The theme for this week was homecoming at the high school, and for some people it got pretty involved. Lots of sports and assemblies. A parade. A dance. Different themes every day. And then the football game, where our team got creamed, but it was fun anyway. As for Maren and Lindsey, they stayed busy as well- not so much with homecoming, but with preparing for auditions for a play that is coming up. They practiced all week, had the audition on Friday, and both of them got parts, so I guess the hard work paid off. Rach and I each had quiet weeks, which wasn't a bad thing. We both got some good trail time on Saturday and watched a lot of football on Sunday. I've also been building out an office space in my gym that's been taking up my time, and I finished that up this week. It's been a good one. Here are some photos:

Every day was a different theme at school. Evelyn's friends are taking a picture of the senior percussionists every day, and this one had Addy in it. 

Drumline at the football game, plus Lindsey who somehow joined them for a little while.

All of the high school kids went to the dance, but none of them had specific dates. That doesn't really seem to be a thing. They each went with different groups of friends, and they all danced and had a great time, and Addy even got a few pictures.

Have a good week!

Three years ago we bought the Wallace House. Since then it has become, in many ways, our home away from home. I can't even count the number of nights we have spent up there. How often it has been used as a jumping off place for hiking, backpacking, bike rides, huckleberry picking, or ski trips. How many movies we have watched, or sleepovers we have hosted. How many walks down the stairs to the swimming pool, local restaurants, or events hosted in town. Our family has come to know several of the store owners on a first-name basis. 

And the crazy thing is that, even though it is all so familiar by now, it still feels like a vacation every single time we go.  Like Narnia, or Terabithia, it's like there is some kind of magic portal at the top of the pass, and once through it, all the rules have changed. Time slows down. You feel lighter, more nimble. The air seems fresher. This is Wallace- a little town that hardly even registers on the map. But it has come to be OUR Wallace. 

We love it.

*****

It has been a slow process, but Rachel and I went up last weekend to put the final touches on our bonus room that we have built. It's nice that it's close enough that we can do this- quick overnighters with just the two of us. The kids are old enough to get themselves off to school in the morning, and Rach and I have flexible enough schedules that we are afforded this luxury on a pretty regular basis. In fact, "Let's go to Wallace" has almost become a code- a way of saying "Life is really busy, and that is good and exciting, but I miss you and we should take some time away from it all." And so we do. These trips are almost guaranteed to yield good conversations and have become an important point of connection in our relationship.

Ok. Here's some before and after photos of the bonus room. It has been a multi-year process, where we put up like one board each time we were there. There are a lot of little stories in those boards and nails. A lot of sweat, and dirt, and a little bit of blood, in carrying a bunch of heavy things up the steep scary stairs. Of plans and compromises and more plans and trips to the hardware store and learning new skills and putting in hours of quality time together. I think it has become the favorite room in the house and will be used a lot, but even if it isn't, it will have been worth it. Sometimes it's not the destination that matters. But for this one, I think the destination looks pretty good.

This is how we started. We did new subfloors and carpet, walls, ceilings, windows, lights, and furniture. Basically, everything.

This was taken from the same place as the above photo. Ceilings are 7.5 feet high and it feels cozy.

We added the electric fireplace heater for warmth in the winter, and I think it adds a lot to the feel of the room. Like a little log cabin. Also, we tried to maintain some sense of history by keeping as much of the original wood as possible.

As for furnishings, we have two full sized beds, and two queen beds (one is a sleeper sofa), making the area super practical when hosting large groups of people.

*****

In other news, these two turned 16. It seems like an important birthday, but I can't really say how it is different than 15 or 17. But yeah- they've been alive for that long now. So...cool. 

*****

In other, other news, Rach and I went and saw the play Julius Caesar. It was done in the original Shakespearian English with a few very minor changes to accommodate the change of setting from Ancient Rome to a modern Women's Penitentiary. I don't know if it was this change, or if it was just exceptionally acted, but this was the best Shakespearian play I have ever seen.

 Here's a roadmap for this post:

1) Our Weekend and Summer Recap

2) Lindsey's Birthday Party

3) Back to School Profiles

Here we go:

*****

School has started. Summer is over. It's fun to look back at some highlights:

Overnight bike-packing through the chain lakes; Rachel's sister moving to Post Falls; Portland; Nashville; Boise; Many overnight kayaking trips and exploration of waterways; Climbing the Grand Teton, Chimney Rock, and the North Cascades; Two family reunions; Lots of camping trips and short hikes throughout Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon; Lots of Wallace trips; Lots of lake days and time on local trails with bikes, rollerblades, skateboards, and scooters; Lots of great time at home including backyard cookouts, sleepovers, movie, and game nights.

It's been good. It's been a little hectic. It's nice to be coming into a shoulder season where we can settle in and establish a routine again. Holidays and ski season are just around the corner, and we're excited about those things, but for now we're just gonna catch our breath a little.

For this weekend we intentionally stayed local...ish. A quick overnight in Wallace was refreshing as always, and we had some good finds at the annual flea market. The small-town parade in St. Maries the next day was was fun, I guess. That was more of a Rachel thing. We finished our back-to-school shopping and a few little house projects. We practiced going to bed early. We wore flannel because it is fall now, and then we took off the flannel because it was still 101 degrees outside and it isn't actually fall now.

*****

I am writing this on September 3rd. Lindsey's birthday was on July 3rd. We finally did a party for her. That's what you get for being born in the summertime.

But the party did not disappoint. Lindsey and a bunch of her weird quirky friends went to an art studio for the afternoon, and then Rachel took them all up to Wallace for a sleepover. Rach made a great Harry Potter themed cake, because apparently the imagination of a child is bounded on one end by Frozen and on the other by Hogwarts. Alas, my impassioned campaign for originality falls on deaf ears. I blame AI, the mainstream media, capitalism, the illuminati, and Russia, all while shaking my fist at the clouds.

I think they had fun.

The more you look at this picture the stranger it gets

Kind of a cool cake- it's the tree in Harry Potter that beats up a car. Rachel made it.

*****

Back to school. There are mixed feelings, but overall everyone is positive. And we no longer have any kids in elementary school. That's kinda crazy. 

Evelyn is going to be a senior this year. She's doing band, and band, and band, and ski. She's also keeping her job at the burger place. I don't think she has gone to bed before midnight since school let out, and has definitely made the most out of this summer. She'll be busy and there will be stress, and weekends will be important. But if anyone can handle it, she can.

Adalie will be a sophomore. She's also doing a bunch of band stuff, and will likely do ski club as well. Her and Evelyn get up at 5:30 every day to make it for Jazz, and then they do homework until dinner when they get home. They are both extremely driven and it makes me tired to watch them.

Jackson is also going to be a sophomore. He has spent more time with friends this summer than ever before, and when I dropped him off at school he started fist bumping the first people he came in contact with and was immediately absorbed into a crowd. I've never been that kid, and it's neat to watch. He is super into sketching right now, which seems like a hobby that pretty much everyone has experimented with at some point, but he is actually good at it. 

Maren is coming into her own! It's fun watching her gain confidence both socially and academically, and I think this is going to be a great year for her. She is in 8th grade, which makes her the queen of the middle school, and she is already looking forward to New York and Washington DC with friends at the end of the year.

Lindsey is in middle school! 6th grade makes her the baby of the school, but she doesn't know it for all the confidence she carries. As for activities, she will do all the things. She's taking a bunch of honors classes, and will likely join a bunch of clubs. That's just who she is. 

Have a good week!