Logan Lost His First Tooth!

Since Lia didn't lose her first tooth until the December of her 1st grade year, it was no where on my radar for Logan to lose his first tooth.  So you can imagine my surprise when he came up to me while we were at Priest Lake for our family reunion during the first week of August to show me a loose tooth.  Apparently, he had been hit in the mouth by a pillow while playing with his older cousin, Riley.  Either the impact of the pillow loosened his tooth OR it just made Logan aware of the fact that his tooth had already started to loosen.  Regardless, I was pretty surprised when I reached down and wiggled it with my finger.  Unlike Lia who was absolutely thrilled to have her first wiggly tooth (due to the fact that she had to wait years after her friends started losing their teeth), Logan was a bit unsure and hesitant.  Since he doesn't like change, he did not welcome this wiggly friend in his mouth.  From that day on, he would normally make his little whiny noises every time he would show me how wiggly it was.  As the weeks wore on, we suddenly discovered that it was hanging on by a thread this week.  Logan was very worried about this and wouldn't let any of us touch it.  In fact, the stress of him starting school and losing his first tooth almost brought him to tears more than once.  On top of it all, I started to worry that Logan would lose his first tooth during his first day of school which would make for a very traumatic experience for him!  Needless to say, I was totally relieved when Logan woke up the day BEFORE his first day of school with his tooth missing!
I went into Logan's room this morning to get him out of bed.  While laying there, he opened up his mouth and showed me the hole where his tooth used to be.  I immediately started screaming out of excitement and then started asking him where it was.  He wouldn't say anything to me (except for his whiny sounds), but got out of bed and walked over to his dresser.  He then proceeded to open up a little box that he keeps there and dump out all of its little contents.  After these little items spilled all over his dresser top, we searched and searched and couldn't find his tooth.  Logan then got upset, ran back to his bed, and hid under his covers.  After trying to get him to talk for a good minute or two, I started to panic that he had swallowed it in his sleep which would be pretty disappointing for his first tooth!  I mean, who wants to put nothing under their pillow for their first visit from the tooth fairy?!  I tried over and over again to get Logan to tell me if he knew what had happened to his tooth, but he jut kept whining under his covers.  After looking through the blankets in his bed and on the floor around his bed, I decided to walk back to the dresser to search again.  After picking up another little toy on top of his dresser, I found the tooth laying under it!  Hooray!  I was so relieved.
At this point, Lia and Ella had come into Logan's room.  The three of us all started celebrating while Logan stayed hidden in his blankets in his bed.  Oh that boy.  He just does the funniest things sometimes.  Lia and I immediately started talking about the visit he was going to get from the tooth fairy tonight and about the money he was going to find under his pillow.  None of this really consoled him.  After several minutes, Logan finally started talking and this was the story he told us:  He woke up in the middle of the night with his tooth laying on his tongue.  He got up out of bed to come and find me, but was too scared to walk down the hallway in the dark.  So, instead he put his tooth inside the little box on top of his dresser, climbed back into his bed, and fell asleep.  How cute is that?  I love how Logan can be so careful and responsible when he wants to and this was no exception.  I am also so amazed that he didn't swallow his tooth!  Regardless, Logan was finally excited to write a note to the tooth fairy tonight and put it under his pillow.  I can't wait to see his reaction tomorrow when he finds his $2 and a note from THREE different boy, tooth fairies named Toby, Tommy, and Terry.

Logan showing off his newly formed hole and tooth.

A close-up of his hole.

And a close-up of his tooth.

Blake Island 2017

We just wrapped up summer 2017 with our last hurrah of going camping to Blake Island.  This is hand's down one of our favorite summer traditions and I am so grateful to my brother, Chris, for always making this possible.  Although my parents had other plans this year and couldn't come, we were treated from a rare visit from Ron who actually came out after work Friday evening and spent the night with us.  This is the first time he has ever camped out on the island with us and was the first time he has been there since summer 2007 when we first moved to Washington from California.  It was so great to have him join us and to share all of our Blake Island traditions with him!
And now it's back to reality...

Although she is getting a little too tall for it, Lia still enjoyed playing on the zip line at the park.

Trenton, Lia, and Logan getting ready to go down the slide.

And down they go!

Bryce pushing Riley, Trenton, Lia, and Logan on the tire swing.

Away they go!

