I'm always happy to come around the corner and see this guy:

Teacher work day

means a day off to enjoy the last of a pretty awesome fall:

we hit three parks and a pizza place.

Success.

Fun(ny)

I was a driver for Ava's class trip to the roller skating rink.

Looking good (and confident).

For a minute.

Then:

hanging tight to the wall.

Oh, junior high.

Saturday market (and berry french toast)!

Jack's first steelhead!

The next night he got another one!

Fall sports mean...

sleep when you can,

however you can.

That brings us to October!

Grandma's birthday cruise!

Henry in swim trunks, Grandma in hat and sweater.

We love this last trip of the fall.

All the grandkids!

dancing with Grandpa...

last one.

seriously, this kid.

Jack.

#26, QB with the handoff.

Jack is in year two of Thrasher football.  

Last year was rough.  The team was almost all third graders and they were outsized and beaten up at every single game.  But they played hard and I thought once their bodies caught up with their hearts, they'd be unstoppable.  And this year they were!  Same group of boys, practiced every night for two hours, and were rewarded with a huge win at this first game.  And they just kept on winning.

I love to watch him out there--he is so smart and has such a good handle on the game, that sometimes I forget he's still just a nine year old boy who, after every game, I can usually find right here:

2nd dinner.

Between football, volleyball, and cross country, we find ourselves eating at the oddest hours.  My favorite is dinner at 4:30, with a bowl of cereal before bed.

Can't go wrong with that.

Jemma's first ever mile run

killin it.

Ava.

This girl absolutely killed it this fall.

She got up with the sun for 6:30 am cross country practice, worked her tail off in her first quarter of junior high, started the nights with volleyball practice and finished them off with homework.

Then did it all again the next day.

One of her favorite meets--passing people like crazy going up this hill.

SO MUCH FUN watching her on the course and on the court!

It's not easy navigating junior high but she's doing it with strength and grace and a whole lot of fun.

Henry's birthday party!

Feelin' the love.

Henry's our only good-weather birthday so he gets a big bash every year.  And let me tell you, it is not wasted on this kid.  He plans everything, from the lights in the trees to the fireworks at the end. 

And he appreciates every single bit of it.