New School, New Year

First day of school for the big kids. You can tell how thrilled Addie is that her playmates are leaving her.

The kiddos have been in school for three weeks now, so I suppose it's time to get the pictures posted! There was a lot of anxiety going into the first day of school. New school, teachers, friends, everything! There was probably more anxiety on my part than theirs!


Jackson has done wonderfully. Jeff and I joke that, these days if you're Jackson Clark - life is good. He has really found his groove here and has been finding friends easily. He still misses "home" but is happy every day.


Delaney has been a bit slower to adjust, but she's finding her way. We have yet to find that one friend who is always sweet and kind, but she is making friends and also comes home happy every day.

Addie attempting to make a "P" with her hands, for preschool.

Addie has been loving preschool. She loves her new backpack and comes home everyday with some pearl of wisdom from her teacher, Miss Jana.


The latest? A few days ago Addie was singing along with the Thomas the Tank Engine theme song, when the DVD was playing in the car. She was singing it much louder and with more confidence than she'd ever done before. I told her how great she sounded and she said,

"Miss Jana says to sing it like you're proud!"

The Coast

Since we've lived up here, in the Northwest, we've only had one rainy day and three cloudy days. And they all came this week. Crazy thing about this part of the country is that it rains all winter, but it's a drought in the summer. So, we figured if we were going to the Coast, now was the time!

We packed us all into the Jeep for the roadtrip. Crazy with 5 people for a 90 minute drive, but what's the Jeep good for if not having it at the beach???


The scenery absolutely did not disappoint. There are major rock formations jutting out of the ocean. It reminded us a lot of Hawaii.


However, the water is so cold, it hurts your feet. The first morning we were there, Jackson wanted to boogie board (not yet knowing just how cold it was). So, $20 later he had himself a boogie board that ended up being the worst $20 spent all year. No way could he go all the way in the water. In fact, those who were in the water were in dry suits and boots. Crazy!

So, they had lots of fun digging, building sand castles, and getting their feet wet.


Just to prove how cold the water is--here are the kids posing next to the ocean for a pic.


Delaney could only stand being that close to the water for 60 seconds and then...


Everything about the coast was gorgeous, though. It reminded me so much of our annual trips to Nantucket, growing up.

The gray, weathered siding and white trim...


The abundance of huge, varying Hydrangea plants...





It kind of made me homesick for the east coast. And then I realize, I left there once and was incredibly sad about it. But then there was a whole new wonderful waiting for me in the next place. And the next place. And the next place. Again this summer, we left somewhere wonderful. We left people and places and it makes us homesick all the time. However, there is a whole new wonderful here. I'm sure of it. We're right on the very brink of realizing the wonderful adventures that await us here.

And I just can't wait.