Trenton and Logan chasing a deer off into the woods.

Striking a silly pose for the camera.

Most of the gang enjoyed a baseball game after dinner as the sun was setting.  Here is Lia up to bat.

Lia making it safely to second base.

Mt. Rainier and the stunning sunset we were blessed to experience on Friday night.

Girl cousins:  Brynn, Vivi, Callie, and Lia.

A rare, Hartland family picture on Blake Island with the sunset and Mt. Rainier in the background.  It's always so beautiful on this island every summer!

A close-up of our family.

Best buddies:  Brynn and Ellie.

Lia, Callie, and Vivi.

Logan on a piece of driftwood with the Sound in the background.  I just couldn't get enough of taking pictures as the sun was setting!

One more family pose on a piece of driftwood.

An action shot of Logan jumping off a log.

An action shot of the girls (and Logan hidden behind Lia) jumping off another log.

The beautiful bay with a few sail boats at sunset.

On Saturday morning, Chris convinced Eric and me to join him in the absolutely insane activity of skiing on the Puget Sound.  Even with a wet suit on, my feet and hands were freezing during my time in the water both before and after skiing.  It was also a crazy feeling to water ski by a ferry and over its gigantic waves.  Needless to say, there was lots of complaining and lots of laughing, but overall, it was a classic sibling experience.  Here is Chris tearing it up with Blake Island in the background.

A shot of me skiing with the ferry in the background.

And Eric taking his turn last.  After our ski, we spent the rest of the morning playing on the island before packing up and heading to Chris' house after lunch for our annual, end-of-the-summer feast.  Although Ron went home after lunch, the kids and I spent the rest of the day at Chris' enjoying the final hours of summer with the cousins.  It sure was a glorious way to end our summer!

Our Hungry Book Worm

Lia has had a love of books since she was a baby.  I clearly remember watching her "knee walk" (what she would do sometimes instead of crawling) to the basket of books I used to keep in our old family room.  She would then sit there and look through book after book for many minutes at a time which was pretty impressive for a little girl who had just turned one.  Over the years, Lia's love of reading has only continue to grow.  She has evolved from a little girl who loved to sit in our laps and listen to story after story be read to her to a confident reader who now devours novels in a matter of days.
Although reading really clicked for Lia by the end of first grade, she still preferred to read her bedtime stories/books with either Ron or me.  However, this past December while she was in the third grade, Lia started going back to her room at night and reading silently on her own after she had finished reading her book with Ron in our bedroom.  She started doing this while reading through the American Girl Doll Felicity series and continued after Christmas with the American Girl Doll Caroline mystery books that she had recieved as a gift.  From that point on, she was hooked.  Lia will now read for a good 30 minutes every night after she goes back to her bedroom if I allow her.  It has been amazing to watch her read through several American Girl Doll series (Molly, Addy, Samantha, Kit, and several of the AGD mystery books) and all of the Harry Potter books.  Since I have loved Harry Potter since I read the first book back in 1999, I introduced this series to Lia in Kindergarten when I read to her the first two books.  Lia immediately loved it and has enjoyed watching the various movies over the years.  As a result, she decided to start all over again this winter and read through the series on her own.  I must admit, I was a little skeptical as these books are a lot longer and much more complicated than the American Girl Doll books.  However, I am proud to say that Lia totally proved me wrong.  She began reading these books and was immediately hooked.  She couldn't put them down and could be found reading them whenever she had a few minutes to spare.  When school got out and her schedule really freed up, Lia went crazy reading over 100 pages per day--especially on days when we were travelling.  She would spend hours in the car reading!  I just loved it.  So I am proud to report that Lia has officially completed all EIGHT books in the Harry Potter series (including the newest one that was written as a play) just as summer is ending!  She has literally read thousands of pages in the past few months and I am so proud of her!  Here is to many, many more years of having a book worm living in our house.

Lia surrounded by all eight of my Harry Potter books that she has read in the past few months.

An adorable picture of my girl and her favorite series!

Summer time is...

eating popsicles in the backyard,

messy faces,

and older siblings doing the same.

Oh, how we love summer!

(As you can guess, Ella's messy face was totally done by accident while Logan's was done on purpose!)

