Labor Day 2008

This year was our 3rd annual Labor Day School Promotion! It works out well here, since all the classes at church promote the first weekend in September. Plus, AWANA started last night, so Charis, Tobin, and Arden are officially in 3rd grade, 1st grade, and kindergarten, respectively. As we've done in the past, we took pictures of the kids holding their school signs and weighed and measured all three of them. I also measured Kenna--not sure how accurate the number is--but I didn't get her to stand still on the scale! Typically we've done our "first day of school" activities on Labor Day, but since we actually did school throughout the summer, we did NO school activities this day, with the exception of our read-aloud before bed. (Mr. Popper's Penguins is a HUGE hit with ALL of us...especially Daddy!!)


So instead of doing any "schoolwork," we headed to the mountains with our friends Adam & Laura and their daughter Addie and Mark & Joanne and their kids Cody, Dillon, and Bryce. We went to our favorite picnic area, and though there were quite a few folks around, we found a nice spot with both shade and sun (it alternated between being too hot and a little too chilly!) where the kids could play and explore. Kenna had a blast finding the muddiest spots she could possibly locate and smearing her dirty hands all over her clothes--because even though she must touch new textures, she's not too fond of being dirty! She kept us on our toes, as her first inclination was to follow every "dit-tie" (doggie) that came across the trail. She got to pet a lot of dogs; folks were quite nice to stop and let her admire and chortle at their pets.

The dads and the older kids enjoyed building a dam and playing in and around the water, hiking up hills, sliding down hills on their rears, and generally being dirty and happy. We moms enjoyed relaxing in the shade or sun, depending on our body temperatures at any given moment, and keeping an eye on the little ones. We packed picnic lunches, which were devoured in spurts as the kids had time to come and grab bites. They were so busy!

Kenna fell asleep before we were halfway down the mountain...no surprise, since she had awakened at 5:30 that morning!! Not only did she sleep all the way home, but she also napped another couple of hours once we got home. I also got a nap--woohoo!

To view pictures from our Labor Day adventures, you can click here. View the slideshow--it's much more fun!