Denver in September

At the end of September I got to fly to Denver for my cousin Casey's wedding. The girls were concerned about me flying on an airplane so I had to take a few pictures of our early morning flight. It was good to see Lynn and other extended family. I definitely do not want to ever live in Denver. Ugh, the roads.

The day I got there, I ended up getting really sick. It was horrible, but luckily I felt better on the day of the wedding. It was the fanciest I've been to complete with ushers and a cocktail hour. The DJ did a good job of getting the dancing going. I haven't danced like that since before getting married.

We had most of the next day to kill before our flights home, so we spent a while at the Butterfly Pavilion. I'm such a sucker for flowers and butterflies. Enjoy.

Fall Photos

Here are some of my September delights.

First Day!

On September 2, 2014 Rachael officially started school as a kindergartener at Bridgewater Elementary. We went into her new class with her and stayed for the first storybook. There were no tears, but as I was leaving, Rachael's face looked a little stricken. As soon as we got to the car, Anna asked if we could go get Rachael yet. 

When I asked her how her day went as I picked her up, Rachael said it was bad. She had been sad that I couldn't stay the whole time-- she never had that problem at preschool-- and no one would talk to her. I figured out later that most of the kids sitting at her table are native Spanish speakers.

Since then, it has been a learning experience for both of us. Rachael has at least two boys that she likes, one of which she was kissing on the bus until I found out about it and had a chat with her. She has also made friends with a few of the girls in class and on our street that ride the bus home with her. 

Before starting school, she was worried and stressing out that she didn't know how to read yet. Now she is reading sight word books and learning several new words every week. She has passed off all her letters, sounds, and counting to 100.

I have been helping in her class once a week during computer and P.E. time. I have loved getting to know the kids in Rachael's class. It is so fun to see how excited they are when I come. It's also interesting to see the dynamics in the classroom including the kids' behavior in different situations. Yes my O.T. is a bit rusty, but it's good to use it even if it's for my own exercise.

There are still some things that I'm a little irritated or unsure about like the PTO and all the testing they do.

Galoshes

We finally got to put our new (thank you Grandma Cobbley) rain boots to good use with a good rain in August. Rachael and Anna danced in the rain and enjoyed a huge puddle outside the zoo. 

Seattle Trip X: The Way Home

We stayed at a very nice hotel on our way home from Seattle. We were the only ones in the pool the next morning. It was kind of nice not to be rushing to go anywhere for a while. The girls' swimming skills really improved during this trip thanks to hotel pools and some noodles. They both had less anxiety in the water and were more brave at floating and propelling themselves.

Somewhere in between Boise and Pocatello, we took a side trip to see the Minidoka relocation camp, which is the other half of the memorial we saw on Bainbridge Island. It was sobering to see the stark contrast between the lush island home they left and the barren high desert they came to. How heart breaking. There are a few original building still standing, although some of them have been moved around.

While there, Rachael needed to use the port-a-potty. I told her to go by herself, but she came quickly back shouting, "There's a frog in the potty!" Sure enough, we saw this little guy stranded on an island of t.p. I used two paper cups to rescue him, miraculously without getting any poo on them or me. Then we walked as far as we could toward a nearby canal and let him go. I hope he made it to the water. That was our last adventure on our Seattle vacation.

Seattle Trip IX: The Food

This post is for Patrick. We tried to go to restaurants that we would not be able to find in Idaho Falls while in the Seattle area. Sunday night, we tried Korean barbeque. I knew this would be testing Rachael's limits, so we made a game of it by counting how many new foods we each tried. Apparently, she'll do anything for a hash mark, even try kimchi. We did not like it, but Patrick thought it was okay. There were a few dishes that were too spicy for the girls and I. There was some white stuff that was really yummy though.

The next night we ate at a Greek restaurant. The girls were not very patient here, but I thought it was pretty good food. Even the roasted beets weren't bad.

For lunch on our harbor day, we found a sourdough restaurant on the pier. The sandwiches were yummy although the table was a bit cramped for four of us. 

We ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory, which admittedly is a chain, but we don't have it in Idaho. The food was fine, the decor was more interesting. The girls were glad to finally get "normal" food... and ice cream.

While we were in Tacoma, we visited the Southern Kitchen Restaurant, which had been on Diner's Drive-Ins and Dives. The food was alright. We were pretty much the only caucasians there. The bathroom was minuscule and broiling hot. Yes, that was an important point since I had to spend quite some time in there with Rachael. The girls fell in love with their strawberry lemonade.

While on Bainbridge Island, we also visited a diner reviewed on that show, but we don't have any pictures for it. Nothing too exciting. On our way home, we stayed the night in Boise and Patrick took us to Tucanos, a Brazilian steakhouse. As always, the grilled pineapple was awesome. The girls did not want to have anything to do with the meat. Thank goodness for a huge salad bar.