The Swing of Things

 The first day of school rolled around and brought much delight and order to my life, but the feeling was not mutual with the kids. I think summer brings about a great balance. Memorial Day hits and the excitement of trips, freedom, and family time is palpable. Then, Labor Day rolls around and the excitement for order, home cleanliness, and finally having a reliable schedule kicks in. Everything in balance—and I am settling in with my cleaner house, enjoyable work schedule, and being home for the kids after school.

The new school year also brings back after-school activities for everyone, and we are switching it up this year! To Maren's delight, she began horseback riding lessons yesterday. Many months ago, she approached Logan and me armed with a PowerPoint presentation to convince us of the myriad reasons why horseback riding would help her develop skills to prepare her to be successful in the future. Her presentation persuaded us, but there were no horseback riding lessons available within 45 minutes of our house. About a month ago, that all changed. A friend of mine gave me the news that a stable in north Spokane was moving to Post Falls! After a few calls, Maren was in! She has stepped away from formal voice lessons for the time being, but was recently accepted into the audition choir, Women's Select, at the high school. She definitely still has singing in her future! For now, she is ecstatic to make a few new four-legged friends, who may or may not be named Douglas.

Enter Adalie. This girl just became a licensed driver! Her first "to-do" item was to get a climbing punch pass at Coeur Climbing. The gym just happens to be located 10 minutes from the stables. Adalie will be driving Maren, then heading to the gym. She is excited about this because, instead of paying half for her climbing, I am willing to pay for her punch pass (that is a great after-school program as far as I am concerned!). I am happy to pick Maren up, and I just may head to the climbing gym early to get a session in. It's a win-win situation!

This year, Lindsey has decided to discontinue Irish dancing for the time being, and instead will be taking voice lessons. She loves to sing, and was recently accepted into the Titanium Choir at River City Middle School.

Jack is gearing up for all of his after-school clubs. This year, he has a Dungeons and Dragons club in the works. He has found a teacher to sponsor it, as well as a day of the week. It is now time to advertise. He will also be active in the anime club, and, and... he will probably find some time to get climbing in as well.

Weekdays are for schedules, and weekends are for fun. True to form, we took full advantage of this weekend and had one of the best family climbing days to date. We headed up to the Tum Tum climbing area to a "new-to-us" wall. Terminal Wall has everything our family could need: a wide range of difficulty levels, varied climbing styles, and the bonus of an incredible view! Everyone climbed (including Lindsey, who has been sidelined since she broke her elbow), and we just enjoyed being together. It sounds cheesy, I know, but sometimes time together can feel like "forced family fun." This outing was also notable because we had enough belayers that Logan and I were able to climb hard as well. I had some good sends and a rewarding lead, and he top-rope flashed a burly 5.11+ along with a handful of other enjoyable tops.

Back to school pictures for 7th, 9th, 11th, 11th, and Boise freshman.

Family climbing day

Picnic lunch at the crag with beautiful views

Logan jumped on and tested his metal- spoiler- he's still got it

Other happenings

Happy birthday to these two! Marissa had a surprise celebration- she made cheesecake and these cute little guys!

Evelyn update:

Ev is spending her time exploring Boise, going to football games, attending shows (most recent was the Trixie Mattel drag queen DJ set), climbing and bouldering with the Alpine Club, picnicking with friends, and 'doing random stuff.' She is also doing her fair amount of studying and tweaking out as she gets into the swing of college. She has her first round of tests this week, and will do great!

Have a good week!

The final few weeks of summer were relaxing and chill. Logan and I went back and forth with ideas for Labor Day weekend, and we decided an at-home weekend doing fun things around here was just what we needed. Everyone brainstormed local activities that often get taken for granted.

The final list included the Museum of North Idaho, mini-golf, tacos at Taco Works (thanks, Amanda and Byron, for the recommendation!), tennis, Spider-Man: A Brand New Day, an at-home painting afternoon, baking together, and a BBQ at Marissa’s house. Every day was memorable, and we had a great time together.

Here are a few pictures from the week and a few other recent goings-on.

Adalie is now OFFICIALLY LICENCED TO DRIVE!

Painting together

Marissa had a little party with delicious homemade cheesecake and these adorable animals she crocheted for Adalie and Jack.

Jackson DM'd an exciting Dungeons and Dragons game with the family

Maren and I snuck away to a cute little tea house

An exciting cooking challenge

Maren, Lindsey, Adalie and I went to Lookout to find huckleberries. We hiked up Marmot to Black Bear and we didn't find any trace of berries! It was a lovely hike and a good reason to get out. Lindsey and Maren were hanging out together and missed the photo op.

Gracie and Lindsey have a great time at Silverwood a few weeks ago, and they recently had a party to celebrate their 7 Year friend anniversary!

Evelyn's update:

I've been doing like everything ever this week. I went to that Psychedelic Porn Crumpets show, and it was so much fun. I actually got pretty close to some people as friends, the crowd was hype, and I actually crowdsurfed to the stage.

I've also been hanging out with friends a lot, and a group of like 4 or 5 of my friends and I have actually been going to the gym almost every morning, so that has been fun. I made it to church, and I liked it a lot, and I definitely think it'll be the one I choose. Since I only have classes Monday and Wednesday, and I had none today because it's a holiday, I had like a week off from school basically. Other than that, I've been dilly-dallying a lot. I went to a really cute store downtown after church just because I passed by it and it looked cool.

I've been hanging out with friends like every day basically, and we do all sorts of stuff, and I can't even remember it all. Today we had a picnic and the gym ofc, and then we did a study group and all got food together. Earlier this week, I also went to an alpine club hangout, and I tried the slackline and also did some very poor hacky sack.

I've been having a great week, and next week looks fun, too. Tomorrow I'll be going to the gym at 6 with friends, and then doing lots of homework, and then there's the ski club meeting, and I'm trying out boxing. On Thursday I might go bouldering with the alpine club, but I'm scared so idk. One of my friends is also a swimmer, so on Thursdays we're doing her swim workouts apparently, and I'm scared. And then I think this weekend I might be camping, and then on Sunday I have goth night with friends.

Also, I saw The Odyssey with friends, and then we hung out and walked around downtown, choreographed a dance, and showed it to random people on the street. I got a $5 Canadian bill, and then we made friends with the gas station clerk, and then I found a branch, and then we scootered home, and it was scary again.

Stay tuned for Adalie and Jackson's birthday and the first day of school.

Jackson's favorite recent shot

Have a good week!