Summer Outings, Part II

The summer is quickly coming to an end as school starts after our camping trip to Blake Island this coming weekend.  It's always sad to see it come to an end, but part of me is always ready to get back into a routine and to take a break from travelling and all the work that goes with it.  We have continued to enjoy some fun day outings these past 2.5 weeks that we have been home between camping trips to Diablo Lake and Blake Island.  We have been able to do some fun things with Ron on the weekends and some fun things with friends during the week.  Here are some of the things that we have been up to...

On Saturday, August 26th, Ron and I took the kids miniature golfing to the local putt-putt golf course we have in town.  We all had a great time working our way through the colorful and creative course.  Here is Logan picking up his ball after shooting it.

Logan jumping up and down after getting his ball in the hole.

Logan shooting away while the girls look on.

And now it's Lia's turn!

Ron taking a turn.

Ella hitting her ball through the hole in the windmill.

Lia getting ready to hit again.

Papa helping Ella out.

Mama taking a turn.

The kids and I posing at the end of all nine holes!

On the evening of August 26th, we convinced papa to go on an evening bike ride with us on the trail down by the Puyallup River.  Although the kids and I have gone on this bike ride a few times this summer, he has never joined us.

The kids and Ron taking a break on the one bridge we cross during our ride.

Mom and the two older kiddos.  Logan has gotten so good at riding his bike this summer.  It has been fun to see how he can now ride down hills and bike for long distances.

Cute Ella cruising along in the bike seat on the back of papa's bike.

On August 28th, I took the kids to our favorite splash pad park in Tacoma, Titlow Beach.  Since we haven't made it there all summer long, we decided to squeeze it in at the very end of the vacation.  It was another glorious, warm day, so the kids enjoyed playing at the awesome park and in the splash pad.  Here is Logan climbing through the play structure at the park.

Logan and Ella spinning around on one of the toys.

Ella at the splash pad.

Ella, Logan, and Lia all standing under the "water umbrella."

Logan on top of the rock.

Logan running through the water tunnel.

All three kiddos lined up at the edge of the splash pad.

Mama and baby.

The kids eating their picnic lunch while taking a break from the splash pad.

On August 29th, we visited another one of our favorite summer places--Kandle Park in Tacoma with Natalee and her kids.  It was fun to spend some 'cousin time' together before summer ended.  Here are Brynn, Riley, Callie, and Lia relaxing in the baby pool.

Ella swimming in the baby pool.

Logan and Trenton hanging out in shallow end of the wave pool.

The awesome dump bucket dumping water down on the waiting kids below.

We always enjoy spending time in the darling, toddler pool.  Here is Lia about to get dumped on by one of the tiny buckets with Brynn and Callie looking on.

Logan and Trenton spraying Brynn!

Brynn and Ella playing together.

Ella going for a ride on Lia's back.

Logan spraying away.

Ella playing with the water feature.

Trenton and Ella spraying Riley and Brynn.  What nice, older cousins they are!

Ella now spraying Riley, Brynn, and Callie!  Geez.

Mama posing with Lia and Ella in the toddler pool.

Mama running with Ella through the water tunnel.

And a shot of my three kiddos at closing time when NO one was in the toddler pool.  I just love how Ella's leg is pointed up into that air.  Oh, that girl.

On August 30th, the kids and I went to Chambers Bay, a park that I have been hearing about for years, but have never visited.  We went with our friend, Alisa, and her three kids who have gone to the park a couple times before.  It has the most amazing playground that is located on a bluff overlooking the Puget Sound.  Both the park and the view are amazing!  We enjoyed spending a good hour playing at the park before eating a picnic lunch and then going on a bike ride.  Here are all three kids swinging around on the playground.

Logan poking his head through the octopus.

Ella hanging on to one of the bars.

Logan sliding down the rope.

A view of Chambers Bay from the park.

All three kids going down the slide at the same time.

Lia and Bella on the swings.

Logan working his way down the hanging rope again.

Bella pushing Lia, Liam, and Logan on the tire swing.

Liam pushing Logan, Ella, and Jace.

The three older kids pushing the three younger ones.  Now that's team work!

Alisa and the kids eating lunch under a picnic shelter.

The kids and me.

All six kids posing with the stunning sound in the background.

The Hartland gang posing for a family picture.

All six kids on their bikes.  What a cute group!

And they're off!  Logan, Lia, and Bella on their bikes.

Jace, Liam, and Ella bringing up the rear on their bikes!