Spiderman?

Rock couldn't find his real Spiderman mask, so he improvised.

He offered the mask to Ryker, but Ryker knew better.

"Yeah, that's not where I want to stick my nose."

 Thanks to the smoky weather we took the kids up to Omak where reports said that things were clear.  Jens disagrees with their definition of clear, but at least it was more clear than Manson.

We took the boys to the field behind the elementary school and let them run free.  It was almost as if they forgot how to run around outside.

They liked all the 'vintage' toys, like monkey bars.

"This is awesome!"

Jensley loved the outside air, too.  She pretended to fly around like SuperJens.

Our lovely ladies.

 They had this cool thing that kind of launched you from one end to the other.  The boys wanted a turn but DeA kept checking it to make sure it was safe.

"Just wait!  I'm still checking!"

Jensley was super happy to just sit and play with the grass.

I think she liked being left to herself without any 'attention' from her brothers.

There was a horse right next to the field.  Jens liked him and named him Charlie.

After the boys completely melted down we were able to get them into the car.  As soon as we were on the highway Rock started freaking out that he had to pee.  So, this is the side of the road just south of Okanogan.

Finally we made it back home and this was the view of Stormy.  Can you see Stormy?  Nope, me neither.

Fire

Because of the recent forest fires the boys and DeA have been spending lots of time indoors.  That's starting to get old, so they came to work and we all went out to lunch.

 Jensley thought it was a surprisingly good idea.

 DeA told the boys that they were going to have special mac & cheese.  They wolfed it down like they were starved.

 It was pretty delicious. 

 It made Jens happy to get out of the house and enjoy the day somewhere that wasn't home.

 Later that night she got to play with Papa Dale.  She likes attention. 

 Speaking of attention, I can't think of another reason why this little guy wears outfits like this:

 Speaking of the fires, here is the sunset with all the smoke in the air.  It makes for pretty sunsets but wired and frazzled family.

 We are still waiting with Rock for the bus.  Mostly because we don't trust him to actually get on the bus and Ryker wants to hang out with him.

 Ryker loves it because he sees the sprinklers early in the morning.

 They aren't very patient waiting, they want the bus to be there right when they walk out the door.

 Once again Ryker wasn't happy with getting left behind, but this time it resulted in a trip to Wenatchee with Papa Dale.

 Speaking of Papa Dale, he came over to watch the BYU game and put Jens to sleep.  Half of it was a good idea that worked.  The other half included a quarterback that couldn't throw the ball ten yards.  Ugh.

Second Day of School=First Day On Da Bus

Ultimately this post is about Rocko's first day of riding the bus.  But look how cute Jensley is with the flower in her hair.  The boys love it when girls wear flowers in their hair and they love Jensley so this just put them over the top.

I don't think she hated it, but I don't know that she loved it.

Guess what Rock wanted to wear this morning!  This:

We had to convince him that it would be hard for the other kids to learn with SuperRockoman there.  He finally relented and took off the helmet and Mickey Mouse hooded towel.

Rock wanted to make sure and get out for the bus plenty early.  He was excited.

Ryker was excited, too.  But he didn't quite get why Rock was leaving and he was staying here.

But he still had a big smile.

Rock has been all smiles for the past few days.  Hopefully that lasts into high school.

"I know, I know.  No spitballs, slingshots or BB guns on the bus.  I get it."

Sometimes the boys are cuddly and sometimes they are fighting.  At least this morning was a cuddle morning.

You can tell when Ryker isn't sure about something when he puts his hands behind his back.  This is how he was all morning.

More smiles.

It sure did help that the bus driver was Papa Dale!  Rock climbed right on, gave him a high five and then found the prettiest girl and gave her a big kiss.  The boy knows what he is doing.

Notice Ryker's head.  He didn't understand why Papa Dale took Rock but told Ryker that he couldn't come along.  Right now Ryker is eating ice cream for breakfast and watching Diego, so I think he'll be just fine.

First Day of School!!

Can you believe that little Rocko is old enough for pre-school?  Yeah, I can't either.  This morning was our first school morning and Ryker helped the best way possible by just staying out of the way.

 Rock woke up pretty early because he was so super excited about school.  He kept trying to smuggle the Mexican helicopter to school, but Mommy catches contraband like that.

 He was in rare form this morning.

 Last night he wanted to take a shower this morning.  This morning he said he wanted a bath last night.  So we compromised and game him a bath with water cold enough to be from last night.

 "School baths help me smell good for the ladies."

 Ryker was never really sure why he had to go somewhere so early.  It was a little rough.

I don't know if Rock finally asked himself what he was in for or just couldn't contain himself any longer...but this was his face the whole way to school.

 This was Jens' face right before the car stunk.

 And this was her face right after the car stunk.

 We didn't know that Rock was supposed to wait outside for his class, so we walked to his classroom.

 It's a good thing we did, because he found Mama Rae!

 He was pretty excited in his classroom.  The only problem is that they kept misspelling his name B-R-A-D-L-E-Y.  DeA couldn't find his cubby or his spot on the table.

 "Hey!!  This is like the tool set I have at home!  School will be a piece of cake!"

 He kept telling the kids around him that this was his first day of school.  Some responded, some didn't and some picked their noses.

 "Hey!  Get out of here!  You are cramping my style!"

 We are very glad that his teacher is my cousin Juliana.  She will definitely understand when he shows up dressed as Woody, Diego, Messi or Rock the Fireman.

 "Oh, hey, you guys are still here?  Don't mind me surrounded by ladies.  It is just what I do."