We started out the month of August with a trip to Washington state to see my parents and John & Jen. Caleb was my travel partner this time and I was so excited to show him Washington! He was excited to see Grandpa & Grandma and John & Jen!
We had a nice lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant with mom and dad after arriving in Spokane...I think I liked it better than Caleb...he did like the chopsticks though :)
We made it to the Homestead, as my parents call it, and got to meet Buddy for the first time. He is such a nice horse and is just like a typical 3-year old...a little feisty and full of energy! He also likes to explore new things by tasting them! Funny horse but very well behaved. All dad's training has paid off!
The next day we went to John & Jen's place for a nice BBQ and then we were off to the park and Science Museum in downtown Spokane.
Caleb had fun dressing up in this way-to-small-Tigger costume. He put on a 20 second play for us jumping all over the stage and playing drums...what a goof ball!
Then he had fun on these neat little scooters and directed traffic. I think he liked directing the traffic the best, but no one seemed to listen to him or obey his signs!
There was lots to do, but popping the magnets in the bucket was pretty fun!
After the Science Museum, we went to the park downtown by the river. Caleb liked joining in on the statue marathon!
Had some ice cream and then rode the carousel.
They had this huge Radio Flyer red wagon in the park. There was a long slide for the handle!
John & Jen came out to the homestead for dinner and we all helped weed Grandma's garden! Looks like a Martha Stewart garden!
John made a sign for the garden and Caleb painted Grandma a little bird house (pictured later).
We all decided to take it easy after all that weeding!
Gilly and Jen at the homestead. He is such a fast little sprinter and I can tell he loves having a great place to run and play with Dodge.
Caleb's Washington bear got a ride on Gilly's back!
Doing a little riding on Buddy.
Caleb was fascinated with all the things in the garden and wanted to pick everything! Luckily the beets and some of the squash was ready, so he got to pick those!
Putting a fence up to support those growing tomato plants!
Caleb's little birdhouse. He was not to happy about Grandma's color selection! Purple and yellow...right away he said that he could not paint with those Viking colors! So, most of the house was purple with just a little yellow on one side! Jon has trained him well to despise all things purple & gold!!
Dodge is Grandma's dog...he is such a sweet dog and loves kids!
Buddy was feeling frisky this afternoon because we were out back planting trees all afternoon and he was pretty happy to have all the company out by his corral all day!
Planting one of maybe 30-40 trees!
This hammock brings back all kinds of memories for me growing up. Caleb had just as much fun on it!
Grandpa & Grandma took Caleb & I to the Cat Tales Zoo. All kinds of wild cats! This was the lion, Sampson.
Grandpa & Grandma took us out to Loon Lake for some swimming and time on the sandy beach. Caleb loved jumping off this dock and I loved the crystal clear water!! I am not a lake person in the slimy Midwest water!!
Our last night in Washington, we had a dinner with John and Jen at the homestead and Aunt Nan made it up to Spokane for a short visit. It was so nice to be able to see her and catch up!
Caleb and I made it home after our one week trip and there was a thunder storm that next night. After it was done, this rainbow came out over the stormy sky.
We took the boys out to a huge water park here called Wild Water West for the first time...did they have fun! This is Josh on the big pirate ship that shoots off all kinds of water and
then we took them to the wave pool!
Caleb was so excited for his first day of school...1st grade!! 
Caleb with his teacher, Senora Calderon.
Caleb looks just a "little" excited waiting in line?! I was surprised, but I had a few tears watching him go off to school this year. Mainly because I knew how happy he was to be starting and how fortunate that we feel for him to be in the Spanish Immersion program. His teacher is great and so caring!
That next weekend the boys sang for the VBS program. Joshy had his first debut singing up in front. Honestly, I was not sure if he would make it to the front, but he did. He even sang! I was joking with Jon that Joshy could be a great ventriloquist...he can talk/sing while barely moving his lips!
Josh's first day of school was the next week and it went really well. I guess all the prep reading books over the summer paid off and having a great big brother that LOVES school played a minor role I am sure!!
Josh was thrilled to see that they had dinosaurs to play with right away! So, I gave him a kiss and hug and reminded him of the little heart that I put in his pocket (to let him know how much I love him and am so proud of him) and I was off. I lingered in the hall outside the door and was so happy to not hear any crying! Yes...success!
We took the kids to Palisades State Park over the weekend and had a picnic. They love to come here and climb all kinds of rocks!
We had lots of fun climbing and exploring on this BEAUTIFUL day!!
Checking out the river below.
Josh and I waited at the top while Caleb and Daddy did a little climb to the river below...looks like he is deep in thought!
We had a great month of August and the kids are now in school! We are so happy that they love school (so far)! We had a wonderful summer...lots of fun and special memories!!