after Labor Day?

232/365

Taco Tuesday at Cafe Rio (we only do it when Darin's here!), then went to see Monsters University. Beautiful sunset on our drive home... tried to snap a picture of the temple as we were speeding by.

231/365

 We put Gavin & Ellie to work shucking corn for dinner, & Greyson loved it most of all!

230/365

229/365

Gavin spent the last of his hard-earned money on this Lego Hero Factory guy today. He's definitely a spender... can't stand to have money burning a hole in his pocket. We're going to have to set up some kind of savings program for him...

228/365

Ellie's score at Kohls. She fell in love with it at first sight, & fortunately for her, it was marked 80% off... Originally $34.99 (yeah, right!) marked down to 6.99, plus I had a 30% off coupon.

227/365

When there's no time for the pool, we make do with a run through the sprinklers & fort-making.