Summer's waning, Fall is nigh

There's a really great (older) picture book called  "Christina Katerina and the Box" about a girl who turns a refrigerator box into a castle, clubhouse, car, etc.... it's a fun read.  Well, we too have had a box for a week or so.  It's been a clubhouse.

And whatever this was- I made them take this down just for safety reasons.  😝

When making a paper chain countdown to your birthday is more important than eating breakfast...

Miri just wanted to play with the watering can and got a lot more than she bargained for... and completely soaked.

I wanted to get two trees, but the nursery had pretty limited variety in stock this late in the year so we only got one.  Emmy has claimed it as her own and was out valiantly trying to dig a hole with her little toy shovel in the super dry ground.  Bob took pity on her and 'helped' plant it.  

The Sunday of Labor day weekend we were invited out for supper because it was the 10 year anniversary of our group.  We actually dropped out a year or so ago (for various reasons, not the least of which was Bob always ended up drinking a bottle of Benedryl afterwards) so it was fun to visit.  Miriel was having a great time, really!

The girls had a blast playing the games.

And swinging.

And digging elaborate 'houses' in the sandbox.  The bathwater was slightly sandy yellow tinged that night.  :)  

A few things in my dollhouse had fallen down so I let them 'tidy' it for me.  And then we put the plexiglas back on.  I'm so un-fun.  

Little miss I-want-to-stay-up-late-and-wake-up-at-night-and-get-up-early likes to listen to music through my earbuds when the big girls are in bed.

She also gets really hangry.  I just ran downstairs to switch the wash load and she got into the cupboard for a snack.  Why do they always choose the grossest places to sit down and eat?  

Oh, hey, there's that box again.

So I saw a cute idea on pinterest where you have kids draw a simple face on a piece of fabric, and then you sew it into a rag doll.  So we tried it. Step one was draw the faces.  They made much more elaborate drawings than anticipated soooo.... they ended up being a might bit creepy looking.

We had a nice rainy week, which I loved.  We definitely needed the rain, and honestly it's kind of nice to have an excuse to stay inside and get things done and not feel guilty about missing a beautiful day.  We did get some fresh air, and lots of bug bites.

Michelle and kids were in town over the weekend and they came for lunch Saturday.  This picture is the only one I took and it is appropriately hilariously crazy.

We finished our terrifying creepy beloved rag dolls!  They picked fabric for the bodies and got to stuff them with scraps and make yarn hair.  They've played with them a lot already, so scary or not, I guess it was a worthwhile project.  :P  

And we must be in the mood for old fashioned pastimes because we spent part of a lazy Sunday afternoon cutting out paper dolls.

Oh hey, look who can climb up the bunk bed ladder all by herself.  woot.

I had them make brownies... she wanted to help too.  

Cadence thought it would be a good day for a picnic lunch.

Miri and I agreed.

So my Dad has been writing the girls letters in code- Cecily's got dragon language down pat, Emmy doesn't need much help with the pig pen code, but Morse Code for Cadence- really Dad?!  I don't know Morse code! 😝:P  

We had a half day of school today, so we went and visited Grandma at her office and then took our lunches to the park down the street.  It was a little chillier than we were expecting, but we didn't mind.

And then, of course, we played.  

Sometimes targeted advertising is a little bit off, and sometimes it's right on.  Ha.  I laughed. And screenshot-ed. 

 Otherwise, I guess it's been quiet around here.  Most of the garden has been picked and preserved; although, there are still lots of peppers and tomatoes on the plants.  We planted a few fall crops just for fun too.  

Blessings.

The last rose of summer

For once, the front page of the paper was a pleasant surprise!  The cute little girl in blue with the orange boomwhacker is my Emmy-girl.  :)  

She did this herself... so safe...

On the bright side, they filled in the hole.  On the not so bright side they told us that since codes have changed they will be moving our meter to the side of the house (away from the air conditioner).  That will also require redoing all of the gas lines inside the house.  Huzzah.  {Feel free to insert a long winded rant about the lack of foresight in the 60's-80's and the utter idiocy of installing two (TWO!) air conditioning units right in front of a gas meter.  Because, you know, they aren't electric and don't turn on and off frequently.} 

We were treated to a brief concert one evening.

So I didn't take a before picture of the bathtub fixtures on the wall, but they have obviously seen better days.  Decades of hard water and abrasive cleaners have taken their toll... not from me, I don't exactly clean that thoroughly every week. :P  I got tired of looking at them one night so I bought new ones and switched them out.

I got the drain lever installed by myself, but then I wasn't strong enough to unscrew the tub spout.  Emmy told on me and Bob came and helped so we got it all back together in time for baths.  They're so pretty and shiny- I got new handles too, but I'll get an actual plumber to install those.  :D  

Lincoln logs are lovely, however they are the same color as our floor which is a little hard on unsuspecting feet. These two are mostly getting along while big sisters are at school. 

We're off on an adventure!  But not in our van because both of our vehicles have not had working A/C for most of the summer and a trip to Iowa without it sounded unpleasant.  How did you all do it back in the day?  I don't mind it for trips around town, but at highway speeds it just gets so loud and windy with the windows down.  Anyway, Mom and Dad let us borrow one of their vans for the day and it was delightfully cool.  

We all ate lunch at a big park.  Grandpa and Grandma are getting an earful, I'm sure.

Iowa has fun playgrounds.

They both really enjoyed the buddy swing.

We explored the park.

I'm surprised nobody ended up falling in.

Stroller brigade...

Jakey: These guns are here in case IL invades.

Emmy and Cecily: (wide eyed) Really??

A short hike through the woods

to a cave!

With a spring inside!

The water was sooo cold, but we all splashed in it anyway.

There was a little waterfall near the back; the girls wanted to go back further in the cave but we didn't have a flashlight so we didn't go much further in.  

Back to Jake and Rachel's house to play.

And to celebrate Liezel's first birthday!

Poor kid was surrounded by admirers while opening presents.

We headed for home after supper so it was a late night, but we all had a fun day.  The girls are pretty sure we need to go back "on vacation." ha.

Checking out some butterflies they caught before we released them.

We had a rainy day finally, the younger two got to play in the rain for a bit.

Sit in a puddle? Don't mind if I do!  :)

The girls and I are settling into our school schedule.  For the most part.  I still don't enjoy getting up early.  Probably never shall.  

Blessings.