This week’s weird was Wesley deciding he was Timmy Whitefoot’s daddy and cajoling the cat to be a baby. 

Do you like how Wesley is forcing Timmy to smile?

Pumpkin heads!

And you barely look devilish at age 43.

We promised the kids to take them to Hamilton when it came to Seattle, so it wasn’t a hard decision to purchase season tickets for all 5 of us so that we could guarantee our seats when #Ham arrives in February.  But the tickets came with a bonus of 6 other shows to see!

September’s was Sound of Music.  Like my younger self, my kids have seen the beginning of classic movie a dozen times, and never the ending.  So it was a bit of a gamble if Kyla could stay in her seat the entire show.

This is our polished side.

This family shot is far more accurate.

Fortunately (?) we have seats in the very, very, very back and to the very, very, very left of the stage, so we disrupt as few of people as possible if any of us falls apart.  Wesley was doubtful of the entire experience, but became quickly entranced with the stage craft (like his Mama).   The girls liked everything about it (also like their Mama).  Dwayne enjoyed the whole experienced and we shared amazement that Wesley didn’t break anything.  He definitely clipped on his lucky tie.

Sure, we kept them out late on the first day of school, but our family is a theater-going family for a year! 

You know how moms remember to take notice of all those important social markers?  Birthdays, lost teeth, first day of school?  Well, thank goodness for those moms!!! After seeing about 10 of them taking pictures while I dash around for PTA stuff, I realize I should take pictures, too.  Of course, I didn’t know where my kids, but I knew where their classrooms where.  Caught them!

This is Kyla’s last year at elementary school.   I resolved to enjoy this year of having all my kids in the same school for one last year!

I love my kids too much to bake them cakes, so Kyla got to choose her birthday treat from an impressive selection at our local grocery.  She came out with two gourmet plus donuts.  None of us minded. ‘

Owl post is really convenient.  Even though we were staying at Great Wolf Lodge, Kyla’s Hogwarts acceptance letter still arrived under the door on her 11th birthday.

Instead of a party, Kyla wanted to go on a family adventure for her birthday.  We had to compromise a bit by leaving Dwayne behind to work, but taking our mom-daughter friends instead. 

Happy Birthday, my beloved firstborn!  You are a delight, a marvel, a wonder, a treasure. 

We had spent 3 days driving north of San Diego…and we weren’t out of California yet!  But we love the Mount Shasta area and have fond memories of McCloud, so we grabbed a hotel there and headed over to the Shasta City Park, remarkable for being the head waters of the Sacramento River.  It’s a beautiful spot, though perhaps all the pot smoke made our memories hazy.  What kind of people really, really like river sources?  Hippy, pot-smoking, skinny-dipping hot women and unbathed men.

I have to say all that before I show you the edited version through family pictures.  It’s an amazing park, but the following is not an accurate portrayal of an average experience.

 

The smoky skies made the sunset a bit eerie.

It was the end of our first day’s journey home, and we had driven our 5 hours (plus 2 for LA traffic) and we wanted food. And the beach.  And food.  Luckily, we found a beach café where our feet were actually in the sand as we ate burgers and the best prepared salmon I’ve had in months.  Did I mention the sunset?  It was Perfect.

Guess who’s going to be wet by the end of the evening? (Um, Kyla, if you haven’t been paying attention.)

#2 & #3 amused themselves by racing the waves up and down, up and down.  I slept well that night just watching them!

Must come back someday!  Come with me??