It's August, so that means that it's the last month of summer for Jada and the girls. We did some preparation for getting Ellen back to school. We bought her new shoes with laces, and we taught her how to tie shoes using daddy's big gym shoes. She couldn't quite get the more complicated way, but luckily Jada came up with the 2 bunny ear method from her vast array of Kindergarten experience. Ellen was able to do that pretty well. She also tried her hand at riding a bike without training wheels over with her friend Hayden. She wasn't too excited about that. We worked with her a little more on our camping trip with her own bike. She'll get it. She just needs more time to get comfortable with it. Ellen attended a week-long soccer camp, too. It was only three hours a day, but she had a great time. The coaches said that she smiled all the time. She learned how to juggle the ball on her knee, feet, and head. She learned to improve her dribbling, kicking, guarding, taking the ball away, and playing keeper. She's looking forward to playing soccer more this year. We also picked up a new pair of soccer shoes. The only ones that we could find were the newer ones with laces down the side instead down the middle of the top. She doesn't quite know what to think of it. Finally, Ellen had her kindergarten assessment last week. She scored very well on it, and she had fun being at school. She's so excited for the school year to begin. I think she just might explode.
Phoebe had a fun last month of summer as well. We took the girls out to Dairy Queen for cones. Phoebe was fun to watch trying to eat it before it melted. She wasn't quite sure what to do when she got down to the cone though. Ellen helped to show her what to do. While Ellen was at her soccer camp, Phoebe got to be in Gram Camp. They read stories, and played Polly Pockets... She had fun. For a week this month Phoebe went through another rebellious stage. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, boy she really goes for it. We kept catching her out of bed during nap time, and she even changed clothes. Once we found her with a lot of her clothes on in layers. She's just very silly. We've been grocery shopping in Manghelli's garden a lot this summer. The girls helped her plant it, and now the vegetables are coming in. Phoebe just loves tomatoes. Ellen even likes the cherry tomatoes some what, but Phoebe can't get enough of them. It all has been very good. Finally, not to be outdone, the same day that Ellen was trying her friend Hayden's bike without training wheels, Phoebe also just climbed right up. She was ready to go. We'll be keeping an eye on that one. During the camping trip I gave her a ride around the ring on Ellen's bike without the training wheels too.
We've been pretty busy ourselves as a family, though not always as a family. Jada and I did the Bridge Pedal this year without the girls. Ellen's too big, and Phoebe's never been a big fan of the trailer. We'll have to figure something out for next year. Pete came with us again this year. We did the full 10 bridge 34 mile ride this year. As always it was really crowded, but maneuvering the tandem through the masses is part of the fun. We also completed 1003 miles this year as a tandem team reaching our goal one month early. Originally, we were going to try to ride 1000 miles before the Livestrong ride which was scheduled for the end of September. But it got moved up to the end of the July. So we made it early. Dave's still training though for Cycle Oregon in September, but he'll write about that next month.
As we mentioned a few times, we went camping as a family for four days and survived quite well, thank you very much. You can read all about it here.
One of the girls' favorite things is Big Truck Day at the Conestoga Rec Center. Luckily for us, we were already there for dance classes that morning so between their classes, we got to go out and look at all the big trucks. The girls preferred the construction type equipment this year. During Ellen's class, I took Phoebe out again to see a couple things that we missed the first time through, and she got to sit in a stretch limousine. She walked all the way to front of the car and relaxed on the bench facing backwards. I had to eventually call her back out. (I wasn't able to get a picture since there were too many other kids in there at the time).
We had to call in pest control to knock down a yellow-jacket nest that had been started behind our deck lamp. It took them two times coming out to take care of it. While it's off, though we'll try to fix it so we can have the light again.
Finally, the last weekend of August brought Phoebe and Ellen's last dance class. Phoebe made it through her ballet portion and did her routine, but during the tap portion, she slipped and fell hitting her nose on the floor. She didn't finish the class. We held her until class was over so she could watch, and then we got some ice and a snack. She held the ice on her nose for us. It's bruised a bit, but otherwise ok. She was fine by the time Ellen's class started. She did her tap routine to "Splish-Splash". She did a good job remembering all of her steps. She also did a routine for ballet to some Hilary Duff song.
On Sunday afternoon, it was very hot still after nap, so we washed the cars. Ellen and Phoebe were both pretty helpful even though they could only reach as high as the windows. Ellen worked the hose while Phoebe helped Dave with the soaping. They turned out well. Ellen was a little wild with the hose, but it was too hot out to worry about it. We'll have to get Gram's car next weekend.
School starts for Mommy and our little Kindergartner and our pre-schooler next month. So much to do, so little time. Also for those keeping score, this month marked Dave's 11th year in Oregon. Tempus fugit.
Journal Entry: August 30, 2006