We Fished

Some fished, some created flower crowns, and some used a camera, on a beautiful summer day in June in Connecticut.

Early Summer Beach Trip

As close as we are to the beach, it still is hard to get the family there, especially after pool season picks up and covers need installed.  But if I insist really hard, I can get Adam to agree to blow off the covers for a day and join us at the beach, as long as we travel to the good beaches on Rhode Island.  This summer has been especially fun because my littlest sister(who just graduated from high school) is spending the summer with us as well as Ethan, our favorite nephew.

Jorden. Hayden, Jacob, and Steven came along too.

They were happy to have a day away from covers too.

Don't Yell at Me

     The other day my kids and I had a fantastic time at our local lake.  It was a hot day, but I was excited for the first afternoon of summer and a family bike ride.  We made it there fine. It was not a bad ride at all, even though my 11 year-old was sure it was too hot out to be riding.  We zoomed right past the parking lot attendant without paying a thing, and we had a great easy time at the lake and in the sand. I didn't even have to worry about bringing towels.  Everyone would just wind dry on the way home.  Our only trouble was the big left turn we needed to make on the way home.  Emma(my 9 year-old) did not get started as soon as the driver behind us wanted her to and he yelled something out his window to me like, "Get your kids off the road during traffic."

What a scuzz.

Does he expect me to stay clear off the roads during the hours of 5-10am and 3-8pm each day?
Are my children to stay safely in homes playing video games their entire lives?

Do you know that it is always, always old men drivers that yell at me and my kids on our bike(s)?
(just something I've observed)

And of course, it's not all old men that yell.  Its just when there is yelling, its coming from an old man.

But I shrugged it off and home we rode.

Or so I thought.

Today, we wanted to go to the lake again.  It was a beautiful day. Simply gorgeous.  It would have been beyond perfect to ride there today, BUT...... I hemmed and hawed and thoughts kept coming....

"What if we get yelled at again?'
"What if there is more traffic on the road?"
"It is high school graduation day."
"What if the roads are full of crazy graduate drivers celebrating and texting while driving?"
"What if their impatient dads are on the road too trying to hurry home to get the graduation party going?"

"What if they are all so impatient and distracted and reckless that they don't see my little Emma trying to get her bike pedaling across one of their intersections?"
(of course I am right next to her the whole time in my bright yellow big butted bike, but still...)

I wasn't able to shrug off that yeller as I liked.

We drove to the lake, and now my car seats are wet and covered in sand and I have a large load of sandy towels to wash and dry AND I didn't get to ride my bike today.  I love riding my bike and I love having my kids do it with me.

Old man driver who yelled at me, I repeat, "You are a scuzz."

People of my town. You have only one road through town. We don't have much choice of routes.
***Be alert, watch for bikes, share the road, and have some gosh darn patience.

And my cuties will wave and smile at you,
Kayla Marble

My Traditional Before and After School Shots

2013/14 School Year

These kiddos make me so proud.  This year we had Cayden in preschool, Gracie in Kindergarten, Emma(a big dog on campus) as a third grader, and Ellie as a 5th grader.  All their teachers were super at managing thier little quirks, gifts, and inconsistencies.

Cayden was by far the one that got into the most trouble.  At least one day a week he'd come home with a frowny face on his take-home sheet.  But he kept trying to be good and to remember the rules and to help clean up and to be nice and share with his classmates.  We will be pounding the books this summer to help him get ready for Kindergarten in the fall.

Graice, our kindergartener, was stupendous to watch develope, just like all kindergarteners are.  I think it is just magical how you send them off in Sept and a few weeks later they are recognizing all their letters and are starting to read little words and then by the end of the year they come to you saying things like, "I don't even have to wait for anybody to read to me now, I can do it myself."  I love that little bit of freedom they earn.  She was a bit quiet in class but she made some good friends.

Emma was and probably will always be my little forgetful daughter.  Seriously, everyday I would wait for her to have some initiative to pull out her homework, get it done, and move on.  But nope.  She'd finish one part and go off somewhere and I would track her down to remind her that there was still Spelling or Math to do(Reading was the easy one).   She did good in class mastering the skills.  She had an old school teacher that spent some time teaching cursive.  Emma was one of the classmates that worked hard on learning it.  She is so proud of her new skill, especially since Ellie doesn't know how to write in cursive.  She has some good friends she has made along the years, but she is often the girl that feels picked on.  We try all we can to help her brush off these teasings, but any little thing is taken as an offense of the highest degree.  How do I help her work on that?

Ellie had a great year.  Its neat to see her confident and driven, but we are beginning to see signs of tween-ness coming on.  You can always tell when she is feeling a bit stressed.  Those little frustration tears come out so easily.  Its too cute(but of course I never laugh because it is a serious matter to her).  She had a good time in band and basketball and softball.  At the end of the year it got a little crazy with all three and more going on at once, but we managed.

 First day

Last day

First day

Last day

First day

Last day

First day

Last day

Check out how the teeth are doing;)

 First day

Last day

Az Christmas- Hiking Sears Point

Have you seen this place before?

Pretty sure this is our favorite place to hike around here.

Sears Point- You get to see a great view of our valley and the indian rock drawings and it's accessible to everyone, babbies in trucks and dirt bike riding dads. 

 The town of Agua Caliente.

 Hyder-as far as you can see.

 Hidden Valley Farm- home of the author of the Hyder weekly News- Kip Willis

 Got to check out the old adobe house.  Poor thing was falling apart, literally, walls had toppled over and cracks were growing larger.