August Adventures...

Unfortunately, between work and school, Jim and I haven't had much time off this summer to do anything fun with the girls. Last week we only had the two younger girls with us because Katlynne was away at Summer Camp. So - last Friday we decided to take the younger girls camping in Leavenworth!!! It was great for all of us to get away from the house and just enjoy some time outdoors. Jim and Kelsey had never been to Leavenworth, so it was a completely new experience for them. We had a lot of fun camping, but we also spent Saturday in the town going through the various shops and spending more money than we should have. We all had a blast though and didn't want to come home.

The Girls Spent A Lot Of Time Playing Uno Attack In The Tent At Night

Jim - My Handy Fire Starter!

The Girls LOVED Climing The Rocks Next To Our Campsite!

This Lovely Bear Welcomed Us To Leavenworth

Our First Experience With REAL Bavarian Food

They Thought Doing Cheers With Their Rootbeer Mugs Was The Coolest Thing

Sunday morning, we had to wake the girls up at 5:30 am so we could pack up camp and head for the ferry to pick up Katlynne by 10:00. Katlynne's birthday was August 15th but since she was at Summer Camp, we didn't get to celebrate with her on her actual birthday. So after we picked her up - we had a surprise for all the girls.....

We Made Them Close Their Eyes As We Lead Them Blindly Through Seattle

And Their Surprise Was........Ride The Duck!

They Were A Bit Excited...

Kelsey - Getting Ready.....

Entering Lake Union......

Although It Rained And Was Gray - We Got A Good Picture Of Seattle....

Duck Kisses - They Weren't Quite Sure How Ducks Kissed With Those Beaks Of Theirs....

It Was So Much Fun!!!

Happy 12th Birthday Katlynne!!!

In other news - my now 6-year-old will be starting first grade tomorrow!!! Since we moved to Kirkland, she is having to switch schools and was a little bit nervous for a while because she doesn't know anybody. However, on Thursday her school had an informal "open house" where the kids could go explore the school and meet their teachers, which was time well spent to help calm her nerves. She is now EXCITED to be starting school. She loves the school (especially the playground) and her teacher. Now if I could just somehow calm MY nerves....

Always On The Go...

Not a whole lot has been going on in our household these last couple of weeks. But I thought I'd try and give a brief update anyway.

Jim and I have both been pretty busy and stressed out with school and work these last couple of weeks. Jim has been unhappy with his job because of the new management for quite some time, but for various reasons, this last week has been extremely difficult for him. Enough so that some employment changes may be in his near future...but we'll have to wait and see and we will definitely keep you all updated on what happens there.

This last Monday at school, us Dental Assistants started clinic which means we have been working with real live patients and doctors!!! It might sound fun and exciting but it was more stressful than anything for me. I lost a lot of sleep going over the next days procedures in my head, going down my mental checklist of items needed for my operatory setup, going over the sequence of events for each procedure and just trying to calm myself down - most nights to no avail.

So my week started off with the extraction of two premolars on an 11-year-old girl, redoing a large filling on a 9-year-old boy with ADHD and tourette's, and ended with an older gentleman who felt the need to self medicate with booze and an emergency exam of a bipolar, anxiety stricken woman plagued by a seizure disorder with unknown triggers. I don't think I have ever sweat so much in my life!!! So while my stress level was already through the roof, adding to the equation each patient's individual needs, I could have powered the entire dental clinic with my nervous energy alone - phew - glad it's over!

So - going into my second week of clinic this week, I'm quite a bit more confident and feel things will go much smoother and I might actually catch a few zzzzzz's.

This weekend, Jim has been on call, so Kayla and I had a "Mommy and Kayla" weekend and we spent most of it shopping for school clothes and school supplies. We had a lot of fun and found her some new outfits that she LOVES.....okay, so we found more than a few, but I've always had a hard time saying no to her. Today, we had a makeover session - she did my makeup and painted my toenails and I did hers. I took pictures - but will have to update this post when I get the chance to download them to my computer.

All in all, this summer has been going quite well. We get the girls again in another week so we will have to try and find something fun to do with them while they are here. Hopefully next time my post will be a little more exciting and include some pictures or something.