Riels and Parker

Rielee and I went to the Theatre Pub this afternoon to see "Despicable Me 2".  It was a cute movie, I only slept through a little bit in the middle due to a headache.  We shared a small Hawaiian pizza, that was yummy.  Papa and Parker rode the motorcycle to Centralia to have lunch at McMenamins.  The kids are staying overnight with us while Gabe and Des are in Spokane getting Macee settled in her dorm.  Rielee spent the rest of the day playing with Lil' Ponies, cutting and styling their hair and playing with PlayDoh, while Parker mowed and played Sims 3.   Rielee also went to the river with the Dolans to take Sam swimming, she liked that.

Macee's Bulldog debut

Macee only played for a few minutes today but had a great attitude about it.  She laughed and said her passing was 100%, 2 for 2 perfect passes!  She was just glad to get in and play.  Gonzaga lost to Portland State 3-0, they play Boise State and UW tomorrow .

Gonzaga fans Rielee and Auna

Rielee couldn't believe it when she got back from going to the bathroom and found that I accidentally gave away her seat-- an old man  asked me if those seats were taken and didn't understand when I said one of them was, and plopped his wife right in Rielee's seat...oops.  The girls had to move and sit by us, Rielee was not too happy.

A family picture afterwards.

Preschool orientation

Their orientation could not have gone better.  For one, the preschool has a kitchen.  Thank goodness,  since I had told Ava when she got a little nervous beforehand that I was sure it did.  They were so happy and made themselves right at home. 

 There was so much to look at, a parakeet, bugs, and an aquarium with fish.  They ran from one thing to another, happily exploring.

Ava stopped at the easels to do some drawing and impressed her teacher, Mrs. Dolan (yes, an easy name to remember!), by writing her name and drawing squares and circles.  After awhile, the director took all the parents (and grandparents) in another room, leaving the kids with the teacher.  Ava and Harper did just fine.  There is also another set of twin girls in their room, so that should be fun for them.  They can't wait for their first day!
They spent the night with us since they were up here anyway, and so did Rielee.  It was funny when Auna came over I asked them to tell her what their teacher's name was, Harper said "EMMY DOLAN!"

Playground

Since we couldn't take the girls to the zoo as planned, due to Papa's sore back, we took them to the school playground instead.  The screams were deafening when we pulled up, you would have thought we were at Disneyland.  They had fun being able to swing at the same time.  Rielee got going so high she said she felt like she was flying.

Ava just zipped right up all the climbing sections.  Harper was a little nervous, she kept stopping part way up, saying "wow, this is pretty scary" and backing down.  When she finally mastered the rock climb she was really proud of herself.

Em's scrimmage

 Today we went to watch Emmy and the Central Wildcats scrimmage at the U. of Portland.   They had bus problems and were late so we were sitting outside the arena when they got there.  Emmy came over and said hi to the girls and posed for a picture with them and

 her Grandma Mary.  Emmy played really well, it was so fun to see her.   Ava and Harper entertained themselves by looking for all of the #4 seats in our vicinity, and would have looked through the whole place if we hadn't stopped them.  That, and lifting up and then putting down all the armrests in the rows.  Good entertainment, luckily there weren't a lot of  people there so they weren't bothering anyone. 

Games and homework

The girls played lots of games today, starting with Horton Hears A Who.  Rielee played an condensed version of it that they could easily understand and enjoy.  They really had fun.  They played Tumblin' Monkeys after that and did lots of homework.  Ava worked on her writing, she wrote "Mom" today and was so excited.  Harper and Rielee worked on math.  All summer for her homework I've had Rielee writing about her summer break, it was like pulling teeth, she didn't want to do it at all.  But math she loves and happily did her 3 pages in just a few minutes.  Harper enjoys counting and is doing well learning numbers.  They went over to see Uncle Alan with the Jeep and played with his magnets.  Then they went to the play fort, Alan followed us over and we got to watch them ride in the Jeep.  It was hilarious, Rielee was chasing them, and they just laughed and laughed as she ran after them all over the field.  She tried unsuccessfully to stand and then sit on the back of the Jeep and catch a ride, but that made the girls do wheelies, not good.  Ava and Harper's driving skills are much improved.  Auna stopped by after volleyball and they all watched old YouTube videos of themselves, lots of laughs there.

Amazing kids

We were so proud Sunday of Macee, Tierney, Ty and Brock.  They, along with their friends and teammates, spoke with compassion and composure at the Celebration of Harlie's life,  sharing scripture, funny stories, and poetry about her.